The tall grass swayed as a gust of wind blew over it. Around forty people stood in the open, their faces etched with confusion. Overnight, their world had changed. While the slaves had just grasped onto the tiny hope that they had been freed from their sufferings and could now finally be free, this change of scenery gave them mixed feelings about their 'freedom'.
Kael was extremely confused by the sequence of events. At first, he thought that it had all been a part of his dream, but his emotions were too heavy for him to consider this a dream. Everything had happened too fast. But now, there was no time for emotions—only survival mattered.
One of the slaves ran his hands through the swaying grass and said, "This ain't right... This ain't wheat, ain't dirt—what kinda grass grows tall as a man's waist? Smells like... like mint and rust."
Another slave that had been in the same cell as Kael said while backing away to the underground door of the corridor they came from, "The factory's gone. Not rubble, not ash—gone. Like it was never there. That's not natural!"
Kicking at the tall grass, Zarek said while forcing a grin, "Who cares? No walls, no whips. Maybe we got tossed into some noble's hunting preserve. I'll take trees over chains any day."
An elder who looked way past old age said while holding his head, "Listen! No birds. No insects. Just the wind. You ever heard wind that sounds like... whispering?"
The slave that had been backing away suddenly grabbed Kael's arms and shouted in an accusing tone, "Was this you? You and your damn nightmares—you brought us here!"
"Think I'd waste five years in chains just to teleport us to a field?" Kael said coldly as he shook off the slave.
The slave that had been around the grass said while looking towards the trees, "Screw that! I'm finding a road, a town—"
Zarek cut him off as he laughed bitterly and said, "Road? Look around, genius. Only 'road' here's through those freaky-ass trees."
While they were discussing it, the other slaves had been thinking a way out of the situation too. Some were panicking while the others were just disappointed. Everyone had their own opinion about the sudden change and the disappearance of their workplace or the masked person.
As Zarek and the others were still in an argument, Kael suddenly noticed abnormal movement in the grass near the slave who had been investigating it but was now looking over at other people.
The grass almost reached Kael's shoulders and Kael wasn't taller than average. So, it was not easy to spot a difference in the movement of the grass blades just from a casual look. But the movement was too obvious to be normal.
Kael opened his mouth to warn him—too late. The grass parted, revealing a gaping maw. Serrated teeth clamped down, ripping into flesh. Bone gleamed white where muscle had been torn away. A maw of serrated teeth clamped onto the slave's leg, yanking him into the grass before he could scream.
All of this happened in a split second. The slave's shouts and screams rang out throughout the slaves before being silenced by the approaching death. One heartbeat—the slave stood whole. The next—his leg ended at a stump, the rest of him vanishing into the green. A single scream cut through the stunned silence… then nothing. The shock turned to terror as reality crashed over them.
They came back to their senses as another scream, this time a female's, rang out before being dragged deep inside the field and coming to a stop in a while. A chill went down Kael's spine as the visibly clear maw in his memory appeared once again from another side and dragged in another prey.
A man who had been almost in the center of the crowd narrowed his eyes. His dark-brown eyes showed a faint familiarity as his golden-brown hair swayed in the wind. Without anyone noticing, the man disappeared from his spot and appeared at the outermost layer of people and then quietly walked back inside the tall grass. In a second, his figure disappeared into the green grass.
Suddenly, something jumped out of the green sea and pounced on another one of the slaves that was standing close to Zarek. Before he could move, a hand grabbed onto his collar from behind and pulled him back. Staggering a little, Zarek noticed that it was Kael with a deadpan expression on his face.
The thing that had pounced on the unknown slave was a creature very similar to that of a dog. But it was slightly overgrown to the point it almost reached Kael's chest while still being on its four.
Drool dripped from its gaping maw, sizzling as it made contact with flesh, leaving behind blackened, corroded wounds. Its eyes were sealed as if sewn up and it had brown fur with white patches on it. Every time any slave made even the slightest movements, its ears stood up in that direction erect as if its lack of sight was fulfilled by this other sense.
While it enjoyed its meal, four more of these dog-like beasts pounced out of the grass and feasted on the slaves. Everyone was sent into a frenzy and ran away in different directions.
Just as Zarek was about to run away in horror too, the hand that had still been grabbing his collar pulled him inside the grass field once again. Before he could make a sound, Kael pressed his left hand on his mouth. He slowly pulled Zarek close as he whispered in his ears:
"Don't. Speak. Follow. Me."
