Each step felt heavy, my boots sticking to the ground still muddy from the recent rain. The cold was now a mere background thought, overshadowed by the numb patches of burnt skin and scratches strewn across my body. Thankfully, my leather jacket had weathered the ordeal relatively unscathed.
Odessa, in contrast, appeared almost untouched. Her long black hair securely tied up, framing an unblemished face. She wore a chainse that dropped down to her ankles, cinched at the waist. Around her neck hung a necklace bearing the emblem of Llythyrra: a complex orange star encircled by gold and black.
Legend had it that Llythyrra's first attempt at forging a soul had gone awry, resulting in an explosive release of energy that formed the very symbol adorning Odessa's necklace. Supposedly frozen in time, it served as a mark of Llythyrra's influence across the land. A load of crap if you asked me.
With twenty minutes behind us, we were practically stumbling in the darkness. Moonlight failed to pierce the canopy of trees, the forest like a void of black. Branches and jutting rocks made for natural traps.
We had to hold onto each other now to get lost or separated. It felt like wandering in nothingness, except the cold air attacked us every minute.
"This was a stupid idea," Odessa grumbled, her voice hoarse from exertion. "Can't you use any of your mojo to help?"
Despite the wind buffeting us through the sheltering trees, my grimy hair whipped back. "If I knew how, I would. Trust me."
After the ordeal in the city, witnessing innocent and guilty souls alike burning to their deaths, I couldn't discern if my survival was a lie in itself. Perhaps I should have perished on that stage. It might have made life easier for Dunstan and possibly Odessa too.
Now, I had to stand by as Chlodovech married a foreign nation's daughter, potentially reshaping the future of Heladon and Orerha itself. Whatever their plans were, whatever they aimed to achieve, it seemed clear that it would only serve to benefit themselves. He had already emerged victorious. But I refused to let myself lose any more than I already had.
"I don't trust Dolion," Odessa admitted, slowing her pace. "He shows up out of nowhere, gives us no explanations, and sends us into the woods with little sense of direction..."
"I know, I don't either, but..." I paused, feeling the numbness in my cheeks from the cold. "Like I said, we don't have any other choice..."
She huffed, true to her personality. "We should take it slow," Odessa offered.
I nodded in agreement. Though she couldn't see it, Odessa stayed silent, understanding my unspoken response.
The curse confused me, twisting my thoughts in knots. What was the pattern for when it took over? The bandits in the woods shot me, and the curse saved me. The guards at the Faust estate were ready to march me to my death. Was that it? The curse protecting me before moments of death?
Vesperus too left me puzzled. If he had died, then why was this curse still powering forward? Why did it have to be me who killed him? Wouldn't his death have halted the spell either way? Then again, I had no idea how any of this worked.
Eventually, we came upon another clearing where a small stream trickled by. The moonlight reflected off the water in twisting waves of light, creating a mesmerizing dance on the surface. My survival instincts kicked in, and with a parched, dry, and aching throat, I instinctively bent down, feeling the ground to find the edge of the stream.
"What are you doing?" Odessa asked, letting go of me.
I didn't answer immediately. Moving forward a few inches, the tips of my fingers dipped into the cool, flowing stream. The sensation was a relief. I cupped my hands, scooping up the refreshing liquid, and brought it to my mouth. It was ice cold, but I didn't care. The water was a lifeline, and I gulped it down eagerly, the chill spreading through me.
I went for more, cupping my hands again, drinking until the smooth, minerally liquid quenched my thirst. Each sip felt like balm to my dry, hurting throat.
"So—" I started, only to cough as some water went down the wrong pipe. "Sorry," I repeated, clearing my throat, "Just thirsty."
"Me too," she said, bending down to find the stream.
The moonlight made it visible, but without precise positioning, it was difficult to locate exactly. An idea struck me, and I couldn't resist. "Right here," I said, guiding her hand towards the water.
"Thanks—" Odessa began, but before she could finish, I splashed the water in her face. Laughing, I stood up and hopped over the stream.
"Very funny." She muttered, but with the light shining on her face, I could see the hidden smile. Odessa cupped her hands into the water, and too took a gulp.
Despite everything, there were still moments of calm. Times when I could catch my breath, gather my thoughts like this. I had learned that whenever the universe granted me a respite, it was often fleeting, ripped away without warning. So, while this moment felt reassuring, it also filled me with apprehension.
She looked up at me, her gaze lingering for a moment before her expression started to change. Odessa's eyes no longer focused on me but stared fixedly behind me, their glint catching the moonlight. They seemed frozen with fear. Her brow furrowed, moving upwards slowly into a standing position.
"What?" I tilted my head, following her gaze. Behind me, there was nothing. Absolute darkness. Then, out of the corner of my eye, something moved—a shadow or a shaded silhouette, before another to my far right, against the backdrop of trees on the other side of the clearing.
