By the time they made it to the ghast's last sighted location, it was already gone. This wasn't a surprise to either of them, but it wasn't what concerned them.
Looking at the scene, it was a disaster frozen in time. Picturesque in its destruction, beautiful in its violence. The ground beneath where the ghast moved gave way like still waves. The trees had been destroyed, uprooted, caved in, and splintered as if an invisible explosion tore through the forest.
It was... mesmerising. Honestly, it was sobering. The sight cleared Lukas' head of all his negative thoughts. Leaving him in awe.
"It's worse than I remember. I fear what would happen if this thing reaches Mistfell... I hope it didn't travel north towards Shadecross or Petalrun."
Skyla seemed distraught and disheartened. Something weighed on her mind, but Lukas was unaware of what it could be. Was she afraid of this ghast? Or is the weight of the past week or two dragging her down?
"How did you escape this thing? It seems like a walking calamity."
Skyla chuckled softly, but her smile faded quickly.
"I... I've faced worse than this, believe me. It just so happens that this one is tough to kill, albeit it is more sluggish than most."
Skyla slowly began to walk, without much direction or haste. She dragged her feet in the dirt, and her shoulders were sunken. Skyla was down in the dumps, it wasn't even a question any more. She seemed... lost.
"Skyla... are you okay?"
Her hands twitched and her eyes dimmed. She didn't say a word, refusing to address Lukas' question. She heard it, it affected her, she wasn't okay. But she wouldn't admit that.
"Let's split up, I'll cover ground towards the river, north-east. You should either do the same but to the south, or sweep the canopy. You should have a whistle on you, blow it if you're in trouble."
"You didn't answer-"
But she was already gone.
And Lukas was alone.
'Did I not ask it the right way?'
Lukas thought for a while about what he should do next. He knew Skyla wasn't okay, and he wanted to help her, but he didn't want to go against her order. Even if he wasn't a part of her subdivision.
So he reasoned he should split up, but where? Of course, Skyla mentioned south-east, towards the river, as well as the canopy. He wasn't as skilled in navigating the canopy as someone like Vesa, so he ruled that out.
Which left him with two decisions: Heading south-east towards the river, or making his own decision and going somewhere else.
But he went with his gut and followed Skyla's order to head south-east. After aligning himself with the aid of his compass and map, he began his search.
At first, he was left with nothing but his thoughts. At least the sun had risen by this point, having to run with a lantern or be left stumbling in the dark was a pain. At least Skyla could use her light, but it was still an annoyance nonetheless.
He started slowly, but slowly sped up as the isolation got the better of him. It felt like something was watching him, but he dismissed the thought as paranoid nonsense. Although something didn't feel right, he couldn't put his finger on it.
Eventually, the hours went by in the blink of an eye. Without anything to show for it either, no tracks or clues as to the rare ghast's location. Nor any other ghast that could be in the area.
But Lukas did figure out something, it took him a while but his gut was right. He was being stalked.
He hadn't seen any of the forest's denizens, nor did he see any of the Fortissimo members who were supposed to be out by now. On top of that, the forest was quiet. The only time such a dense place is silent is when there is a threat.
Whatever was hunting him failed to keep its presence entirely hidden. Despite being unseen by Lukas, it wasn't unnoticeable. It kept its distance, but a stray sound or sudden change of pace gave it away.
Lukas had a guess, absurd as it was, as to why he hadn't seen it. It could camouflage or blend in with its surroundings.
He wasn't sure about his guess, but it was the best he could think of. Sure, it could simply be hiding outside of Lukas' vision, in bushes, behind trees, or even in the thick canopy. But Lukas would have seen traces by now, he was no amateur at navigating the forest and tracking prey.
However, instead of finding the creature stalking him, he found something else. A dead wolf corpse, its fur the colour of bone.