Chapter 26: Squeeze
A couple of nasty thuds rang out as the boar's legs hit the panther, but no one paid attention to that. The Roaring Boar was dangerously close to the house. Sosora was about to have a meltdown. She had thought Nick would magically whisk away the boar similar to how he had magically appeared in the center of the forest, and that maybe he was just a coward.
The last part was certainly true, based on his pale expression as the roaring Roaring Boar approached them. But the first part seemed to be a complete delusion. Sosora started turning around when something moved in the corner of her eye.
The tentacle darted out like a snake before wrapping around the boar before anyone, including the boar, could notice. The Roaring Boar suddenly turned into a mummy with bandages of tentacle instead of linen.
The Midnight Panther was forced to let go.
The tentacle-wrapped mummy boar slowly rose into the air, paralyzed by fear. The tentacle pulled the boar inward.
As it did that, Nick and Sosora realized two things. They were in the way, so they stepped aside.
The other thing they realized was that the doorway was too small.
After bouncing against the doorframe once, the tentacle stopped awkwardly. It tried again. Maybe it could just squeeze through.
It couldn't.