Apollyon’s POV

Passing the first trees of the forest, I felt a lot better but didn't stop. I could still feel someone looking at me, so I reached deeper, Checkpoints guiding me to the sunny place again.

The last time I was there, it was all a mess. Would it still be like that? My bed was always magically prepared and clean after some time had passed. Yesterday I didn't come here. That was enough time for it to be back to how it was, right?

As I got closer, I slowed down until I reached the giant leaf that was there like a curtain between the sunny place and me. It had a cut to its side, falling down a little, but I didn't look. I waited there, biting my lip, not knowing what to do.

I really wanted to look, but what if it wasn’t like my bed and it was all messy?

'I don't know, I don't know! Should I turn back? If I say I didn't hear anything, would they believe me? No. They didn't believe the lights. Why would they believe me now? Papa will be mad and he will yell at me again.'

Looking back, trees, rocks, and flowers hid me from the village. No one could find me. With closed eyes, I swept the leaf away. At least here, even if it was still messy, the sunny place wouldn’t be mad at me.

The place was just as I had left it, with half-bent and fallen trees, and mud, with no flowers and dirty grass. Still, it looked beautiful. The lights were here, and they danced beautifully, taking my thoughts away.

I took a big breath in, the surrounding lights coming closer with some even reaching for my tummy, where my tattoo was. A funny feeling like a small tingle made me wiggle as they disappeared inside my tattoo. Then I breathed out, those that hadn't reached my tummy, going back to where they were before.

Looking in the distance, close to one of the fallen trees, there was another tree that had dried blood on it.

'The Silverfang.'

It was the same tree where my fight with the Silverfang had ended, but there was no Silverfang around. At the bottom of the tree, a faint trail of dried blood was on the ground, leading further into the forest.

As I followed it, the trail got smaller, but the crispy sound of the river became louder, until, with another sweep of a leaf, it was revealed. This was the first time I came to the river. I heard it every day, but I didn't know where it was and was scared I'd be lost if I looked for it. It was big—bigger than what I thought.

It ran from a big rock like a chair, going straight, then down, then straight, then down, three times! Like a waterfall, but the distance between the straight-downs wasn't big enough and it ran very, very slow, without making any waves. It was fat as well, taking more than three of me to reach the other side, but it wasn't deep because rocks and water flowers could easily be seen from above.

The trail went right inside the river, and I found it again on the other side. It went even deeper into the forest.

'How far did it go?'

After the river, it got even smaller, and instead of a line, it was like small drops of red.

Rustle! Rustle!

Also, after crossing the river, more and more rustling came from all sides, but everywhere I looked, there were the same trees, plants, and flowers. I started feeling worried again and wanted to turn back but…

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I gasped.

The trails of drops had stopped!

Up, down, left, right, in front, behind, nothing! The droplets of dark red were nowhere to be seen!

'The river. I can hear the river and go back.' I thought to myself, closing my eyes, and focusing on my ears, trying not to panic more.

…

'I can't hear the river!'

How far into the forest had I gone to not be able to hear the river? The forest had always been quiet, so I could hear the water from a big distance, even more so after awakening, and yet, I couldn't hear it at all. What I could hear even louder, was the rustles of leaves and my ears twitched when I heard a growl not far away from me.

Panicking, I curled down to a ball and hid my head under my hands, only to jump back up when another growl reached, much louder and closer than the rest.

I started running.

I didn't know where I was going, but I couldn't stay in that place. I thought it was just a wild beast going around in the forest, but that last growl was like telling me that if I didn't run, I'd end up a beast's dinner.

'Mr. Beasty, don't eat me! I'm not tasty at all!'

Waving away the leaves, I hoped I was quick enough to escape, but the loud growls from behind and all around told me otherwise. Through the gaps between the trees, a silvery color was getting closer, and I finally found my hunter; Or hunters, because it wasn't only one Silverfang, but many. Way too many.

The leaves to my right wiggled, and a big Silverfang—big like the Emberfangs Papa fought—jumped at me, its mouth fully open with saliva dripping, its sharp claws ready to slice me.

I rolled down just in time to dodge the attack, the air waving at my hair.

Thankfully, because of its rush and because of how late I dodged, it didn't have a good landing and tumbled down, rolling behind a bush.

Far into the distance, I saw the trees ending, but it wasn't clear what was ahead. At that moment, a Silverfang jumped ahead, blocking the way, but it was different from the last one. It was smaller and its back had a dark red color on its fur. It was the Silverfang I had fought.

With a loud roar, it lowered its head and lifted its back, looking straight into my eyes full of anger.

As I got closer, it roared again and jumped. I flipped and rolled right below it, slipping its grasp. It's claws…?

"Take that!" I said, sticking out my tongue, but then the last big Silverfang appeared behind it, and then another.

'Yikes! I'm sorry Mr. Silverfang, it was a joke! A joke!'

The further I ran, the fewer trees there were, and all the Silverfangs appeared. If I didn't count wrong, there were three on my left, four to my right, and another three behind me. I was scared, but there was this question on my mind I couldn't get off.

'How have they not reached me yet?'

It was weird. Even the small one was faster than me, and the big ones were so much faster than it. They could easily circle me, or stand in front of me like the small one did earlier, and I wouldn't be able to run anywhere else, but they didn't. While they reached closer, none attacked me, and they even seemed like they slowed down.

In the not-as-far distance anymore, the end of the forest was revealed. I knew I wasn't going back to the village because I would have seen the lights of Checkpoints, but I didn't think it would be the volcano.

I laughed a little. Wasn't it funny? I wanted to get to the volcano and Papa said no and because he was angry, I ran away only to end up in it.

Suddenly, the ground shook, and a moment later, all kinds of sounds came. Some were growls, some were hoots and, from everywhere, there was the sound of rustling leaves, like every animal and beast of the forest was running away from something.

"What is going—" I paused mid-sentence and my hair stood up as a strange but familiar feeling I hadn't felt in over a month reached me. The feeling of something calling for me, pulling me towards somewhere deep into the volcano.

I stopped and looked up ahead where the volcano stood, all kinds of birds flying away from it. Another growl came from behind me and my eyes widened as I had already forgotten about the Silverfangs.

Turning, the Silverfangs had stopped as well. The bigger ones were already leaving, but the small one I had fought remained there still, just like me. It looked into my eyes and I stared back. Its red eyes opposite to its silver fur, burned with the same fire as the Emberfang's eyes did back in the volcano, full of anger and thirst for revenge. For some reason, I wasn't afraid and, the more I looked, the more fear showed in its eyes.

A moment passed, and then another, none of us moving. Then, the Silverfang's fear won it over, and turned away, following its family. I looked back at the volcano. When I had left the village, the sun was still out, but the volcano looked purplish with the night slowly arriving.