Zarek had known Kael for a long time. They had grown up together and had gone through several dangerous situations together. In most of those cases, it had been Kael's instincts that led to them being able to live through all of that mess. So, Zarek decided to believe in his friend once more and nodded his head in agreement.
Kael then slowly came down on his knees and started crawling toward a particular direction, Zarek followed behind him without a question. The ground was slightly muddy, and insects crawling across the field. They kept crawling as shouts and screams came out of different directions.
The beast's movements and its hunting pattern were very similar to one that relied more on their hearing. So to counter that, Kael had decided to crawl instead of crouch to avoid losing balance while not getting tired too much due to the slow movements.
Kael had started to think of it when the first beast pounced on his prey.
Every little movement took a toll on Kael and Zarek as they hadn't led a healthy life till now. But the physical labor proved useful in a sense that their muscles made them capable of doing this ludicrous situation.
'Almost there.' Kael thought as he slowly moved forward with Zarek diagonally beside him. As Kael was leading the way, Zarek knew he couldn't be in the lead but he made sure that he was close enough if things went south.
Kael froze, raising a hand—warning Zarek to do the same. Something was sniffing nearby. The sniffing sound grew heavier as more grass rustled.
Realizing that the situation was about to go sideways very quickly, Zarek tried to reach out towards the rock near his right hand. Just as he was about to grab it, Kael grabbed his hand instead and shook his head slowly.
Kael and Zarek could slightly see the beast that was just a few meters away from them. The closer the beast got, the faster it moved towards them.
Thump…
Before the beast could get any closer to them, the sound of someone falling on the mud tore the silent atmosphere. The beast, Kael and Zarek turned their heads in the direction to see that the old slave that had been in the same cell as them had tripped over his own feet. As they looked at the slave, the slave looked at them too, his eyes opened wide.
The beast slithered through the grass like a living shadow—one moment a whisper, the next a crushing force that sent the slave sprawling. The slave wanted to shout but his throat had been ripped apart, all he could do was stare with his dead eyes towards Kael and Zarek who did the same.
Kael and Zarek watched the beast ravage and devour the slave in a mindless manner. Blood pooled around everywhere and the crunching sound was diabolical. It was something that shouldn't be the end of even one's worst enemies.
Zarek noticed Kael's muffled breathing and grim expression as he watched the beast. He slowly moved forward and bumped into Kael. He noticed the guy gulping and getting his color back as he started to move once again.
The two of them kept moving till they noticed that the grass was not that tall anymore and tall trees had appeared a few meters in front of them. The moment Zarek realized that they had been crawling in the forest's direction, he once again acknowledged his friend's intelligence and started to pick up his pace.
As they were getting closer to the forest, Zarek suddenly heard a growl from a few meters behind them. At this moment, Zarek thought that as the beasts couldn't see, they wouldn't be able to catch up to them. But his thoughts evaporated in an instant as he saw Kael look behind them with a terrified expression.
The beast was just about 20 meters behind them while the forest ahead was only about 10 meters. As Kael saw the beast, he noticed something that made him sweat profusely. This was not because he had suspicion that the beast had found them, but because he knew it for a fact.
After all, unlike the other beasts, this dog-like creature had rabid red eyes and was growling while looking straight into Kael's eyes.
Kael locked eyes with the beast, then grabbed Zarek's wrist and bolted toward the forest. Zarek stumbled but quickly found his footing, sprinting alongside him.
As they started running, the beast too ran at an insanely fast speed.Kael and Zarek ran, lungs burning, hearts pounding. Behind them, the beast lunged—closer with every stride.
Just as the beast was about to lunge at Zarek, he realised that the grass had disappeared around them and now tall trees were all around them. He refused to stop and kept running behind Kael before Kael looked behind them once again and then came to a stop.
When he saw this, Zarek too decided to stop but instead ended up slamming into a tree. Looking behind, Kael realised that the beast snarled at them with its rabid eyes, yet it refused to enter the forest and stayed at the boundary. After Zarek somehow got back his bearings and stood back up, the beast howled and then returned to the lush grass.
After seeing that the beast had decided to leave them be, relief flooded Zarek's veins—sweeter than stolen wine, more fragile than their first night unchained. The adrenaline that had him going this long was no longer there, making him lose the strength in his leg as he let himself fall down.
Lying on the ground, he stared up at the treetops, where slivers of light pierced through the leaves. A laugh bubbled up from his chest—raw, relieved, almost hysterical. After laughing like that for a while, he turned towards Kael who had sat down with his legs crossed and had started biting onto his nails at some point in time.
