I do not like silence.
Not ordinary silence… not the silence of night within a city, or the silence when people sleep after they are full.
That kind of silence is understandable.
But the silence here… beyond the walls… is something else.
The silence of the Red Forest.
It is not the absence of sound… but the absence of the pleasure of life itself.
I was walking at the front.
The paper was in my left hand, carefully wrapped in rough leather so that rain or blood wouldn't tear it.
The crude pen was tied to my wrist with a string.
The leader had told me precisely:
"Everything you see… draw it."
I didn't understand why a man like him would care about lines on paper.
But I learned something about him quickly.
If he says something… there is a reason.
There is always a reason.
Behind me were five men.
Men he had personally chosen because they were the strongest.
Our footsteps were careful and quiet.
Dry leaves beneath our feet were pressed slowly so they wouldn't make a sound.
The smell in the air was a mix of mud… old blood… and something else.
Something I have no name for.
I stopped.
I raised my hand.
Everyone stopped immediately. We didn't talk much during a hunt signals were enough.
I knelt near a half-burned tree, half black, half dark red.
I took out the paper.
A long line representing the wall.
Short lines representing the path.
Then I added something new.
I drew the tree.
I drew the small cliff beside it, and I drew a small symbol… a plant.
One of the men glanced at me.
"Are we going to eat paper now, Animo?"
I didn't lift my head.
"If the leader said this is important… then it is."
The man laughed lightly.
But the laugh died quickly.
Because something in the forest… moved.
The sound came first.
A creak.
As if bone were grinding against bone.
Then the smell rotting blood… and spoiled flesh.
I gestured slowly.
The men spread out.
Each one took position.
The silence returned… but this time it was charged.
Then it came out.
The creature.
It wasn't an animal… not exactly.
A long body covered in filthy green hair.
Four legs… but the joints were reversed.
Its head… closer to a human head with the skin stripped off.
Its eyes were white… no pupils.
Its mouth… always open.
As if it were smiling.
I remembered Ilia's words.
"If you see something you don't understand… don't act like heroes."
I lowered my voice.
"Don't move."
The creature sniffed the air.
Then it let out a low sound… a whine… or a laugh.
I couldn't tell.
Suddenly… it lunged.
Hunting is not courage.
Hunting is a battle of who dies first.
The man on the left wasn't fast enough.
The creature leapt onto him.
I heard bone… crack.
A short scream.
But the first arrow had already been released.
Then the second.
Then the third.
The arrows pierced its body, but it didn't fall.
Instead, it turned toward me.
It ran.
Faster than I expected.
I raised my spear.
I waited.
One step…
Two steps…
Then I struck.
The iron tip pierced its shoulder.
It didn't die.
But it stumbled.
And then the man behind it came in.
An axe strike.
Not to kill.
But to the leg.
The tendon snapped.
The creature fell to the ground, screaming with a sharp sound that made teeth tremble.
We rushed toward it immediately.
A rope around the neck.
A rope around the legs.
Pull.
It resisted.
Bit.
But after moments, it only writhed.
Alive… but helpless.
The men panted.
Blood on the ground.
But no one had died.
The man who had almost been killed stepped forward.
His chest was bleeding… but he was alive.
He spat blood.
"Damn… this thing…"
I looked at the creature.
It was staring at us.
Not like an animal.
As if it were thinking.
I hated that.
I took out the paper.
And I drew it.
Quick lines.
Body… limbs… head.
Then I wrote the symbol Ilia had taught us.
"Hostile creature."
Then I added another line.
"Capturable."
We tightened the ropes well.
Why take it alive?
I don't know.
But the leader had said:
"The dead aren't very useful."
Hours later, we were walking back.
The sun didn't appear much here, but the light was enough to see the path.
The creature was being dragged behind us.
It writhed… whimpered… but couldn't escape.
We found plants along the way, some black like tar, some glowing with a pale green color.
I cut some and marked them on the paper.
I drew.
Lines… symbols… places.
Little by little…
The map was growing.
The forest was no longer just chaos.
It was starting to become… a place.
A place that could be understood.
And that… made me think of something.
Ilia.
He wasn't just a strong man.
He was… building something.
Something bigger than a city.
Then I heard the sound.
Not an animal. Not a creature.
But… wheels.
I stopped immediately.
I raised my hand.
Everyone froze.
The sound came closer.
Metal grinding against stone.
A heavy creak.
We slipped between the trees.
Slowly.
Then we saw them.
A convoy.
Massive wagons.
Iron… chains… cages.
And inside the cages… things.
Humans but not entirely human.
Strange faces.
Bodies similar to ours.
Creatures slamming the bars with their teeth.
There were many wagons.
And the men leading them… were well armed.
More than us.
Far more.
I stood behind a tree… watching.
My heart beating slowly.
Then I saw their leader.
A tall man… with cold eyes.
Oliver.
I didn't know his name back then.
But I knew something else.
This man… had killed many.
You could see it in the way he stood.
In the way he looked at the cages.
As if they were… merchandise.
"I hope that city is still standing… otherwise we'll be returning with empty cages."
"Don't worry… the humans there will survive no matter what, and they'll fill them up quickly."
They laughed.
A cold laugh.
My hand tightened on the spear.
But I didn't move.