"What... is that?" she whispered, trying to control her breathing.
I squinted, trying to discern their features, but couldn't make out anything clearly. "I'm not sure, but I don't think they've noticed us."
My heart began to race, but I couldn't panic, not around Odessa. I'd done nothing but let things happen to me up until now. I had to try and take control. They closed in on each other, and faint voices now traveled across the clearing.
"Forget the clearing, let's find another way around," I suggested, extending my hand for her to step across.
She didn't take it, crossing on her own. With her breathing under control, Odessa shook her head. "They don't know we're here, Alaric. We should take them out, make sure they don't follow us."
"No—" I began to speak, but my words were cut short by a flickering light in the distance. One of the silhouettes, a woman, held a torch that gleamed brightly. Her short blonde hair caught the light, but I couldn't discern any more details from this distance. The other figure, a man of tall stature, also had short blonde hair, "Get down." I whispered aloud, then dropped to my stomach. Odessa followed suit.
The ground pressed hard against me, my feet barely skimming the surface of the stream. I watched intently as the two figures spoke, then started moving toward us.
"Shit," I cursed silently under my breath, "Let's get to the trees."
"They don't see us," Odessa whispered, voice steady. "Alaric, grab something and let's wait. We can take them by surprise."
With a grunt, my voice dropped as they got closer, "What's the point?" Without leaving her a moment to respond, I rolled to the side, then raised to a crouching stance. I didn't know what I was doing, but I couldn't let something else happen to me. So, without another word, I shuffled back behind the cover of trees to the right.
Closer now, I could finally discern their features. They were humanoid, but the resemblance ended there. Their skin, an unnatural shade of grey, stretched taut over their bodies. Their eyes, devoid of pupils, were stretched and warped, like a serpent's. Their mouths were a mockery of human features, thin slits stretched unnaturally wide. These were no men, but looked as if they were trying to disguise themselves as such, to blend in.
Odessa, seeing the same grotesque features, took a deep breath and shuffled toward the trees from her prone position. She twisted around just in time, getting a clear view of them.
The inhuman figures advanced, their movements jerky and unnatural. Their eyes, those reptilian eyes, seemed to scan the forest floor, seemingly oblivious to the two figures cowering beneath the trees.
Then came the stench. Almost unbearable. It punched through the damp forest air, a thick, fetid wave that assaulted my senses. It was the smell of decay, of something long dead and left to rot under a merciless sun. But layered on top of it was another, acrider note – the unmistakable stench of feces, as if these creatures had waded through a swamp and never bothered to clean themselves.
Keeping a close eye on them, I almost forgot about my footing, and stumbled backwards. Quickly I caught myself by grabbing onto a trunk of a nearby tree, but not before the crunching of leaves underfoot caused them to look in our direction. Their necks snapped towards us with the sound of a disgusting crack.
With urgency, we began to back away, each step carefully placed to avoid making any sudden sounds or tripping over unseen obstacles. The forest floor seemed to conspire against us, every twig and leaf a potential alarm. Sweat beaded on my forehead despite the cold, and I focused on controlling my breathing, trying to maintain a semblance of calm as we retreated deeper into the woods.
"Here," Odessa whispered to my left. She grabbed a dead branch, snapped it from the tree, and tossed it over towards me.
In the darkness, I fumbled to catch it, but the branch slipped from my grasp and thudded loudly on the ground. The noise froze the creatures in their tracks.
I held my breath, fear coursing through me. They were aware of our presence now, their unnerving voices breaking the eerie silence of the forest.
"Who's there?" one of them called out, their voice strangely high-pitched yet masculine. "We don't want to hurt you."
My mind raced. I had never been in a situation like this before, never fought anything in my life. Panic threatened to overwhelm me, but I had to think fast, so I grabbed the branch.
Drawing a deep, heavy breath, I yelled, "Come any closer, and I'll kill you!" My voice echoed through the forest, carrying further than I intended. The two creatures remained silent. "I have a spear, and I'll ram it through your goddamn heart!" I continued, the words fierce. They didn't feel like mine, yet they were, not some outside force controlling me. Worse yet it felt good. Letting out all of this built-up anger and energy in a brash way.
With the branch firmly grasped in my hands, I lunged forward like a cornered animal as a footstep echoed right in front of us, the ground vibrating beneath the impact. Adrenaline surged through me, momentarily pushing aside the terror that had gripped me. In a desperate gamble, I thrust the branch forward, feeling a sickening crunch as it connected with something soft, followed by something hard.
The world became a blur of movement as we were thrown backwards by the force of my attack. Branches whipped past my face, tearing at my clothes. We tumbled through the undergrowth. Finally, we crashed back into the clearing.
