That night, Lev and Kaz didn't return back to the village because, first, Lev had no one to return, and second, Kaz knew that Paul would definitely blame Lev for bringing such misfortune on his life.
They walked deeper into the forest and slept beneath a big, old tree.
Glib did the lookout when they were sleeping. He cautiously observed every movement around: The whistling air that gently blew the dead leaves, the strong wind that was making the green leaves fall from the tree, and what he was most aware of was the movement of an animal. But fortunately, Fate was smiling on them and no wild beast or a spiritless animal attacked them.
The next morning.
They wiped their faces and cleaned the blood on their ears, nose, and hands. Kaz looked at Lev, who was down-spirited and patted his shoulder.
Lev kept thinking and thinking while his body was aching all over the place.
"It's my fault. I'm sorry that I brought bad luck to your family. Honey is dead because of me."
I knew it... Kaz was right on thinking that maybe Lev was blaming himself for the incident.
"It's not your fault. What bad luck? Don't go start believing in those stupid beliefs. It's just... we were pretty unlucky. Anyway, you have a lot of explanation to do."
Kaz was waiting for Lev to explain all the supernatural that happened. He stood and brushed the dirt on his jacket.
"Both of you could do the talking while we're walking. There's no time to waste now," Glib materialized on Lev's head.
There was no turning back now. All he could do was to pray that this Kingdom was true and maybe, just maybe, he could live a new life there. From what Lev witnessed, he was now quite close believing in everything that Glib said.
Lev stood and continued to walk deeper into the dark and cold forest. While walking, Lev acquainted Kaz with everything that he knew while Glib interjected in whenever Lev said something wrong or something lacking. It took Lev a couple of hours to completely inform Kaz with the daily happenings that happened in his life.
"I see. It's something hard to believe, but what we saw last night was a total proof," Kaz exclaimed. His hazelnut eyes scanned the surroundings while talking.
"I'm sorry that you have such a horrible life."
"It's not your fault. I shouldn't have said yes in the first place back in the orphanage," Lev humbly replied. He noticed that the surroundings were getting darker even though the sun was still up high.
Glib who was scouting above Lev's head whispered with a warning in his voice, "That's enough talking, you guys. From now on, we should be more careful and let's avoid making loud noises."
Lev and Kaz nodded. They were now entering the territory where dangers lurked on every corner.
"We should grab a weapon." Kaz spotted a small branch on the ground and handed it to Lev. It was a firm and strong stick.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The stick made lashing noises when he swung his right arm. He looked at the stick and was a little bit satisfied. He wanted an actual weapon that could cause harm to any unwanted visitor.
He looked forward and saw Kaz carrying a stick that has the same length as his.
Better than nothing, I guess. Lev inwardly sighed. He wished that the knife was still with them rather than this thin stick that could be easily broken by an animal.
They were overcome with fatigue after crying their hearts out last night. And because of that, they quickly searched for a place to rest while forgetting to search for the knife that was blasted away from the explosion.
It was too late for them to go back and retrieve it. Glib constantly grumbled and annoyed them to not go back to retrieve the knife because time was running out.
The three entered the dark part of the forest and no sign of any birds singing or insects chirping were heard on the woods. The trees looked like scales which indicated that it was rotting, and its leaves were dark and old, as though someone poisoned the trees making it in such an awful state.
.....
On the place where a dark spot could be seen on the ground due to the explosion that happened, a thin, grass-like shadow emerged from the ground, but it quickly went back down when it noticed that the sunlight was majestically shining straight above.
A lady that had a ginger head emerged from the direction of the forest. She wore an unsatisfied look on her face.
The shadows that surrounded her constantly searched everywhere for the seed.
When the lady approached the area, she noticed a stench that was coming in front of her. Countless body parts, ranging from big to small, were sticking on the ground and on the trees. She quickly inspected the ground in search of clues that might actually give a hint on what happened here. And there she saw a burnt, black spot.
She went for a closer look and when she approached it, the small shadow quickly felt the familiarity of the person. It erected up and mixed up on the lady's shadow.
She closed her eyes as though she was focusing on something and when she opened again, her pure black eyes flickered, and a hint of a smile came from her lips.
"The sycophant has been discovered," She turned around and entered the forest again, now with a sense of confidence in her face.
"The game of Hide-and-Seek begins."
.....
"What is this Fate, actually?" Kaz unhurriedly asked Glib in a soft voice.
Glib thought for a while and answered in a low voice, "It's like destiny, I guess? We believe that 'He' is the Creator of everything."
"So, it's like a religion?"
"You could put it that way, but 'He' is worshipped by everyone in the Kingdom because 'He' is the one who gave the inhabitants the power to control over the elements.
"'He' blessed the animals with the power to protect their home and he blessed all the races to nurture and safeguard the Kingdom from dangers."
Glib still kept his vigilance while looking around. Lev and Kaz listened while they held their sticks, ready to strike anyone who would ambush them, and they were both tense.
"How was the Kingdom created? Why are there monsters in it?" Lev was again filled with a lot of questions regarding the Kingdom and its origin.
Glib sighed. Everything that he knew was taught by Frederel. "You could go and ask about that once we're in the Kingdom. There's a lot of academies there where they train Knights sword fighting, and instill them with knowledge."
At that moment, Glib's ear twitched and his blue eyes looked on his left.
There was a soft panting sound and the dry leaves that were on the ground made soft crispy noises.
"Shh! There's someone out there."
Lev and Kaz quickly turned their heads and raised their sticks. They were so tense as though a little tap on their shoulders would make them swing their stick around them and beat the hell out of that person.
The panting sound was getting louder, loud enough for Lev and Kaz to hear it. The footsteps could not be heard but the crunching noises of the leaves betrayed its location.
Kaz guessed that it might be 10 meters away from them. They hid behind a tree and slightly stuck their heads to see what was making those noises.
The forest was dense and dark but 10 meters was still a short distance. Darkness made their visibility unclear but they managed to make out the figure and the details of the creature.
It was a 2-meter tall creature with two horns coming out of both edges of his mouth. It had a round body and a dark, reddish-brown skin, with large hooves on its feet that looked like it could trample them with one stomp.
But what was unusual was the creature's face. It had a boar-like nose, with snots coming out of it, and it only had a one huge vertical eye with superficial nerves sticking around it as though they were holding the eyeball in its place like roots.
Its black pupil kept moving around, hunting for something that might consider food for it.
"What is that?" Lev was shocked to see such a horrifying creature. He didn't notice the thick shadows that were connected on the top of its back because it was dark, but Glib did.
"It's a spiritless beast," Glib gasped, "and it is way worse than the last time I saw one when I went here."