Five men against that convoy?
That would be nothing but suicide.
Suddenly… one of the wagons stopped.
One of the men got down.
He walked a few steps.
Then… stopped.
He sniffed the air, then slowly… turned.
He looked directly… at our position.
I didn't move.
He didn't speak.
But a slow smile spread across his face.
A smile… filled with something filthy.
Then he said in a low voice to the others,
"It seems… we're not alone here."
As their eyes began searching between the trees…
I realized one thing.
We… were no longer the hunters.
But… the prey.
At that moment, I held in every breath.
Even my chest… moved in a slow, painful way.
Cold leaves pressed against my face, and dirt clung to my skin, while the eyes of those men swept through the forest.
One of them came closer.
His steps were heavy… confident.
"I swear I smelled something."
"What did you smell? Fear?"
They laughed.
But the leader… didn't laugh.
He stood beside the first wagon, watching the trees in silence.
"Four men."
They turned to him.
"Go and make sure."
It wasn't a request.
It was an order.
Four men stepped forward.
Their swords slid slowly out of their sheaths.
The sound of metal… was enough to make the skin crawl.
They moved away from the convoy and began entering the forest.
Toward… our direction.
I whispered barely,
"Don't move."
Behind me, the men were breathing with difficulty.
"Damn it…"
"Quiet."
But the problem wasn't us.
The problem… was behind us.
The creature.
That thing we had captured.
It was tied with ropes behind the trees.
And it was… moving.
Twisting.
Trying to break free.
Then it made a sound.
A faint wail… strange… long.
As if a child were crying inside a well.
The blood in my veins froze.
One of the hunters whispered,
"Damn… damn…"
The sound came again.
A little louder.
The wail slipped between the trees.
And the four men… heard it.
They stopped immediately.
"You heard that?"
"Yeah."
They moved closer… more.
Toward the sound.
Toward… the creature.
I looked at my men.
They all understood.
We didn't need words.
I moved slowly toward the man closest to me.
I whispered in his ear,
"We'll leave it."
He hesitated.
He looked at the creature.
Then at me.
"As bait?"
"Yes."
He didn't object.
No one objects when they want to live.
We moved.
Slowly.
We crawled away between the bushes. The wail behind us grew louder, and the creature felt the movement and began thrashing violently.
The ropes strained.
Then it screamed.
A sharp scream… as if it split the air.
And at that moment…
We heard the men.
"Ha!"
"We found it!"
"My God… look at this thing!"
Laughter.
"It's alive! We can take it!"
"Or kill it now."
The sound of a strike.
The creature's scream rose.
Then…
The sound of tearing.
I didn't look back.
I couldn't.
"Run."
We ran.
Not like hunters.
But like terrified animals.
Branches struck our faces.
The ground was uneven.
Tree roots tried to trip us.
But we ran.
Behind us… the shouts began.
"There are tracks!"
"There's more than one!"
"Follow them!"
Damn it.
"Split up!"
But there was no time.
The sound behind us grew closer.
Many footsteps.
Trained men.
Faster than us.
I heard an arrow cut through the air.
Then a scream.
I turned.
The last man in our group fell.
The arrow in his back.
He didn't stop.
He didn't even scream.
He just… fell.
We ran faster.
Three now.
Then two.
And suddenly, I stopped.
Not because I wanted to.
But because someone… was in front of us.
Sitting on a rock.
Yawning.
A thin man… half reclining.
His hair hung lazily.
His eyes half-closed.
"Oh…"
Then he looked at us.
He smiled.
"Found you."
Marcus.
We didn't know his name.
But we knew something else.
Danger.
The man beside me raised his spear immediately.
"Stay back!"
Marcus looked at him as if he were an annoying child.
He stretched slowly.
Stood up.
"I was resting…"
He took a step forward.
"But it seems I've found some entertainment."
The man rushed at him.
A shout.
A spear strike.
But…
I didn't see the movement.
I only saw the result.
The man… stopped.
The spear fell from his hand.
A red line appeared on his neck.
Then… it opened.
Blood burst out.
Marcus was behind him.
Wiping the blood from his dagger.
"Too slow…"
Then he looked at me.
He smiled.
"Let's have more fun."
I ran.
I didn't think.
I didn't fight.
I ran.
Behind me, I heard his voice.
Calm… enjoying.
"Run… run…"
His laughter was worse than any scream.
The trees became a blur.
My legs hurt.
My chest burned.
But I didn't stop.
I didn't dare.
Sometimes I heard his footsteps.
Sometimes… I didn't.
And that was worse.
I don't know how long I ran.
Maybe an hour.
Maybe a lifetime.
But finally, I saw the wall.
The city wall.
Tears almost came to my eyes.
I shouted at the top of my voice,
"Open the gate!"
The guards atop the wall jolted.
"Animo?!"
"Open it!"
My foot stumbled.
I fell.
I crawled.
The ground beneath my hands was cold… familiar.
The gate began to open.
The creak of massive wood.
I reached it.
Then my legs could no longer carry me.
I collapsed.
The last thing I saw was the guard's face shouting,
"Close the gate! Close it!"
Then darkness.
But before I lost consciousness, I was certain of one thing.
The forest…
Did not come alone this time.
But… something far worse came with it.