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 prettily, 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 our fight had ended, but there was no Silverfang around. At the bottom, a faint trail of dried blood led further into the forest.

  I followed it. Step by step, the streak of red grew thinner, turning into small, scattered drops. The sound of the river, once distant, became louder with each step. My feet brushed against leaves and twigs as I walked, but I barely heard them. All I could focus on was the path ahead, the way the blood pulled me forward.

  Then, with a final parting of the leaves, I saw it.

  The river.

  I had never been here before. Every day, I heard it but never dared to look for it, afraid I'd get lost. It was bigger than I imagined—wider than three of me lying side by side.

  The water ran down from a huge rock in steps, straight, then down, then straight, then down, like a giant staircase. It wasn’t fast like a waterfall, more like a slow, lazy crawl, without making any waves. Through the surface, I could see rocks and water flowers, swaying beneath.

  The trail of blood crossed the river, faint but still there. Carefully, I stepped across, hopping over shallow stones. Once on the other side, I picked up the trail again and followed.

  Deeper and deeper.

  The drops shrank even more, turning into small, tiny specks. The forest thickened around me, trees standing taller, scarier. The air too, smelled different here, damp like old wood and moss.

  Rustle. Rustle.

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  I slowed down. The sound came from the bushes, then another from behind. My ears twitched. More rustling. Left. Right. Somewhere far. Somewhere near.

  I swallowed.

  ‘Ignore it. Follow the trail.’

  But my feet hesitated. The drops were harder to see now. I blinked, scanning the ground, searching. A frown tugged at my lips. When was the last time I saw a drop? A second ago? A minute?

  I looked back.

  Nothing.

  The trail was gone.

  My tummy tightened, a small panic creeping in. I spun around, eyes darting between roots, leaves, and dirt. Up, down, left, right. Nothing.

  No more blood.

  I held my breath, straining my ears. ‘The river. I can hear the river and go back.’

  Silence.

  I sucked in a sharp breath.

  ‘I can’t hear the river!’

  The realization hit like a punch. The river had always been there, a sound so constant that I never noticed how much I relied on it. Even after awakening, my ears had stretched far enough to catch it, yet now… nothing.

  Only rustling.

  A low growl rose from the trees.

  My ears twitched violently. My heart thumped. The rustling grew louder, closer. Leaves trembled. Twigs snapped. My feet refused to move, locked in place by the fear.

  Then—

  Another growl, sharper, angrier.

  Panicking, I curled down into a ball and hid my head under my hands, only to jump back up when another growl rang out, much louder and closer than before.

  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.