My grip tightened on the man's shoulder as I stopped him from collapsing onto the ground,
I laid him into the ground and closely inspected him.
Cassian eyes remained open, his jaw hung low and nothing seemed off about him.
And yet he fainted.
I clicked my tongue in frustration, just why?
What happened?
A moment ago he was normal, walking with me in silence, when he stopped it was a bit strange but I didn't pay much heed to it. And now?
He is unconscious.
Not dead.
He can't die.
His regeneration won't allow him to do so.
He can't die, right?
He can't die a physical death.
However.
The memories of the walking corpse resurfaced in my mind as I frowned.
I sighed, infuriating, it was frustrating too.
I checked his pulse, nothing, it was completely static and his blood was still warm.
I stood back up, there was nothing else to do,
I picked him up from the ground and got back on track.
Tme was starting to show its worth.
Sweat clung to my body like second skin, the fog has turned an orange hue as the heat from it rose.
And as time passes it will rise.
Which means we have no time to waste.
I threw him onto my shoulder and started to power walk through these roots.
The golden roots glinted in this bearable yet unbearable light.
Mocking.
As if mocking a man with no protection from this heat.
Frustrating.
Why now?
I side-eyed the unconscious man on my shoulder, I don't know what happened to him nor would I like to know.
Time is precious.
And I can't waste it.
Not now.
Never.
It was a safe zone, a safe zone that made me feel 'safe' unlike the oasis islands.
But now?
It's a trap.
Disguised as 'safe'.
And it managed to trick me.
Then my companion fainted the moment it started.
Dammit.
The added weight wasn't heavy but it still slowed me down.
The heat rose, unlike before it was now at a faster pace.
Why now?
Cassian's rib baskets were already abandoned when he fainted and I also abandoned one of my own too.
Just to carry him.
Why?
He is semi immortal, isn't he?
Yes he will burn, yes he will turn to ashes but he can still come back.
Then why?
Why the hell am I carrying him and not the food?
Why is he unconscious at such an important moment?
Why do I value his life over my survival?
I don't know.
I don't want to think much about it now.
I looked at my skin, it was starting to get itchy and red.
The heat further increased.
The golden roots heated up too, they weren't the feeble crunchy roots a moment ago, right now they were the wondrous infragilis trees.
The unbreakable infragilis wood.
They are the same as any metal as of now.
Their glow increased, the heat reached upto foot despite my footwear.
A searing heat that made me gasp.
It hurts.
I winced in pain.
The more time spent on the air meant less time on these searing roots.
My pace increased, the thought of saving stamina was thrown out of the window, all I could think about right now was escape.
Escape from this foggy furnace.
I'm not gonna make it out alive, aren't I?
Thinking I will survive is only delusion.
And yet I kept on running.
Like a madman.
The rib baskets has already been abandoned,
My legs flailed, my vision blurred and I felt blisters forming all around my body.
Survival was bleak.
And still I clinged onto that delusion.
No..
I still clinged onto that hope.
It wasn't delusion, it was hope.
A hopeful escape.
A hopeless death.
********
My eyes snapped open, sweat clung to my clothes, I immediately sat up as I woke up to an unfamiliar surrounding.
Wood.
Wooden walls, wooden ceiling, wooden floor, a table alongside the bed I was sitting.
The table was close to the bed and room seemed cramped.
A lone door was on the corner of the room.
A vision? Again?
I sighed, that heart crushing pain was still vivid in my heart.
What about Callon?
He disappeared from my sight and appeared when I collapsed, what's happening in the outside world right now?
Did he abandon me after considering me as a burden?
Or.
Is he carrying me through the fog?
I don't know.
But I will know the answer when I escape this.
If I could even do so.
I looked around, my eyes prying for any abnormalities in the room.
It was dark, extremely so, the only source of light was the lantern, it illuminated the room as long shadows hid in the corners.
The flame was small yet firm, I took it in my hands as I got off from the bed.
The wooden floor seemed old so I was extra careful to not make any sound.
A lone window stood out as I approached it,
My steps felt strange and my height seemed weird.
Almost as if I was shorter than beforem
I reached the wooden window, I reached my hand out to open it and I...
Suddenly stopped.
My hand froze in the air, my mind entirely focused on my ears.
On the noise.
The noise that's coming from the outside.
Goat cries.
It was goat cries.
I slowly pulled my hand back as a deep sense of nostalgia took place.
A deep sense of trauma.
A deep sense of fear.
I stepped back, however this time much more cautiously.
Memories of the forest resurfaced, especially that goat.
That demonic goat.
That corrupted creature of the Horned god.
I slowly got back onto the bed and leaned against the wall.
The shadows dancing in the corner of the room creeped in, they danced and twirled,
Mesmerizingly eerie.
The goat cries started to distort, almost as if a mix of human laughter and goat cries.
Mocking laughter echoed outside.
Horrifying goat wails echoed outside.
The room felt cold, foreign and detached.
I felt powerless, frightened and resigned
There was nothing else I could do except accept it.
Accept and face it.
There's no other choice.
No escape.
And they also knew it.
And they mocked.
The laughter increased, it got to a point I felt like they were right behind the wooden wall.
Maybe they are.
I placed the lantern beside me, on the bed,
Its flames weren't so firm no more.
It was on its dying leg.
I stared fixated at the seemingly normal door.
Waiting.
And hoping.
Waiting for it to come.
Hoping it doesn't come.