My heart pounds in my chest like a hammer against an anvil. Blood rushes through my veins akin to a tidal wave washing over the coastline. And all the while, my mind races faster than a bolt of lightning traveling across the night sky. Every thought that enters my head passes by in an instant, and none of them make any sense at all.
But there is no time to dwell on anything, as Nael is already disappearing into the darkness of the forest ahead with the limp body of the bunny-girl slung over his shoulder. And so, I push myself to my feet, out of the disgusting hug of pus and rot, and set off in pursuit with wobbling legs carrying me further into the unknown.
It isn’t long before an explosion echoes behind us with deafening force — yet another sign of a clash between titans. The shockwave rams into my back and nearly sends me tumbling to the ground, but somehow, I manage to keep my balance even when the pressure threatening to rip me apart from within gets more powerful with every passing second.
It seems that, freed from our interference, our guardians can unleash their true power unhindered. However, any satisfaction I could derive from their display of strength is dampened by the realization that there will be nothing left of me if they let even a single attack slip through their defenses.
With a shake of my head, I clear away those unpleasant notions from my mind and focus on what truly matters at the moment — not breaking my neck by tripping over some root poking out of the ground. Though the full moon is shining brightly above and illuminates our path through the woods, my unsteady legs cause me to stumble at every other step as I dash after my brother’s distant silhouette in a desperate bid to catch up to him.
When his shadow disappears into the thick undergrowth, a surge of panic explodes in my mind before dying down just as soon as it came up. A tugging sensation in my core draws me forward like a compass needle pointing north. As long as I follow it, there will be no way to get lost, not even with no signs of my destination ahead.
Thus, I do exactly that — trusting blindly in the unseen force guiding me through the forest while doing my best not to trip over any obstacles obstructing my path. And for quite a while, the world around me becomes nothing more than a blur of greens and browns as I sprint after the shadow that is Nael with everything I have.
Finally, I can feel the invisible marker of Luci‘s position stop moving and come to rest in one spot ahead. All the signal I require to slow down my pace. After all, there is no need to run headfirst into danger without knowing what awaits me on the other side. For all I know, he could be in the process of fighting off a pack of wolves or fending off an attack from a bear at this very moment.
As I peek through the trees into the clearing where he stopped, my heart almost jumps out of my throat as an arrow embeds itself into the trunk right in front of my face. Two sighs of relief escape simultaneously from my and Aria‘s mouths as she lowers her bow and motions for me to step into sight. At last, I can let out my breath too and relax from all the tension building up inside me. We aren’t safe yet, but at least I have caught up to everyone!
I run up to them and receive a quick pat on my shoulder from Enril, who then returns to scanning our surroundings for potential threats. Kuleigh sits on a boulder by the edge of the clearing with Alder slung over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes, while Eumelia checks the bandages on his broken legs with her single working arm. And in the middle of it all, Nael has dropped the bunny-girl down and busied himself with preparing some sort of herbal paste. More of the pain-killing goo, perhaps?
Not wasting any time, I kneel next to her prone form and start searching for signs of injuries. But this quickly proves pointless, as both of our forms are covered in blood and grime. It‘s impossible to tell whether it comes from her, me or our mount, especially through the thick fur covering her body.
A moment later, Nael finishes his task and shuffles closer to our position before motioning for me to open Luci’s mouth while he raises the blob of medicine to her lips. When it lands inside, he pushes it deeper down her throat with his fingers while using his other palm to press onto her stomach, forcing her muscles to contract and swallow the lump whole. After a few more seconds of prodding around, he seems satisfied with the result and turns to me while pointing to his ears.
With a shake of my head, I let him know that my hearing hasn’t returned yet before copying his gesture as a question about his condition. He nods once before giving me a thumbs up. Now that’s good news, at least. We won’t run face first into an obvious trap without a pair of functional ears to hear it.
After getting confirmation of my readiness for further action, Nael motions toward the forest ahead before pointing up to the moon glowing in the night sky overhead. But when he sees the lack of understanding written across my face, he proceeds with explaining the situation more thoroughly with elaborate hand gestures.
The plan is so simple, I’m not sure if it can even be considered a plan — run until sunrise and pray we outlast this storm before it consumes us all. In other words, don’t stop unless you want to be eaten.
And so it begins. Not with a bang or a sudden rush into action, but with an endless procession of exhausted bodies shuffling forward into the unknown. With no signs of stopping soon. In the heart of the night, we stumble through the darkness like blind beggars, with no hope of ever finding their way back into the light of day.
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Every step I take brings me further from my past while pulling me deeper into the abyss. Slowed down by the burden of Lucienne’s unconscious form draped over my shoulders like a deadweight. My path limited to following in the footsteps of the person in front of me. My mind is left idle with nothing better to do than let ponderous thoughts come and go as they please. And they are not a welcome distraction by any means.
With every step I take, doubt gnaws at my soul until even the most basic truths seem shrouded in mists of uncertainty. Am I really doing what must be done? Do I deserve to survive while so many others have already perished? Will we have to flee from danger forever?
