Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 280: Cries for help

Chapter 280: Cries for help

She stood before a burning house, the acrid smell of burning wood and ash assailing her nostrils.

The screams of those within the building caused her to move forward, rushing into the building with blind urgency.

She’d seen this before; it was a premonition, one that spoke of the deaths of those within.

Although she’d informed them, all it ended up doing was delaying the inevitable.

The sweltering heat of the yellow flames licked against her skin, quickly leaving her sweaty all over and even scalding her a bit but none of that mattered.

As long as she could save one, just one more soul, it would all be worth it.

So she charged in and finally, she found one.

A faceless man that lay unmoving on the ground.

He was heavier than she expected but regardless, she pushed through and took him out.

She placed him against the cold rocks and intended to go in for a second but the building suddenly collapsed, the flames roaring to life with even more fervor than before.

Taken aback by the sigh, she soon shook her head to focus on the one that she’d saved.

Alas, even he was already long gone, perhaps due to inhaling the smoke from the flames.

She knelt before his corpse, tears trailing down her cheeks as she realized that yet again, she’d been bested by death.

What was she to do if she always got the premonitions but couldn’t save even one life?

Footsteps approached at that moment, drawing her attention to a pair of feet she was familiar with.

"Claudia... I failed them again. I couldn’t save even one of them." She said in a choked voice.

"Why?" The owner of the feet asked.

"I don’t know. I did everything I was supposed to but I was too late."

"Why?"

This time, she felt the person grab her shoulders but her eyes remained on the corpse.

"... No, I can’t just stay here and mourn, more people will die. I have to go, as long as I can find the entrance to the PaleLands, I’d be able to save more lives, I’d be able to..."

"Why won’t you look at me!" The voice was like listening to a drone of bees, leaving her disoriented for a moment.

She raised her head in a panic only to find that the one before her was Claudia but not the Claudia she was familiar with.

Her eyes were hollow with maggots slithering out of them, half her hair was gone, leaving behind a balding scalp and she wore rags but most importantly, her expression told of anger, of hate... of abandonment.

"Why won’t you look at me!"

"I..."

"You abandoned me, you wanted to help others more than you wanted to be with me!... I hate you, Arwen Hallewell, I hate you!"

"Ah!!!!"

***

"Ha." Arwen awoke to find herself in a familiar room within the underground city, one she’d entered to take a nap after exhausting herself while practicing her flames.

Her breathing uneven, she tried to make sense of the dream that left her mind a bumbling mess.

Then she felt something wet on her cheek causing her to rub against it, thinking it to be water only that it was not.

Staring at her wet palm, Arwen’s expression shifted until she had a melancholic smile on her lips. "I’m sorry," she muttered softly before slowly rising to her feet.

"I shouldn’t be sleeping right now." She continued. "There’s much to be done, right, Claudia?... Don’t worry, no matter what, I’ll bring you back."

Taking steady steps, she left the room to resume her training.

***

Ana traversed the night sky, enjoying the cool breeze that rushed past her in a flurry.

She felt free, a feeling she’d long since forgotten after she’d realized that the Great Families would never let her go.

She was bound by her word, bound to follow them but not anymore.

Soon, she’d be able to travel the world and experience new things.

Perhaps it would be enough to fill the void within her heart.

Taking in a deep breath, she suddenly slowed down as she heard something below.

It sounded like a cry for help but this was too far deep into the Wandering Forest, just what could require help?

Excited at the prospects of what she could be up against, she decided to head down and check, her nose already dipping before the decision was made.

She glided down and upon getting close enough to the trees, she polymorphed back into her human form before landing gracefully on the ground.

The first thing of note she discovered was the fact that unlike Alex and the BeastMen were encamped, the trees here were rather boisterous, possessing bulky stems and incredibly large branches covered in green leaves that intertwined to form a massive umbrella that prevented the Nighteye from illuminating the area.

It was a curious sight, making her wonder why this was the case.

Wasn’t it common sense that the closer to the problem one got, especially when it was associated with the abyss, the worse the effects on the landscape?

So how was this portion of the forest untouched?

Or had she missed her way mid-flight?

Ana wasn’t the best with directions but that didn’t mean she’d be so bad, she wouldn’t even know she’d made a wrong turn.

So what was happening here?

She didn’t know why but an eerie vibe permeated the area, leaving her wary and slightly excited.

Just what could have caused the trees to remain unaffected in a place brimming with the corruption of the abyss?

Although the surrounding was dark, Ana had no problems with this as she possessed night vision, a passive trait all Cryptids had.

She inspected the area, quickly discovering a rather strange anomaly.

The trees... they seemed alive.

Adding on the grotesque human faces that were etched out on their barks Ana had to pause to ponder on moving on immediately or returning to inform Alex about the area.

Her curiosity won her over in the end and so she ventured further into the sea of trees, realizing that the barks of the trees were covered in a strange sticky substance that seemed reminiscent of pus but how could trees produce pus?

Suddenly, she paused, as she’d heard the cries for help yet again.

She listened closely but found that she was unable to pinpoint where they were coming from.

Then she moved, just in time it would seem, as a branch came crashing down at her location, leaving behind a crater as it rose back up.

Indeed, it rose back up.

"The trees are alive!" Ana exclaimed in a tone more excited than worried as even more branches came striking at her.

Grinning, she exerted her will on the world, causing the branches to pause mid-flight.

"Well, that was close."

Feeling quite pleased with herself, Ana made to move close to study the colossal trees attacking her only to pause as she noticed a slight tremor beneath the ground.

Frowning for a moment, she immediately leaped away from her position just in time for roots shaped like spears to emerge from the ground with even more rushing out.

Ana exerted her will yet again causing the roots to stop before decidedly taking it a step further.

She let out a sigh as the trees quickly began to wilt and the ground below began to erode as though time had begun to hasten.

By the time she was done sighing, the area around her had turned from a lush forest to one eroded by time, leaving nothing but withered branches and dead trees.

Taking a moment to ensure the trees in her vicinity were taken care of, Ana couldn’t help but notice that the cries for help she’d heard had ceased.

"Perhaps..." as a possibility came to mind as to why this was, she decided to leave first.

Leaping up, she transformed back into her dragon form before rushing back to camp.

In the meantime, in the sea of dead trees, sprouts of green leaves began to emerge.