The head is raised like a trophy and the mist clears. Before being placed on the ground and with a sharp blow an ax is planted again in its skull.
The blade sinks with a "Tchac" and stays there. The savage then carries his weapon with his companion's head impaled at the waist with a leather strap. Nonchalantly he picks up the dead man's ax and just like that he throws a last look in the direction of the cabins before going deeper into the forest.
Two of the other men downstairs drag the body by the arms. The muddy earth digs beneath him as his blood stains the bare forearms of those who drag him.
The red is dark on the skin but with the rain the blood turns pink before being completely diluted. The two with the dead disappear in the woods following the other one.
The man who greeted Dust earlier and another stays. They sit on rocks with their backs to the raging water current. Dust and Suspicious watch the entire scene and everything seems so unreal that for a minute they freeze.
-There are only two left... The boy hesitates before continuing his sentence.
-We are going down?
As his brown eyes stay on the figures below he doesn't see what Suspicious is doing behind him. And suddenly while his companion is slow to answer him, a disturbing thought comes to him.
What if the red haired man pushed him to distract the two below? Without seeing or hearing anything, in a sort of spasm, he abruptly shifts to the left.
Dust turns his head at the same time, some strands of his hair coming to press against his lips under the sudden movement. But the man he doubted wisely remained on his right.
Suspicious looks at him surprised his two eyebrows rising in a silent question. Apparently without really knowing what kind of expression he should adopt the man sketches a vague smile a little lost.
- You ok?
Dust's eyes widen slightly as his breath catches. He suddenly feels a little mad at his disproportionate reaction. He responds to Suspicious with a "yes, yes, sorry" that rings hollow.
The larger of the two still stares at the smaller one for a moment. Which gives the boy the impression that he has to elaborate.
-It's just that they decapitated their...(his voice shakes a little as he swallows) it's stressing me out.
Stress is an understatement Dust thinks but his pride prevents him from saying out loud that he is terrified. The man next to him is no longer looking at him, he blinks before turning his gaze to the muddy trail left by the corpse. Looking back, the man seems shaken too. With One, it's not the first person they see being killed, but they were all thinking about surviving and didn't have time to think about anything else. It was chaos. Whereas now they have observed everything from A to z. Without moving and without distractions. Suspicious inhales and his voice is unwavering.
-Let's try to coordinate with the others to get down all at the same time.
The boy doesn't know what to say. Go out and hide in the forest with the rest of the group. Taking advantage of the mass effect so that someone manages to escape from between the cracks was the first idea that came to his mind. But that doesn't mean it's a good idea.
After all why did two of the savages stay to watch them? Why did the others leave? It could well be a trick. Maybe they're waiting to pick them up at the edge of the forest.
But if they wait and the strangers come back with reinforcements then it will greatly diminish their chance of escaping them.
Even if their attackers stay put in front of the cabins without trying to climb, Dust and Suspicious will have to come down to look for food.
Dust feels trapped.
No matter how much he turns the problem around he only comes back to the same solution as Suspicious.
Try your luck like you tempt the devil. For a second he tries to guess if he was lucky before he landed here.
But precisely because Dust landed in such a mess it surely means that he does not have fortune on his side.
Then the boy clenches his knife in his hand and turns his attention to the two men sitting below.
-Let's try.
Suspicious in a few steps reached the edge of the terrace facing the other cabins. He calls out to others with a loud voice.
- Get out! We need to talk!