Survival’s Path

Chapter 2

The forest didn’t stay quiet for long.

A low growl rolled through the trees from afar, followed by another. This time it was closer. Kaelan felt the crystal pulse sharply against his chest, hot enough to burn through cloth. “Danger… a lot,” he heard the voice say.

Lira froze beside him. Her ears twitched.

“They’re coming,” she whispered.

The shadows moved. Figures slipped between the trees, thin, twisted shapes crawling low to the ground. Their eyes glowed faintly, and their limbs bent the wrong way. One became three. Three became many.

Too many.

“Run,” Kaelan yelled.

They got up and ran as fast as they could.

Branches whipped at Kaelan’s face as he pushed forward, pulling Lira along. They ran without looking back. The ground dipped suddenly, and Lira stumbled. A claw scraped across her shoulder as one of the creatures lunged.

Kaelan turned just long enough to strike it. The blow cracked bones, but more poured out of the darkness. His instincts kicked in.

Without thinking, he grabbed Lira around the waist and lifted her off the ground.

“Hold on,” he said, placing her on his back.

Then he bolted forward.

The world blurred. Trees streaked past. His legs produced strength that didn’t feel natural. Lira clutched his shoulders tightly, pressing her face against his back as claws snapped inches from them.

The creatures howled, chasing, leaping over roots and rocks with terrifying speed.

Kaelan didn’t look back and Lira held tight.

Something heavy smashed into him from the side. He staggered but didn’t fall. A memory flashed. “Don’t you dare stop! Don’t slow down or you die.” And Kaelan forced himself faster.

Stones appeared ahead.

A ruin came to view.

Broken walls rose from the forest like the ribs of a buried beast. Kaelan leapt over fallen debris and burst through a narrow gap between cracked stone pillars.

The moment they crossed into the ruin, the forest seemed to pull back.

Kaelan came to a halt and turned. Chest rising and falling as he stared at the creatures.

They stood just outside the ruin’s edge, snarling, pacing, claws digging into the dirt, but none stepped forward. its glowing eyes fixed on him, then slowly retreated into the shadows.

“They’re scared,” Lira said, still holding him tight.

Kaelan didn’t relax. “No,” he said quietly. “They’re being stopped.” Almost immediately, a creature rushed from the shadow, it slammed its body against an invisible barrier and recoiled. It whimpered and ran away.

He set Lira down gently, then turned and began scanning the ruins. Cracked pillars leaned on other pillars, and most were half-swallowed by vines. Symbols carved into the stone had been worn smooth by time, but something faint still lingered in the air. A pressure, though not strong.

The crystal on his chest pulsed once. Then slowed.

Whatever this place was, it mattered. At least, it used to.

They blocked the narrow entrance with fallen stones and broken slabs. It wasn’t much, but it made Lira feel better. Kaelan didn’t say anything, though his eyes never stopped moving.

The night fully settled in.

The ruin was quiet. Outside, the forest murmured, branches creaked, distant howls echoed, but none of the creatures came closer. Still, Kaelan stayed awake, sitting near the entrance with his back to the stone, hands loose but ready.

Lira sat across from him, knees pulled to her chest, her chin on her knees and her dagger tightly held. “Get some sleep,” Kaelan said after watching her for a while.

“I don’t think I can,” she replied.

“Scared I’ll harm you?” Kaelan asked with a raised brow.

“Actually, yes.”

Silence returned. Kaelan didn’t know what to say. Their eyes met and Kaelan spoke. “I like your honesty.”

Once again silence settled.

After some time, Lira spoke, softer this time. “I used to travel with my mother and father. She was a healer and he was a warrior. We moved from settlement to settlement.”

Kaelan listened. Attention on her.

“When the world started breaking,” she continued, “cities closed their gates. Forests filled with things that shouldn’t exist. People turned desperate.”

Her fingers tightened around the dagger. “The caravan we joined promised safety.”

“And failed,” Kaelan said.

She nodded. “When the creatures came, my dad and a few warriors fought. Most of them ran away. Some of the humans pushed others aside to escape faster. My mom was one of them.” Her voice didn’t shake, but her eyes darkened. “I hid as best as I could. I survived. Alone.”

Kaelan stared at her. “You did well,” he said. She didn’t respond. Eyes on him waiting for him to talk. “I woke up in a burned down village.”

She didn’t ask for details.

“I don’t remember my parents. Or where I’m from. Or what I used to be.” He touched the crystal. “Just fragments. Fighting. Orders. A name that feels familiar but hollow.”

“Kaelan,” she said carefully.

He nodded. “It feels like armor. Something I wore. Not something I chose.”

The voice stirred faintly in his mind.

“Names can be reclaimed.”

Kaelan ignored it.

“I don’t like humans. They’ll betray you at a heart beat,” Lira said.

