Then these words spilled as I open my mouth.
“Okay, you can come out now.”
“…”
Silence met my words.
Cautiously, my eyes scanned the dense mass of trees and plants that comprises the forest. On my right hand, my fingers clenched tightly the handle of the small ax I have brought earlier before leaving the house. The huge trees have cast over shadows inside the forest, making the woods somehow an eerie place one need to feel to tread carefully despite it was still in the middle of the day.
“Hmm. Have I thought too much?” I mumbled, whispering to myself. Or maybe a bout of hallucination? I stared blankly into the forest, my mind churning a jumble of thoughts of what next step of action I should do.
After nodding to myself, I stepped inside the forest. I looked back only once before continuing forward.
My eyes roamed around as my feet took light and careful steps. Occasionally, people would go into the forest to forage herbs and wild edibles. Others would hunt small animals or catch some fish for meat. However, the forest seemed to be quieter at this moment. It was as if the sounds were taken away, and were gathered into the village where the festivity is currently happening. A few birds can be seen as they flapped their wings across the wide blue sky. No sound of crickets can be heard, as if they were still in hibernation and still waiting for summer to come.
And just I was feeling that I was the only one wandering in this place, something snapped can be faintly heard behind me as I made my way further inside the woods.
Snap.
I stopped walking.
“…who’s there?” I slowly called out, my voice taut.
“…”
I was met again with no response.
“Hello…?” I tried again, my voice lowering with hesitance while keeping my senses alert.
A slight gust of wind flew a few strands of my hair on my face and made the dried leaves on the ground rustled.
My instincts tell me that this time, I was not imagining things and somebody is also here.
I slowly turned around and darted my eyes to the trees one by one, unable to sense where my unknown companion be. Or the unknown passerby be. Had the person already walked away? My brows scrunched up while my eyes closed into slits as I felt frustrated and at the same time a little bit afraid. I was beginning to question my decision of venturing into the woods by myself.
Looking as if there was no longer somebody here beside me, I decided to continue trudging the forest for a little bit more before returning back to the village.
Then that’s when I saw a trail of blood.
My sight followed the bright red trail spanning from both directions. Kneeling on one knee on the ground, I observed closer and saw that it seemed fresh as the blood had only started to dry up on the grasses and soil. As I tried to identify whether the trail points to left or right, I saw a few distance away on my right that there seemed to be more blood pooled and was mixed on the muddy ground. I walked closer and saw what seemed like animal footprints. From the sized of them, the creature was huge with webbed like feet that resembled like the paws of a dogs, but was much bigger and heavier based on the depth of the marks.
I sucked in a huge breath.
Is this the creature from the rumors? My hand with the ax felt shaky, trying to suppress the trembles that might let go of my hold to the meager “weapon” I have with me.
“W-what’s with all this blood?” I whispered in a trembling voice, feeling my eyes widen as fear rose up. How? Who is it? Is my speculation right? These questions circulated in my head as confusion swirled inside me.
What’s happening? I already prevented the three kids from entering the forest. And there’s just one thing I still haven’t confirmed about and was only a mere theory. Or is it that I remembered the story wrong?
I looked once more on the paw marks and saw that it was going in the left direction of the woods where clumps of bushes and plants are more abundant. Where there were more places to hide.
Or more places to lie in wait for a prey.
Just I was about to stand and stepped back to run away, I heard rough voices coming from my right side. My head swiveled on the side, trying to identify where the voices came from, halting me from moving. It seems the source of the voices was somewhere near here. I looked once more on the blood marks and to the left, feeling the poundings of my heart getting faster.
I swallowed twice, trying to moisten my throat that had gone dry. Then I began walking, one measured step at a time towards the voices. After passing by a dozen trees, what I saw was a small clearing where two huge rocks stood out beside each other and were surrounded by stout and slender trees a distance away from them. Then I saw a group of four talking men huddled at the base of the rocks.
I immediately hide behind an old tree with a wide trunk, clamping my mouth with my free hand.
I carefully leaned half my head out and peeked at them, gauging the distance between us. The men seemed oblivious to their surroundings and were seriously focused on what they’re discussing. Two men sat on the ground, one drinking while the other held a crossbow and wiping it with a cloth. The other two are standing, one leaning against the rock, playing a dagger in his hand. The last man looked to be hyped up, a short swaying sword hung at the belt strapped around his hips, his hands gestured animatedly as he talked to his other group members. All the men look rough and had hard expression on their faces. Their clothes looked worn and dark. They seemed to be armed up, and each one had a tattoo in one of their upper arms.