If we manage to escape our pursuers and build ourselves a new home somewhere out of reach of their influence, will that life be worth living if all those we’ve left behind are gone? And if we succeed, will it be considered a victory by anyone but us? Each question that pops into my mind tears away another piece of me. But still, even in the face of all this suffering I am inflicting upon myself, my feet keep carrying me forward, one step at a time, without fail.
Hours drag by and the moon slowly descends lower into the sky with every passing moment. Even with the slower pace imposed on us by our less able-bodied companions, the only thing that keeps me moving at this point are all the pastes and tonics my brother pumps into me at every opportunity to keep the fatigue at bay. Despite the aid, there is a limit to how much my body can endure under these conditions, and soon enough, even it starts to break down under the constant stress and exhaustion.
In time, I fall into a strange sort of half-conscious state where my thoughts turn fuzzy, as if I am stuck halfway between wakefulness and sleep. And with no clear distinction between reality and fantasy anymore, everything feels distant and detached from me, like watching someone else’s actions play out before me from an outsider’s perspective. As if I was lost inside a dream. Or perhaps a nightmare might be a more suitable word...
The image of a field full of corpses flashes through my mind — familiar faces of my friends and family staring back at me with empty eyes devoid of any emotion. As my gaze travels further down their bodies, it is revealed that each one of them has a large gash running from neck down to navel while their innards spill out onto the ground below them like bloodstained entrails of an overturned animal carcass.
In front of me stands an enormous beast, made entirely out of shadows. It’s looming over me, its massive claws dripping crimson with the lifeblood of my loved ones. And even though the moon above shines brightly, its light does nothing to dispel the darkness that surrounds me on all sides like an ocean threatening to drown me alive.
With a jerk, I regain my awareness of the world around me. My breath comes in rapid gasps and sweat covers every inch of my skin while tears stream down my cheeks, falling down to the ground below where they mix with the fine sand, forming small pearls of mud.
The scenery in front of me differs from the one I left behind when this episode overtook me. The thick foliage that surrounded us earlier has been replaced by barren land as far as the eye can see. With only low-lying bushes scattered around its surface, the terrain underfoot resembles more of a desert than anything else. When I peer back over my shoulder, I can still spot some lone trees dotting the horizon, but aside from that, there is no sign of life anywhere near us.
Just how long was I out? And how much ground did we cover in that time? For that matter, where in the world are we? This isn’t yet another hallucination, is it? Or am I going insane at last?
I take a deep breath in and exhale slowly, attempting to calm my racing heartbeat back to normal. Once again, I glance toward my companions. Even though they are just as tired as me, none of them seem surprised by our sudden change in scenery or concerned about being lost somewhere unknown. Well, maybe it wasn’t as sudden for them...
Then again, if everyone else is okay with this, then clearly I am missing something obvious. Perhaps there is some rational explanation for this all and I’m overthinking it too much. Or maybe we’re all just insane. Now that would certainly be quite a revelation — finding out that you’ve been traveling alongside a group of lunatics and didn’t even notice it. I mean... There is at least one crazy traveling with us and I’m even carrying her on my back.
With a sigh, I push all those pointless musings aside and refocus on figuring where we are and why nobody else seems to be bothered. According to the loon, Luci, I mean, we’ve been heading north this entire time. As far as I can tell, after our crash, we haven’t changed that course at all. If we’ve left the forest by going this way, that must mean...
My elementary knowledge of geography is proven correct when we crest another dune and behold the endless expanse stretching out before us. The Azure Divide! Even though I’ve never laid my eyes on it before and had only heard stories of this legendary river, there is no mistaking its appearance in person. And boy, is it impressive! The massive blue ribbon of water flows from east to west like a living barrier separating the two halves of the world.
As I look at my companions’ faces, a similar expression of awe mixed with disbelief paints their features as well, while they too stare at the spectacle in front of us in wonder. For the first time since we started running from our pursuers, their eyes reflect something other than pure exhaustion and desperation. In that moment of respite from our flight from the darkness hunting us, hope sparks alive again inside every heart present here and reignites the fading flame within our souls — we will not give up so easily.
Yet even as the fire burns brightly inside me too, it does little to relieve my fatigue. As soon as my feet hit the bottom of the steep slope leading down into the river valley below, they turn into lead weights, dragging behind me instead of propelling me forward like before. Finally, I reach the edge of the bank, where water splashes onto dry land in gentle waves. After gently placing Lucienne down onto the soft sand, I lay down next to her while my body screams in protest at being forced to move even a single muscle more tonight.
The sky is slowly turning red in the east as dawn approaches and the stars overhead fade away into nothingness, leaving no trace behind. Even with my mind hazy with sleep deprivation, I can feel anticipation rising inside me. Once the sun rises, it will mark the end of this calamity for now. We have made it through the night — against all odds and despite all adversity thrown at us.
My eyes slowly drift closed as the gentle breeze caresses my skin and blows away all traces of stress from my mind. But right before oblivion claims me at last and grants me a momentary respite from these ordeals — it arrives. With its deafening howl and flood of overwhelming dread, the darkness descends upon us once more.