“Luckily, I don’t know what I am, haha,” Kaelan said, with a laugh. Lira smiled a bit. “What a dry joke,” she said.

The night dragged on.

At one point, Lira dozed off against the stone wall, exhaustion finally won. Kaelan stayed alert. Watching, listening, ready to act if need be. Twice, shadows moved at the ruin’s edge, but never crossed in.

When dawn came, it was pale and cold.

Mist curled through the trees, clinging low to the ground. The forest looked less hostile in the morning light, the creatures had retreated. Birds chirped and called out to one another.

Lira woke up and sat up, dagger still in hand. “Morning?”

“Yeah,” Kaelan said.

They stepped outside together.

The ruin stood silent behind them, unchanged. Kaelan could still feel the pressure it emitted.

Lira looked back at it. “This place… it’s old. Older than any elven record I know,” she said.

Kaelan frowned. “Feels familiar.”

She studied him. “That worries me.”

“Should we inspect it?” he asked.

“Absolutely not. Who knows what traps and dangers are in there?” Lira exclaimed. “Let’s leave. Most creatures sleep during the day, so it’s less dangerous.”

They moved away carefully, Lira leading the way. Kaelan glanced back at the ruin once more. “Let’s ignore it,” he muttered and follow Lira.

“What was that?” Lira faced him.

“Don’t worry about it.”

She raised a brow, but moved forward anyway. He noticed how she walked. Steps light, he could barely hear her footsteps. Her eyes always scanning, her hand always close to the dagger that hung behind her waist.

“You’re not just a healer,” he said.

She hesitated. “My father was a swordsman, I learnt a thing or two.”

They stopped near a fallen stone marker half-buried in moss. Strange runes were carved into it.

Lira crouched beside it. “This marks old paths. Trade routes, perhaps parts to city. Before the fall.”

“Meaning?” Kaelan asked.

“Meaning people used to come through here. Which means there may still be a way forward. Maybe a settlement.”

Kaelan looked ahead, then back at the ruin in the distance. “We can’t stay in places like that forever.”

“No,” she agreed. “We need some place safe.”

“How safe is it?”

“Most can survive a colony’s attack,” she replied.

They shared a quiet understanding. Not trust, not yet.

But survival.

The forest stirred as the sun climbed higher. Somewhere far away, something roared, but it sounded distant.

Kaelan adjusted the crystal against his chest.

“Here you go,” Lira said, handing him a ball wrapped in leave. “Something to eat. It’s not much.”

“I thought you don’t trust me? Why are you feeding me?” Kaelan laughed and unwrapped it.

Lira pouted. “I trust you a bit,” she said.

“Yeah, right. Don’t be quick to trust be.” Kaelan looked at the white substance in his hand. “Grrr.” His stomach reacted to it.

“Haha, was that your stomach?”

“Yeah, it’s…”

Lira covered his mouth.

“Run!”

“Help!”

People screamed sounded before them. Lira held his arm and pulled him behind a large tree. A man on a horse came from the path they were headed. “Stay away from,” he screamed as he passed.

“Is that not a weapon with him?” Kaelan asked, when he saw the sword on his waist. “Why is he running?”

Soon horses and then people came after him.

“Run!”

“Get away!”

They screamed as they fled. Everyone running for their lives. “What are they running from?” Kaelan asked.

He didn’t get an answer.

The ground shook. At first it felt distant, like thunder rolling under the earth. Then it grew heavier. it got closer. Trees trembled. Birds burst from the canopy in a screaming wave.

Lira’s face went pale. Her ears flattened.

“Kaelan,” she whispered. “We need to leave. Now.”

A massive shadow pushed through the trees ahead.

It was huge, too huge.

The thing dragged itself forward on four thick limbs, its body covered in cracked black hide like shattered glass. Its head was wrong. Nose at the top, eyes at the side of his and ears just above its mouth. A split for a mouth with a wide jaw lined with uneven teeth. A long tail smashed trees aside as if they were nothing.

People screamed louder.

A cart overturned. A horse reared and threw its rider before bolting into the woods.

Then Kaelan heard it.

Two voices.

“Help!”

“Please!”

He turned.

Two children, no older than eight. They were frozen near the path. One had fallen. The other tried to pull her up, crying.

The monster turned its head.

Lira grabbed Kaelan’s arm. “Don’t,” she said, panic sharp in her voice. “You won’t make it!”

Kaelan didn’t answer.

His body moved. He sprinted. The world narrowed, sounds faded. His breath steadied. The crystal burned against his chest. “Danger!” the voice in his head scream. Kaelan ignored and kept going. A memory flashed. Smoke, screaming. A command tearing from his throat.

“Protect the kids!”

Kaelan reached the children just as the monster lunged.

Jaws snapped!

Lira screamed, “No!”