I landed hard on the unforgiving ground, a sharp cry escaping my lips as my leg seared with pain. I'd slammed right into a protruding rock, the impact stealing the breath from my lungs. Through the haze of pain, I heard a high-pitched squeal erupt beside me. It wasn't the guttural roar I'd expected from a monster. It was a sound of pure, unadulterated pain, a sound far too familiar. Far too human.
"Fuck—" I cried out as I tried to move, clutching my leg, but my pain was cut short.
"What did you do?" Something ran out from the woods. One of the humanoids, her eyes locking onto whatever I had stabbed. Rolling onto my shoulder to face my right, I could now see it clearly.
The male counterpart, his blonde hair now began to mat and clump, falling away in patches. It wasn't just falling out; it was decaying at an alarming rate, as if time itself had been sped up around him. His screams cut off abruptly, replaced by a sickening gurgle. Then, in a horrifying display, his body began to dissolve. It wasn't a slow process; it was like watching a sand crumble under the relentless assault of a wave.
Within seconds, there was nothing left but a small pile of grey ash where the humanoid once stood. No blood, no organs, not even a shred of clothing remained. It was as if he'd never existed at all.
Odessa stumbled into the clearing, eyes darting from the empty spot where the humanoid had been. "What the hell was that?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"I... I don't know," I admitted, my voice shaky. The stench, once almost unbearable, had taken on a new layer of putridness in death.
The female humanoid, now alone, sank to its knees beside the pile of ash. A horrifying sound, a guttural sob that scraped against my ears, ripped from its throat. Dry tears welled in its reptilian eyes, tears that seemed to defy its unnatural form. Then, in a gesture that sent shivers down my spine, it began to smear the ash on its own skin, coating itself in the last remnants of its... companion? Friend? The word felt wrong, yet there was no other to describe the raw grief radiating from the creature, "Skavras..." The creature choked, "...You killed... Skavras..."
"I didn't—" My voice trailed off. "I thought you were going to..." There was no need to continue. I had done the one thing I despised all my life. The one act that I fought so hard not to do. Violence. And it had even felt good, up until this moment.
Yet the pain soon clouded that thought. I peered down at my bloody leg, hard to see in the dark.
"We should go." Odessa hurried over, then spotted my wound. "Shit, are you okay?"
"I—I don't know..." I managed, then bit down hard as a wave of pain washed over me. The creature's head slowly turned towards us, its inhuman eyes locking onto mine. "Help me up."
Odessa didn't hesitate. She slipped her arm under my shoulder, and the struggle began. My entire body throbbed in protest as I attempted to rise, the pain in my leg a white-hot spike that threatened to send me sprawling. Using every ounce of remaining strength, I pushed myself upwards, leaning heavily on Odessa's support. With a grunt of effort, we managed to get me to my feet.
Even as we began to stumble back, I couldn't tear my gaze away from the creature. It stood motionless, its grotesque form silhouetted against the sickly moonlight. I felt bad for it, and why shouldn't I have?
"I--I'm sorry..."
A single word sliced through the suffocating silence in reply. "Leave," it rasped Despite the horror, despite everything, it sounded almost as if it were pleading. Then, in a flash, the creature's demeanor shifted. The mournful cries were replaced by a hiss. "LEAVE!" it shrieked.
With that, the two of us sprinted the other way, or as fast as we could with my injured leg. We didn't know if it wanted to hurt us or if it was just scaring us away. Either way, the both of us—I—had already done too much damage.
Branches scratched at our faces and clothes as we fled. My leg screamed in protest with each movement, but I couldn't let it slow us down. Odessa kept a firm grip on my arm, guiding me through the maze of trees.
After a long 60-70 paces, we finally slowed down. My leg was now caked with blood, as if my skin were red. Carefully, she set me down against a tree, then kneeled and began feeling the wound with her hands. I winced at the touch, "How bad?" I grunted, still dazed from the creatures.
She peeled back some of the fabric around the wound, her brow furrowing as she assessed the damage. "It's deep, but I don't think it hit anything vital," she said, her voice steady despite the situation. "We need to stop the bleeding, though."
I nodded, clenching my teeth to keep from crying out. "What do we have to use?"
Odessa looked around, then quickly took the belt from around her chainse. She wrapped it tightly around my leg, creating a makeshift tourniquet. "This should help for now..."
The pressure from the tourniquet slowed the bleeding, but the pain was still intense. I closed my eyes, trying to focus on something other than the throbbing in my leg.
"We need to get to a nearby city or post," she said, feeling through her pockets for the map.
I shook my head, trying to steady my breathing. "I can make it through the night. Let's get to Auriver."
"Alaric, with your leg, we won't make it by midday tomorrow," she replied, finally finding the map. She slipped it out and unrolled it, squinting in the dim light to read it.
"Auriver's too far," she continued, "We need a place to rest and treat your wound properly."
I sighed, knowing she was right but unwilling to admit it. "What's the closest place, then?"
