I lay down, with my back against the cold floor, staring up at the wooden beams that supported the thatch ceiling. My limbs were spread all over the ground as I took in deep relaxed breaths. Beams of light shone through a small window located up high near the roof.
I didn't suffer any significant damage during my last battle with the eerie moving tree creature. The constant battering I received would have left any normal person dead within the first strike. Yet I came out alive with only a few swollen parts that have already healed. It's not like I'm completely invincible, I certainly woke up with a headache as well as several sore spots but still, It is incredible how tough my body has become.
I don't know how long I was out but when I came to, I found myself in a small room with sturdy stone walls that had moss spread all across it. One side was made entirely of thick wooden bars, with a noticeable section
for the door.
Beyond the bars, there wasn't much, a small space that led to the main entrance of the cell, blocked by a long, rough cover that hung from above and came down all the way to the bottom. The reason why I'm here right now, alive, is thanks to a certain group of individuals.
My eyes came back into focus in the reality before me as distant footsteps caught my attention. I sat up, and at the same time, there was a rustle. In front of me, a certain creature pushed its hand through the many long beige strands that made up the cover, its fingers were long and bony and skin completely black.
The figure that stepped in moments later was far from resembling a human being. The creature was tall, humanoid in shape, with dark orangey skin. Intricate tattoos ran down its long, bare arms, and twisted over the creature's gaunt torso. Its hands, along with its forearms up to the elbows, were coated in an inky black substance as if dipped in tar.
Thick, matted hair, a dark reddish color, almost black, hung in unkempt strands from its head. Below that, covering its face, was a polished wooden mask, unnervingly smooth and long, reaching down past the neck. Narrow slits served as eyes, framed by large white ovals that seemed out of place. Short, pointed ears jutted from the top of the mask, giving it a grotesque, pig-like appearance.
"Tsk-tsk-tut-tut!" It clicked its tongue in a strange pattern that I couldn't even hope to mimic. This was their only form of communication. It stared at me with a tilted head. In one hand the creature held a plate of food while in the other it held a large spear. "Tut-tut." It knelt, opening a small hatch in the bars, and slid the plate toward me. With another click of its tongue, the creature turned and left.
That's right, I'm a prisoner. I reached for my food, a plate consisting of slices of meat from some unknown creature, a pile of greens, and a cup of liquid that I guessed was a mixture of several fruit juices.
When I first awoke six of these creatures greeted me, all sharing a similar appearance. At first I found them unnerving to look at but after two days of the same routine, I grew used to them, and despite being a prisoner, they sure have been feeding me quite a lot. So much so that I had barely finished my morning breakfast.
I picked at the food for a bit but I was already full so I set it aside. After that, I lay back down and stared up at the ceiling once again, thinking of a way, any way, to get out of this primitive cell. I've already expressed my desire to be free, countless times, to this tribe of humanoid creatures but they just don't listen. They only respond with clicking noises and continue to keep me fed.
I tossed and turned on the ground, searching for some comfort in this cold ground. My sweater, torn and filthy, now served as a makeshift pillow. Strangely, I wasn't cold nor hot. It seemed I'd also developed a certain resistance to temperature.
At least two of my wishes came true. I wanted a place where I could get proper sleep. This cage might not be the most ideal place to get comfortable sleep due to there not being a soft mattress or any sort of blankets to keep me warm through the night but at least nothing in here is trying to eat me. Plus, I'm not actively on alert mode all the time.
What's more, I'm being provided with food four times a day. It's as if they noticed my sickly lanky state and they want me to fill up. At first, I ate everything I was given. My body was weak, my limbs felt heavy and were hard to move. My stomach grumbled loudly and contracted in ways it had never done before. It was clear that my new body required a lot of nutrients to maintain and function but It seemed I reached my limit with food.
I let out a breath and thought back. I've come a long way since I first started in this forest. I don't know if I'm going in the right direction but I can only move forward. It doesn't matter if I don't know where forward is, as long as I'm moving, I won't be standing still.
Something I do know is that I don't belong in this forest. All the creatures I've come across so far are large and fearsome, capable of dealing damage I couldn't hope to inflict myself. The only reason I've survived thus far is because of my enhanced body and senses.
My battle with the tree creature, If it could even be called a battle, was more of a one sided beat down, but showed me that my body is more resilient than I had originally thought, not to mention that I can heal terrifyingly quickly. As for my senses, they helped me evade quick attacks that could have left me with more damage had they not been enhanced as well.
