Chapter 25: Janus (4)

Lucid readjusted the bag on his back and began to make his way up the mountain pass. In the end, he had concluded that the dangers he would face along the pass at night would be comparable to the dangers of spending the night at the foot of the mountain. He would be powerless to do anything in either situation, so it was best that he covered as much distance as he could when he could.

Not many people went through this pass, so the journey was just as arduous as the mountain trail yesterday had been. On top of that, he hadn’t fully recovered from yesterday’s endeavors yet, so Lucid found the climb rather straining. He hadn’t even reached the halfway point, but his legs were already shaking, and his breathing became rather rapid and shallow. The sun had already fallen beyond the Great Mountains, and darkness stretched across the sky. Pebbles and rocks hindered Lucid’s steps, providing an additional annoyance. He also had to duck and twist to avoid stray branches along the way, which only helped to drain him of his strength much faster. As the darkness continued to spread over his surroundings, so did the fear in his heart.

When Lucid finally reached the ridge of the mountain, he had fully exhausted every last drop of strength in his body. He had resisted the temptation of stopping to rest and forced himself to reach this point of the mountain. His breathing was strained, but as he looked down, he saw countless trees stretching over the land. He would have to follow the way down into the middle of the thicket once again, but today was not the day. He couldn’t bring himself to take even one more step. At the end of the mountain pass, there was a rather large boulder, and Lucid decided to lean against for a well-deserved rest. As he closed his eyes, he felt that he could fall asleep right then and there. If it hadn’t been for all the noise, perhaps he would have.

A howl in the dark.

His eyes snapped open, and the boy looked around carefully. Thankfully, there were no tall trees near the mountain pass, so he could make out the silhouette of his surroundings, dimly lit by the pale moonlight. No matter how hard he looked, there was no sign of whatever had made the noise.

Then another howl rang out, and another.

Lucid already knew it was from wolves. They were close. What he didn’t know was how many there were, so he quickly stood up and put up his guard. There wasn’t much else he could do than glance around and shake in fear. Neither of his feet budged. It was as if he was glued to the ground. Then, something rustled to his right. Or, so he thought. He couldn’t be sure. Tension took over his whole body, and he couldn’t make out any of the sounds he was hearing, or what he was seeing. The hair stood at the back of his neck. What was he to do?

A growl in the dark.

Lucid ran. He ran towards the thicket he saw earlier. The bag on his bag rattled and shook with each step, but he couldn’t even find the time to throw it out. It was a downhill path, so it took no extra effort to run through. But he was terrified, so much so that he couldn’t tell whether he was actually following the path at all. He just ran and ran again. The more he ran, the more momentum he gained, and his center of balance was thrown off. Each time he stumbled, he ran faster to stop himself from falling. Still, his body leaned forward over and over, and he wasn’t sure he was even breathing properly. It felt as though wolves were already behind him, chasing after him, running, and catching up to him. Fear overtook his senses, and his ears shut. His field of vision narrowed and narrowed, but he kept running, nonetheless. He wondered if this was what it meant to run for your life, when suddenly, a tree appeared in front of him. He had missed it, focused as he was on running and running alone.

“Ah!” He let out a short scream as he fell forward. Instinctively, he reached out with his arms to protect his body from the ground, but that didn’t stop him from rolling down the mountain pass. He had only rolled twice, maybe thrice, but at least he hadn’t fallen face-first against the tree. He had missed it by a hair, but as soon as he had rolled past it, the dull sound of something the tree rang out from behind him. When he glanced back, Lucid came face to face with a huge wolf, knocked unconscious from running into the tree.

‘It really was right behind me!’

Lucid drew in a hurried breath and began to run again. He ran past and between the surrounding trees, vaguely aware that protruding branches were scratching his face and body all over, but too afraid to notice the pain. He was fully focused on running away and avoiding the trees. From close behind, a wolf barked loudly. It kicked off the ground, jumping into the air, and opened its wide, crimson jaws. And it bit down, latching onto the boy. More accurately, and rather fortunately, it latched onto the boy’s bag. It had been Lucid’s bag since he was young, much younger than he was now, and now, it had ripped to shreds, sending the clothes inside flying. Lucid once again rolled down the slope, having no choice but to bid farewell to his trusty bag.

He had already approached the edge of the thicket when the wolf had attacked, and now that he had fully rolled out of it, there was nothing standing in the wolves’ way. Two of them rushed ahead to follow Lucid, who was still rolling down with no sign of stopping. Their eyes shone dangerously, glimmering from the thrill of the hunt, their breathing rushed and shallow. They were fully prepared to pounce on their small prey.

Then, Lucid disappeared from their sights. Before any of the wolves could react to the situation, one of the wolves that was giving chase also disappeared. All that remained of it was a howl, ringing distant and getting farther away still. Realizing something was amiss, the pack slowed down. They reached the place Lucid and the other wolf had disappeared from. A cliff. The wolves stared down into the abyss. A cold wind blew over them.

A howl rang out throughout the night.

Morning came. Birds sang atop tall trees, singing and flying around in search for food. A squirrel ran through the dewy petals and leaves before climbing a tree and hiding within its branches. The morning breeze, carrying the chill of early spring, blew through the thicket, caressing its branches, when a rustling noise shook the trees, right in the middle of the woods.

When Lucid awoke, a whimper escaped his lips before he could stop it. He was hurting, but there was no one around to look after him. All he could do was cry by himself. As tears flowed freely from his eyes, he suddenly realized his situation and quickly glanced around. He had been alert, as he was still in the woods, but he could see no immediate threat. Not fully reassured yet, he tried to stand up, but he let out a scream when he felt a piercing pain at his side.

Realizing he was in no condition to move about freely, he began to assess his physical state. First off, his shoulder hurt. Turning his head slightly, he saw a rather large gash on his left shoulder. The tears he had managed to stop threatened to spill again, but he bravely held it in. His limbs moved alright, but they were so covered in blood and mud that he couldn’t quite figure out what was going on. He carefully rolled his sleeves and pants up. There were a few scratches and tears on the skin, but it was nothing compared to the state of his shoulder. He pressed his head with his right hand and noticed that it hurt all over, though he couldn’t be sure of the extent of his injury without a clear view of it.

Despite his condition, it was crucial that he get a good look at his surroundings. He stood again, but the pain at his side worsened. He hunched over, practically bent in two. Lucid took a deep breath and gritted his teeth as he slowly straightened up, leaning heavily against the tree next to him. Not far from where he was standing, he saw a large wolf. Lucid froze in fear, unable to tear his eyes off the animal, but it showed no signs of movement. He waited, and waited, and waited again before slowly making his way towards the wolf. It was dead, its neck bent at an unnatural, grotesque angle, and its tongue sticking out of its mouth. Lucid stood there, staring at the wolf carcass for quite a long time, before breaking down completely. He fell to the ground, and began to cry loudly, miserably.

He felt miserable. He felt miserable that he had to go through such ordeals, that he was in so much pain, that he didn’t know the reason he was going through such things in the first place, that he was different from his friends, that he could never have a life like theirs. He felt miserable knowing there was no one he could turn to for answers.

“… Mom…” He called out between his tears.

Where are you?

<Janus (4)> End