"Thanks for saving my life." Zarek thanked curling his lips up. But his friend was still looking at the spot the beast had turned back from while furrowing. 'Ugh, this guy…'
"Don't be so stiff man, you should be dancing around at a time like this."
Finally, Kael stopped biting his nails and stood up. He turned his head towards Zarek and clicked his tongue, "We ended up escaping one horror while stepping inside a bigger one."
Hearing this, Zarek sat up straight and said in a confused expression, "The forest is not safe?"
"Even though we were just a step away from that beast's range, it still refused to attack us, let alone step inside the forest. That's not a normal reaction unless there is something much more stronger and terrifying inside this forest and the beast stepping inside the forest would alarm whatever there is inside this forest." Kael explained as he moved to a nearby tree and peeled off a piece of bark.
The piece of bark was similar to that of the ones he had always seen but still somehow different, as if it had a life of its own, and that life also had a will of its own. Looking back at the tree, he realized the patch of bark he'd peeled away had regenerated itself and was as it looked before. Seeing this, cold sweat formed on his forehead.
"You mean to say that that doggie let us go because a bigger doggie is lurking somewhere inside this forest, and now that we have entered the forest, the big doggie knows about it too?" Zarek said, stroking his chin.
'That's…. You can put it that way too I guess.' Kael thought as he let out a hollow chuckle. He was somehow glad that despite being in a life-or-death situation, Zarek had not let go of his humor. It also helped him calm down as he realized he was not alone in this and someone still had his back.
It was also a reminder of what he was fighting for and why it was essential for them to survive. The events ever since the appearance of the masked entity were bizarre and something they had never experienced before. They didn't get even a single moment to register their thoughts or make a plan.
As he finally got to think freely again, Kael realized that he had made many mistakes in his previous decisions and that he could have saved more people while taking a much less dangerous path.
But it was all behind him now and many people had died, not that it was his obligation to save them but it wasn't pleasant to the eyes to watch them gruesomely die as well. Nonetheless, their deaths helped him realize just how dangerous their situation was right now and how they couldn't make any more mistakes.
He snapped back to reality as he felt a pat on his back. With a grin, Zarek jerked his chin towards the forest and said with a grin, "Wanna go find out how this big doggie looks?"
Kael was dumbfounded whether to compliment the young man for his confidence or punch him in his guts for his lack of awareness of their situation.
Taking a deep breath, Kael looked towards Zarek and said, "From now on, listen and do whatever I say. This forest is going to be even more dangerous than that grass field. If we want to survive, we have to move each step cautiously."
With his right hand on his chest, Zarek bowed towards him slightly and said in a graceful tone, "As you command, Your Majesty."
Unable to hold back his laughter anymore, Kael finally let out a hearty laugh. Zarek joined in and laughed alongside him.
***
Back at the clearing between the tall grass, lifeless bodies lay around. The blood flowed out of their bodies and pooled around them, forming a disgusting scene. But there were not only bodies of the slaves there anymore, there were also the beasts between those bodies.
They had been either ripped apart or looked like they had been punched to death, their heads a mixture of cranial matter and splinters of bone and blood. Near one of the bodies of the beast, a man could be seen crouching on the ground and inspecting the dead body.
Despite having tattered clothes and a patchy beard, the man barely looked like a slave. He had dark-brown eyes and his golden-brown hair swayed perfectly in the warm air, giving him a majestic look. His muscles were fine-toned and he didn't look malnourished in the least.
He then plunged his hands deep inside the beast's body and pulled it out, a tiny gem-like glowing red stone in his fingers. The man fiddled with the stone for a bit before saying in a deep voice, "Guess I'll just have to cook it."
A small grin appeared on his face as he crushed the gem-like stone with his index finger and thumb. Minuscule particles akin to dust glowing red swirled around the young man's fingers before entering his skin and disappearing. A faint red glow appeared in his eyes as he closed them. Opening them once again, the faint glow in his eyes had disappeared and the glowing stone was nowhere to be seen.
The man then stood up and dusted off his clothes, but his clothes were mostly covered in blood so nothing much changed. Turning his head towards the forest, he once again opened his mouth and said in a mocking manner, "You are very smart for an overgrown dog."
Just as he said this, the beast that had chased before Kael and Zarek came into view. The beast growled with anger as saliva fell down from his maw. Unlike the other beasts, this one was slightly bigger, had eyes and seemed to be physically stronger and slightly more intelligent than the others.
His smile sharpened. "I wonder... do you taste better than the rest?"