Year 0002, The Imperium
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After a while of running away from the village, they had arrived a couple of meters just outside the gloomy forest.
Gasping for air, they stared at the chilling and thought evoking atmosphere of the forest.
Even Erik, who has a stronger willpower than the two, could not escape its bone-chilling aura, but he managed to snap out of his wandering gaze.
So he shook the other two out of their reverie and asked them to help him look for a place that they could hide.
As they were looking around them, one of the children pointed out that there was a bit of clearing to their left that they passed by before.
It was Bren's innate ability to observe things calmly even in a stressful situation.
He noticed a clearing when they were running before, where there was a huge fallen tree that was concealed from view.
Because of the untamed weeds and grasses that were as tall as they were thick that surrounded it.
It was the perfect place for them to hide, as it hid them from plain sight, unless you were pretty observant like Bren; then you would most likely, like the other two, have missed it.
So they went there and hid at a distance as Erik went first to take a look at the place.
In case there was something that could potentially be a threat to them that lived there.
After confirming that it was safe, he returned and fetched the other two.
"I guess this one is fine; there are no signs of anything occupying this area."
*Sigh
A feeling of slight relief; they could finally take a breather.
They placed their makeshift bags on the dry ground and rested there for a little while to calm their nerves and breathing.
---
A few minutes passed by, and Erik looked behind him and saw a trail of black smoke rising to the sky; he pointed it out to the other two.
They turned around and looked at the many lines of smoke trails rising upwards, and they knew all of it came from Pipik Village.
They could only thank the gods that they were banished just in time.
Or else they would also have met their dead parents by now.
---
The night was now starting to settle down.
The friends could only huddle up inside the fallen and hollowed tree.
They previously planned on scouting and scavenging for food near them when it was still daylight.
But afraid that the raiders might find them this far, instead they only stayed a hundred meters or so near the dead tree.
Luckily for them, though, there was a nearby bush of a wild berry fruit they used to snack on in their previous village.
They grabbed a handful of the ripe ones and ate it.
It was juicy and delicious just like before.
It brought them a temporary comfort from their fears.
---
While there was still light, Erik started clearing the inside of the hollowed fallen tree; he took out some of the sharp rocks that were littered inside it.
He brought inside some of the thick grasses in their area to make it as a temporary bedding that they could use to sleep on later that night.
Thankfully he still had the knife that his father gave to him as a present.
He used it to cut those thick grasses.
---
When the last of the daylight vanished from the world, three beautiful moons shined down upon them.
It was now their only source of lighting; it was dim, but it was enough to bring them comfort.
They huddled around each other to share some of their warmth, although they still had a blanket that they brought with them; it was barely enough to warm them.
It has been a few weeks of fall, so the climate was now rather chilly, especially at night.
---
The night critters were now fully awake; different sounds could be heard from all around them.
It was eerily creepy and thought-provoking; their minds wandered, lost in thought as they shivered at the various sounds that currently surrounded them.
They stayed like that for a few hours; even though their eyelids were heavy, they forced themselves to stay awake in vigilance.
After some time, though, they could no longer keep themselves up.
They slowly slipped into dreamland, hoping it was all just a bad dream, and the next time they woke up, it would be just like before when they were still in their village.
The nights were pretty long in the Centuury, so they needed that much-needed rest.
They could only hope nothing kills them in their sleep.
Even if something does, then it would no longer be their problem to worry about.
---
Morning finally came; the three woke up from their slumber.
Their bodies were sore from not making much movement; they were too stiff, and add it with the hard ground, and it made their bodies ache all over.
Before they rose up, Erik got out first and took a look around.
When he was convinced that there was nothing amiss.
He signaled to the other two to come out of hiding.
After they stretched their bodies, they went to the Berry Fruit bush that they found before to take their breakfast.
They took a handful of fresh berries.
After they had their fill, they decided to take a look around the area and look for a clean water source.
After perusing through the area, little Bren found a small puddle/basin of flowing water.
" Heyy I found water ! "
Erik heard this and so to did Betty, he replied in a loud manner.
"Okay don't drink from it yet we'll come to you!"
The other two rushed to the direction of his voice.
There they found the glistening stream of water; there was also a small basin that formed, so they could scoop water from it directly.
Erik was the first one to take a drink to see if it was safe.
It tasted heavenly; unlike water from the village well, this one tasted like heaven, or it could have been his imagination, since they haven't taken a single drop of water since yesterday.
The only fluid they got was from the wild berry fruit.
After confirming it for a minute that he hasn't died yet, he told the other two to take their fill.
And so they did; after they made their hands into a bowl shape, they scooped water from the tiny basin and drank it in their hand.
It was a sweet and refreshing experience; it was the first time in their lives that they tasted something like that.
This current lifestyle of theirs went on for a couple more days.
---
They were almost a week in their stay at that place; since then, no other human beings came close to that area, so they felt pretty safe from danger and decided to stay there.
But today was different; they were a couple of meters away from their camping grounds.
Slowly a behemoth crept out of the dark forest.
A bone-chilling aura struck them in fear, standing still in place, not able to make a move.
The famed 'Glistening Dread' was peeking out of the dark forest.
Its feelers were moving around erratically since it was being blinded by the bright light of the sun.
They were all stricken with fear, gazing upon it.
It was 30 feet in length, 5 feet wide, and 10 feet tall, with hundreds of slimy crawlers and its huge mandibles!
---
Erik forcefully bit his lips so he could feel something in his already hardening, cold, and sweaty body.
Blood dripped down his lips; he could now move his fingertips, then his arms and his shaky legs.
With courage slowly returning to him, he slowly shook the other two out of it.
They were also sweating buckets, shivering in fear, afraid to turn their sights away from the monstrous beast that was in front of them.
When they felt a hand shaking them, they finally turned their heads slowly; they saw Erik standing there with the same aghast expression that they had, but his lips were bleeding. He probably bit it...
It didn't seem to notice them yet, so he nudged them to slowly move towards him so they could slowly get out of its sight.
They didn't know yet that the Centislug was being blinded by the sun and couldn't tell if its feelers were properly working.
It was, but it was being bombarded by the different senses around it.
It was the first time it wandered off its predetermined path.
---
They slowly paced back to their campsite to hide from it; they were slow enough to not make a single sound escape from their breath and their movements.
When they got near their campsite, the Centislug did not move from its spot for a good while, since it was still processing the information that surrounded it.
Soon enough there was a delicious scent that lingered around that it didn't manage to sense before.
It finally detected the faint familiar scent of a meal he had a long time ago, human meat!
---
The three crawled inside the log, not making any sudden noises.
But alas, their final luck was used up.
The Centislug has their scent, and it began moving again toward their direction.
It could not pinpoint their location directly, only the lingering scent that they left through the air.
The ground was shaking from its heavy movement as it slowly crawled near them.
Erik realized that it was moving towards their direction.
"Oh no, I think it found us."
Erik whispered to the other two.
When it got near them, he could only shout at the other two.
"RUN....
RUN .... NOW! "
They ran with all their might, leaving most of their things behind; they ran in an unknown direction.
Anywhere that isn't here was fine.
Only the Gods know where, but if you ask the Gods, they would definitely tell you that in the general direction they would be heading towards Maya Village....