THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

CHAPTER 8: IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

"What happened?!! Where did it send us?!!" Tatiana's voice wakes me up.

Apparently, I fainted again. Everything is just black and white to me, with a very gray hue. I shake my head to clear my vision. Things are getting clearer. Oh, we are in a forest. I see trees all around us, and the sun piercing through leaves here and there gives the forest a somehow ghostly look. All those trees are black like they are dead. But they are thick and have leaves. I don't recognize this place.

I look at Tatiana with surprise, and she looks back, she is sweating a bit.

"You finally up! What?! You thought you were dreaming or something? Too bad." She says with a sad look. Why are you sad now? Did you not achieve what you wanted? "Well, I also hoped we were dreaming right now. But it is not the case."

"Argh!" I suddenly hear a groaning sound. Behind Tatiana, there is another guy. One of the two who were in the room. But when I look closely, his legs are missing. Up to the knees, there is nothing. There are just cloths tied around his thighs; they are reddish-brown and wet: his blood. I smell that odor again, the smell of blood, acrid and metallic.

"Ma'am, you must go, this place is dangerous."

"And where to? Ah?!! We don't know anything about this place!!! Shit! We don't even know what is this place. Where are we for fuck's sake?" Tatiana is visibly shaken and confused. The bite mark I left on her neck is still visible, right next to the burn scar she has.

"Argh!... I-I know this place, it this the FOREST OF THE BETRAYER."

"The what now?!!!" Yeah, the what? Betrayer. There is somebody like Tatiana here, then this is bad. They might become good friends.

"The forest of the betrayer. It is a place- cough cough cough." That guy is very weak. Can't Tatiana heal him like she did when she was slapping me? "There is a legend we are taught at the ACADEMY. A powerful Angas user who pacted with the longinus. He revolted against the goddess long ago and fought humanity with their help. To- cough cough- to save people and prevent him from further destruction. The first hero sacrificed her life and sealed him in an immense tower. Because of her blood being spilled here, the forest around that tower became all black forever. As a reminder of-"

"I don't care about those!!!! Where are we and how do we get out of here?!"

"I- I don't know, nobody ever knew the exact location of that place as it is forbidden. And no maps in the world have it marked."

"Fuck, so we are screwed then. There is no way out!"

"No, I –argh!!"

"Oi, hang on!!! Don't you die on me now!!?" The guy is coughing blood like crazy.

"I-I just know that the more you will go toward the tower, the denser the forest will become. It seems to be a mechanism to prevent people from reaching that place that the goddess had put in place. Also, the beasts here are more ferocious and aggressive than anywhere else in the world. Because Angas here is denser than in order places."

"Shit!" Tatiana punches the ground. From what this guy is saying, it seems we are in a perilous place. How did we get teleported here? "How did we get teleported here, shit!" Ah, our thoughts are connected. "Anyway, the primary objective is to exit this place, you said the more we get away from the tower, the fewer trees there will be right." The man did not answer. Is he... "Fuck. May the floras kingdom be eternal. Your soul was useful, and your life purposeful. Go in peace, Yuriel."

Tatiana says a prayer or something while touching the man's face. Then she closes his eyes and turns to look at me.

"You are one lucky little guy; you know that?" Only now do I notice, one of her hands is missing. "Ah, that. When the orb exploded and teleported us, the coordinates and space to teleport were not set, so there were some forgotten bits." Coordinates? what are those coordinates? "We should move. Staying here any longer is danger-"

"Why should I go with you?!!" Is she crazy? I am sure she is. But why would I follow her after everything that happened? "You betrayed me. I trusted you so much. I loved you. You killed everyone in the village, and now I should just-" before I could continue, my mouth was squeezed so hard I cannot form words.

"I don't care what you think of me. I did my job, and now my men are dead. So I am really, really pissed of right now. You will shut your crap and follow me whether you like it or not until we reached the Floras kingdom. DO.YOU.UNDERSTAND?!!" she squeezes my mouth even more.

"When-"

"When what?"

"When dad comes back, he will kill you!"

"Ah, This little shit still does not get it?!! Did we raise a chicken? Your parents discarded you for their precious life, you stupid mutt. As soon as my men cornered them, they chose to live instead of saving you. That is why you are here!!" As soon as she finishes speaking, a violent headache starts.

My head feels like it will split open. I can't hear or see anything. Then, memories flash in my head. The full scene: how the arrow stroke me, how father and mother fought, how he called me a dead weight, mom crying while calling my name.

The headache finally stops. I...I was thrown away like garbage. But they said I was their little dragon; they said I was...

"I see from those tears reality has finally kicked in your skull. Now we can move on." Tatiana says so, but I, myself, did not know I was. "Now, let's go." She stands up and starts walking.

After a few steps, my resolve is lacking to continue: "Can't you just kill me?"

"Ah, what did you say now?!!"

"Kill me." I look at her, smiling and crying. "Free me already, you bitch!"

Tatiana starts scratching her head then speaks:

"You know, you can be really annoying when you want. I will not kill you; it would be too easy. Looking at you, falling more and more in the pit of despair, would be much more fun."

"You are a monster! You are not human! All this is because of you! Father would never have! Everything is your fault!!!"

"Yeah, yeah, quit your bitching already. Humans beings are the worst monsters you will encounter in this life. If you didn't know, see yourself enlighten now. Let's go."

"You will pay for this! you will pay!!!" I run towards her with my mouth open. Ready to bite again. Anywhere will do. She must pay. She must pay at all costs, even if my teeth all fall off. But she simply grabs my hair and throws me to a tree. Wackkk!

"You are annoying. I told you that I don't care what you think of me. If you continue, I will just break your mouth so that you don't talk shit anymore."

"I would like to see you tr- " A crushing sound echoes in my head, and a sharp pain goes through my body. She has destroyed my lower jaw again, but this time with a kick.

"Hmm!!" I try to scream, but there is no sound coming out, only groans.

"Now, now. I told you so no crying. Let's go. Stand up. NOW!" With a strong and cold tone, she orders me to stand. I do so and start walking in front of her.