Richard's fading visage had disappeared wholly after a while, Theo carefully inspecting the giant, unshaped rocks. There seemed to be something he was looking for, as if he wanted to find a hint, or a clue, or anything of the sort. The hurried scrambles side to side only served to prove his excitement and curiosity. This place was much like the Serpent's Nest, a village of giant snakes who would have never fallen if not for a dragon's wrath.

Why? No one knew, and the land of the serpents turned into a feasting hall for boars, making it more dangerous than even the Boar's Cave in some aspects, as the damn creatures could rush through half the trees in the place, and their physical prowess far too overwhelming, and all but the most experience hunters would succumb to them, and Theo was one of those experienced ones.

He had fought a hundred of them, and knew all too well about their weaknesses and powers. Those accursed creatures ate the children, bashed the old ones and destroyed the forest. Truly blight upon the land. If not for the gift of the forest, the survivors too would have followed their less fortunate comrades into the sun.

That manifested in the form of a flame for Theo, and pretty much everyone in the village. Even Chakk had one.

He intently stared at the rock, as if it was supposed to stare back at him. Then he noticed it.

The mold.

The mold was covering it.

Theo got to work, scraping away the mold with the new knife he had gotten, with the back, trying not to make it duller than it already was. It couldn’t even peel a fruit accurately, but still functioned as a weapon.

It was a gift from Paul.

Lisa dipped her hand in the water, the cold water taking the least bit of stress away from her fatigued body. The refreshing feeling was addictive, and she wouldn’t have pulled it out if not for Theo’s interruption.

He moved his index finger side-to-side, and proceeded to explain.

“If I’m right, that’s a mana pool.” Theo explained. “I got sick when I swam in it once before.”

Lisa nodded her head. “Okay. But what is this place?”

“I’m trying to figure out just that.” Theo answered, in a professional manner unknown to her.

Then Theo continued to examine. The mold had entered through the intricate carvings, filling it with a rather disgusting green color, but it could now be seen better than usual. The smallest one, not even half Theo’s height, depicted a small humanoid with wings, and Theo instantly recognized it. It was one of the winged people. If Theo remembered right, they were called Fae.

Skipping to the next, he cleaned the mold of one reaching his navel, and it depicted a humanoid, smaller, and traces of green paint still lingering on the ancient carving, or that might have been mold. Theo didn’t understand it that well. A goblin.

The next one was as tall as him, and upon inspection, it revealed that it wasn’t truly tall, just the horns taking up most of the rock. It was the elder’s kind, they were called Elkia.

The fourth, and the only other one as tall as Theo was of course, the depiction of a human. It had a sun drawn on the forehead, the rays depicted with straight lines. Lisa joined him on his search for the unknown, looking at the various carvings after the boy.

The fifth, and the final standing one was a giant one. This, Theo knew even without taking the mold off, but he still did. Of course, spinning around the cone was a serpent, its scales carved rather exquisitely, depicting fire coming out of its mouth.

The serpent race, and also the deceased guardians of the forest.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

He sighed. That was merely a legend, and the serpents were only a little clumsier than the other races, if anything, without hands or tails. Well, he didn’t know what to believe in now, after being transported into this strange new world.

Theo’s gaze fell on the other rock, several cubes, most likely slashed into pieces. He counted 3, and inspected them as well. What he found was… rather surprising.

They were all boars.

A four-legged creature with three heads was depicted on one; another one depicted a winged creature with four legs and a tail. The last one depicted a man with a four-legged body. Theo’s eyes narrowed as he remembered them. They were by far, the most dangerous of the three, also… they had destroyed the Serpent’s nest.

He could still remember the sound of those hooves and their laughter after they raided his village. That was the reason he became a hunter, to stop those demons.

Then a loud boom sounded out from behind, making him turn his head back sharply. Lisa had her hand on the statue, namely the human one. She seemed to be in pain, mostly from the scream.

Theo rushed to help her, and noticed she had placed her hand inside what appeared to be a hole in the shape of a palm. The monolith of the human lit up, the mold falling off and a blue light emanating from the carving.

“No, no, no, no, no. What did you do?” Theo asked as he tried to pull the girl away. She couldn’t be separated.

“I-I felt like I should, agh, put my hand in.” Lisa said, closing one of her eyes and breathing heavily, as if after a long exercise.

“Don’t worry, I’ll try to help.” Theo assured as he put his hand on the monolith, it seemed to be absorbing her mana, except she didn’t have any. He knew as much, that she couldn’t use magic due to her not being able to use mana. That meant it was draining her life force.

With a scowl, he tried to put his mana into the monolith, forced it even, but it was pushed back.

“Damn it!” Theo shouted and punched it, putting all his strength in. That was impossible, it couldn’t be broken without a weapon, and there wasn’t any here. Theo’s eyes landed on the cubes, small enough to be thrown but big enough to be a great weapon. He grabbed one, lying several meters away, and threw it as he ran, generating more force.

It broke… the cube.

“Forgive me.” Theo said as he put his hand on Lisa’s shoulder, and lent him his mana. He didn’t want the first person he met die, and would try any methods available.

“Aaaaaaaah!” She shouted, even louder than she did the first time. Theo didn’t want her to die, and so he forced the mana to travel into the stone, using the girl as the median. Exhaustion overtook him, but he didn’t mind. He was exhausted as is, and would fall down any minute either way.

Then she fell to the ground, limp. Theo stared at the girl, lying on the ground and a scenery flashed in his mind. A village, much like Ballar, burning in crimson flames and humans lying on the ground, limp, like Lisa.

They were dead.

He fell to his knees, holding his head as tears streamed from his eyes uncontrollably, horrifying memories coming back, and threatening to overtake all. Theo screamed out loud, his head feeling as if it was about to split, and he lost consciousness.

***

The gentle crackle of branches could be heard, not unlike the snapping of bubbles, and Theo opened his eyes. Last time he had heard it was back at Ballar village, and the inciting aroma of boar meat entered his nostrils, refreshing him fully.

Sitting up, he noticed that he was in the ruins, and a flame danced around, covering the entire forest. His eyes opened wide, they were crimson flames. With a scowl, he threw a fireball at it, yet it did nothing. He threw another one, and it did nothing as well. A single drop of water on a flame would do nothing, and such was the truth of Theo’s flames.

The crimson flames had taken everything away from him. And he hated it with his guts. The boars came from the flames, and had, Theo winced, eaten the deceased.

His memories flooded back to him, locked away at the deepest pits of his mind. He had run from the flame, running to the furthest reaches of the world, and had reached Ballar village. Then he had lived there happily, before he suddenly appeared in this strange new world.

A shrieking sound emanated through the sky, and Theo’s eyes opened wide. If he didn’t hurry back, then something truly bad would happen.

That was a boar, and it was the one with wings. His scowl turned into a grimace as he covered his body with his flames, sprinting through the flames and unto the settlement. The pain surprisingly refreshed him, and chased away the evil flames. He never thought, not once in his life, that pain would actually help him.

Though that was for later. He had to protect his kind, and he was sure there were no hunters in the brigade, let alone the civilians.

He appeared at the other side, noticing two in the sky. The crimson flames had started eating away at the huts and tents and grass, an impossible heat being generated. Theo noticed a man melt into nothing and shook his head. He wouldn’t allow it to happen any more. No, he would annihilate any creature of the red.

Theo grabbed the blunt, yet pointy knife. His flames started eating away at it, yet, it was undamaged much like the trees in the red flame. His eyes started blazing, letting him see through a blue lens, ignoring the darkness.

It was hunting time.