Squinting my eyes to focus, the tattoos looked all the same, a figure of a coiling serpent with a triangular head in the center most of its coiled body. What made it look creepy was the single big eye on the snake’s head, like it was a mutated snake instead of a normal one that had two slit eyes.
To summarize, these people looked dangerous. And is currently talking something that seemed dangerous.
My ears were gradually able to hear what they’re talking.
“And before that blind idiot knew what was happening, I already mushed his face into a bloody pulp of a mess.” The man with a short sword guffawed, his voice loud and arrogant as it vibrates around the clearing.
“You should really blinded him then, mate.” Replied the man with the dagger. He tossed the dagger up and catch it in a natural and smooth motion. “Want me to take his eyes out?” he offered, his nasal voice rang with maliciousness.
“Are you two insane?” asked the man who was drinking earlier. “Do you want to be beaten and punished by the boss? If so, don’t dragged us into your mess.” He said in an irritated tone.
“Huh. Aren’t you a wimp?” The dagger man sneered. “Even if you don’t join in our fun, we are still might be punished after we return. Who’s the one who let the damned boy escape, huh?” He glared at the sitting man in disdain.
“The heck?” He sputtered in outrage. “Who said to bait that freaking dog while finishing the super easy task to earn more gold?” He sarcastically continued while snorting.
“You eager to be slice up into bits by me?” the dagger man threatened, his voice and eyes glinting with anger.
“Oh, should I be scared? How about you try frothing up and vomit blood with my poison?” the other man retaliated, standing up and facing off with the dagger man.
“Enough.” An authoritative voice said. Clinking some parts of the crossbow, the man finished wiping his weapon and put the cloth away. He stood up and patted away his behind. The two arguing men reluctantly backed down and were instead shooting glares at each other.
“Leader, it will be a waste if we didn’t track that valuable chap. Didn’t you shoot it with your crossbow? It should be fatally wounded. Let’s find its blood trail and finish it.” The man with the short sword blurted excitedly as he looked at the man he addressed as the leader.
“Do not bother with it any longer. We must carry out first the order the boss gave us.” The leader declared in a flat voice.
“The boy should be still around this area. We must find and secure him immediately. Especially before he finds out anything.”
“Tsk. Damn it. All those golds…” One of three men muttered sulkily.
“That brat isn’t simple. He was able to slipped away as we were just about to take him.” Said the dagger man.
“Sneaky as heck too. Who knew he would hide in this forest? With the rumors of a dangerous creature, nobody in their sane mind would venture further for a while here. Not that the rumors were not true.” The man who threatened with using poison snorted.
“But he underestimated us. He thinks that creature would stop us going after him? Right, Leader?” He continued in a smug tone as he looks at the man holding a crossbow.
“The day is no longer. Let’s continue and finish this.” Their leader said.
“Split into two groups. Catch the boy and don’t let him escape.” He instructed.
“If the boy showed resistance, silenced him.” He finished, his voice deep and menacing.
As the meaning of the words dawned on me, chills run down my spine. Something is happening. Something dangerous and ominous. And I accidentally stumbled upon it.
Seeing the group prepared themselves to move, I back away carefully and retreated with stealth, afraid to be discovered as I have an inkling of what they might be capable of when dealing with a witness.
Keep steady, Athenilda. Focus. Don’t panic right now. Panic later. I scolded myself as I felt my body began to numb with fear and panic choking me up. I glance at the clearing every now and then as I gradually try to move further away, watching in case they already disperse and someone might come in my direction. It seemed that an argument ensued between them, an opportunity arises for me to slip further away from the clearing.
Taking a deep breath, I counted to three and exhaled slowly. I repeated this twice and felt myself slightly calmed down. Then I proceeded to walk towards the direction where I saw the blood. It took twice amount of time as I moved warily before I was able to see the familiar trail of red.
“Oh thank goodness.” I muttered as I leaned towards a tree, hands on my knees, both shaking with fright. Something tells me that I need to get out of here right now. My instincts are screaming to keep moving, to move as fast and far away from the forest as possible.
Then I heard crisp sounds of snapping and crunching. Like twigs and dried leaves being stepped on. Sounds that seemed just near behind me.
Then my body was pulled and something clamped my mouth.