At least I know now that fire is the weakness to those tree creatures. It makes sense thinking about it now. If I get attacked by another moving tree I'll just have to set it on fire but even then, I don't think it's a good idea to walk around with a torch in hand. Sure it could be a useful tool in many situations but it would also attract the attention of other unwanted creatures.
If only I had the physical strength to match my resilience. If I did, many things would have gone differently thus far. Including my previous attempts at prying open the door of the cell I was trapped in. The small opening at the top, where the sun was shining through was not an option of escape either. First of all, it was too high for me to reach and second, it was blocked off by those same sturdy wooden bars. As of now, I haven't found any way out.
It seemed this trial involved me to take more physical action while the last one was more of a mental challenge. I've been constantly on the move in this endless, cursed forest since day one where even the plant life has been actively trying to consume anything. Anything alive is a predator while I am the sole prey. A persistent, sturdy prey that refuses to die.
Back in the train, the previous trial, I was surrounded by many hollowed individuals. There, one of them warmed me to not be consumed by envy as that was the nature of the trial. Yet, I've not come across any failed participants here.
Has everyone before me passed this specific trial? No, I doubt it. Should I try locating the hollowed? Perhaps I can be given a clue on what the current trial here entails. What's more maybe I'll be motivated further if I see for myself what the consequence of failure is. In the last punishment, they were stripped of their sanity and forced to be swallowed by their own despair by being repeatedly tortured with their most envious feelings.
I don't think it should be my top priority to locate them but if I come across them I'll try to see what information I can get out of them. For now though, my main concern lies in how I'm going to get out of this cell. I certainly do hope I'm let out soon. All that food they've been giving me is digesting quickly.
I rubbed my stomach and let out a breath. I stood up and moved to the corner, taking a moment of liberty to relieve myself. It wasn't like they left me any other option. The corner was the only place I could claim as a makeshift bathroom.
After I was done doing my business, I moved to the opposite corner and laid down, already used to the routine of spacing out and letting the time pass around me. However, due to lying around and doing nothing, my mind began to wonder and I couldn't help but recall my past.
I had always been a sickly thin kid due to my condition and was very limited in what I could eat. It was difficult for my body to digest spicy things, or fatty processed foods. I had to follow a certain diet that had become difficult for me to maintain in the recent years due to my father's lack of financial stability.
My father never cared to feed me the food I needed. Never cared to know if I had even eaten well for the day. Never cared enough to leave me food on the table. For all he knew I could've simply been found dead one day. On the other hand, my mother would use all her money to make sure I got the right amount of food. Always sat by my side to make sure I ate properly. Always made sure I was full.
The past few years, I've relied on anything I could find. Mostly school food or dumpster leftovers and, on rare occasions, my father would actually come home with food. Now that I'm here, undergoing these trials, wherever this place was, I've not cared to maintain a diet. My condition has lifted thanks to the reward of envy. My new body needs all the sustenance it can get, no longer limited by the constraints of my previous condition.
Somewhere along the way as I lay reminiscing about my past, I, once again, heard distant footsteps coming my way. That's when I noticed the color of the sky had shifted to a more orange hue, the sun was setting.
Already? I thought to myself while sitting up to greet my guest.
An inky black hand swept open the cover, allowing me a faint view of the outside. The surrounding landscape was full of green with a dirt trail leading to more primitive stone and thatched homes.
The creature that came in was the same one that always came to deliver me my food. When I first laid eyes on it, I was certainly taken by surprise but now, I have gotten used to it. With the usual tongue clicking, the creature came close, and I was ready to watch the same routine again. However, today the creature suddenly came to a stop, its body went stiff and its clicks were cut short.
After a minute of silence, its head made a sharp turn toward me. It sniffed the air, and a low growl escaped from behind its grotesque mask. I leaned back a bit, unsure what was going on. A long, bony black finger pointed at the corner where I had relieved myself. The creature let out several strong exhales in a specific pattern, the clicks turning into sharp hisses.
I glanced at the corner, suddenly realizing what it was focused on and when I turned back, the creature smacked the cage with its long spear. Insictively, I crawled back a few steps, my heart spiking by its sudden aggressiveness.
The tar-like coated fingers scratched at the bars, and it let out an angry series of clicks that I couldn't understand, but the message was clear, I'd made a mistake.