She traced a route on the map with her finger, her brow furrowing in concentration. "There's a small village about two leagues from here. It's not much, but they might have supplies."
"Two leagues," I repeated, wincing as I shifted my weight. "I can manage that."
Odessa glanced at me, doubt clear in her eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Probably, most likely," I assured her, my voice strained with pain. "Help me up."
She supported me as I struggled to stand, leaning heavily on her for support. Odessa guided us in a direction away from Auriver, each step sending a jolt of pain through my wounded leg.
We were heading in the complete opposite direction of where we needed to be, but what choice did we have? I fucked everything up. Murdered a creature most likely innocent, then jacked up my leg on some sharp stone.
"Sorry," I muttered weakly, the words barely audible. Odessa held back at first, but true to her nature, it couldn't last.
"You should have listened to me," she spat. "If we'd taken both of them out in the clearing, that wouldn't have happened."
Shaking my head, I forced out a reply, "They weren't going to hurt us," I argued, more to myself than to her. "They were..." I hesitated, searching for the right word. "Grieving."
"Grieving? You think those things were capable of that?" Her voice rose, "I was there too, Alaric. Saw what happened just as clear as you. They didn't feel pain, they didn't mourn. They reacted on instinct, lashing out at the thing that hurt them. Mimicked grief to trick us... I don't know."
"Maybe," I conceded. "But even if they weren't human, what changes? We took a life, Odessa. Doesn't that matter in some way?"
"Not if it's necessary," she replied quietly. With a sigh, Odessa slowed her pace.
I nodded gently, still unsure if I agreed. "Let's just make it there."
We fell into a contemplative silence, the forest gradually becoming less dense around us. The night was alive with sounds—the crunch of leaves and dirt beneath our feet, the rustling of vegetation stirred by nocturnal animals. Those creatures lingered in my mind. What were they? Perhaps Odessa was right. Could such monstrous beings feel grief or pain for others let alone themselves.
The moon hung midway in the sky now, casting a cold, silver light over everything. Time slipped by. Tens of minutes turning into a whole hour. As we broke away from the woods, a small village came into view, still a quarter of a league away. The bright torches lit it up like a beacon, revealing a settlement of perhaps fifty or sixty residents. The rest of our journey would be across open plains, dotted with the occasional tree.
Just as we shakily emerged from the woods, a voice boomed from our left, echoing across the small valley, "Get down!" It demanded.
Odessa froze, unsure if the command was directed at us. But sure enough, four men rushed out from the trees, daggers in hand. "Come on—" she urged, trying to pull me faster, but my injured leg wouldn't allow it. Moving at a snail's pace, they easily caught up to us, knocking us both to the ground. I hit the earth with a deep thud, the tourniquet on my leg loosening.
Odessa also hit the ground, letting out a yelp of pain.
"Stay down and don't move!" one of the men barked.
I tried to push myself up, but a boot pressed into my back, pinning me down. "What do you want?" I spat out, wincing from the pain in my leg.
"Your valuables. And maybe your lives, if you don't cooperate," another man sneered, crouching down to look at us. They stood just out of view.
Odessa thrashed, her body a tangle of limbs against the rough floor, stomach faceup, "Get your goddamn hands off me!"
"Rufaeck," the one pinning her down chuckled, the sound grating like nails on a chalkboard, "She's quite the feisty one... and beaut-y-ful."
"Just check em' for valuables, Ellgrick," Rufaeck barked tiredly. He rounded the corner, his arrival bringing him into my view. A face full of pathetic scars and bruises. Dirt smeared about. He knelt before me, and the rasp of his calloused fingers against my chin sent shivers down my spine. "Get em' to their knees."
His men didn't need telling twice. Two grabbed me by the arms, their grip rough and unforgiving. Pain flared in my injured leg as I was pulled onto my knees.
I couldn't let them take Odessa. I kicked, twisting in their hold, but two pairs of hands were too much. I gritted my teeth, a choked grunt escaping my lips, as Ellgrick grabbed Odessa's hair, yanking her head up. "You son of a bitch!" I yelled, lunging forward, but their grasp held firm.
Ellgrick yanked on Odessa's hair, ignoring her attempts to fight back, then pulled her into a kneeling position, "Like little rats," The filthy bastard sneered as he leaned in close to Odessa, his breath hot against her ear. His lips moved as if in slow motion. Whatever he said caused her to whimper, a sound that made my heart ache.
"What did you say—what did you fucking say to her?" I bellowed, the words bursting from my chest with raw anger, fists clenched tightly.
But before Ellgrick could answer, a sudden, brutal blow struck the left side of my head, sending a wave of excruciating pain through my skull. The world spun violently, colors blending into a disorienting blur before darkness closed in, swallowing me whole, and I blacked out.
The one and only time I wished the curse would help... and it didn't.
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOS1E3PbxjX
