Rayd and the hunter's moon - Book 1 The Awakening

CHAPTER 3 - THE LUMBERJACKS

The meeting was over by early evening, everyone left quite satisfied with the result. They felt that there was now a well-defined goal and a clear strategy. Haskel and Bogdan could not join the other attendees at the town tavern. They were lumberjacks and had taken the night shift. They were chatting animatedly in the direction of the forest further north of the Citadel when a chilling sound interrupted them.

-  Silence Bogdan, listen! Haskel spoke with a touch of fear in his voice.

-  What's the problem man, never heard a wolf around here? Bogdan replied.

-  Wolves yes, but that was not a wolf! And if it was, it's the most painfully loud howl I have ever heard! He replied, frightened.

- Come on man, let's go for it, whatever it is, it's too far away and it's not going to be interested in an old lumberjack and another skinny one like us! Said the older man smiling, and with a friendly pat on the young man's shoulder they resumed their way.

They finished the job in the middle of the night. They settled down by the fire to warm the Goulach for dinner, or breakfast, they could never define.

- Grab the bread in my bag Haskel! - Nothing like good old-fashioned bread to go with this Goulach that is extra meaty. I hunted a big wild pig a few days ago, and we have enough meat for a couple of weeks. I then asked Helga to do something special! He said this while smiling and picking up the bottle of wine. They sat down to eat. Haskel looked at Bogdan intently as he spoke loudly and cheerfully, already exalted by the effect of the wine.

Looking slightly up and to the left, he noticed something strange. A few meters behind his friend, in the darkness of the forest, two red points like embers amidst the bushes. Eyes, they were certainly eyes, and they were looking directly at them.

"Animal eyes in the bushes I have seen several, but this one is different. They were blood red and radiated an ancient and savage anger. They aroused in anyone who had the misfortune to encounter them a unique, indescribable terror!" Haskel thought, unable to react.

Feeling his blood run cold, he slowly opened his mouth to get the attention of Bogdan, who continued his little speech with all the fervor that alcohol could provide. He had no time for anything else, as he tried to turn, his head away from his friend as he stood up, he was hit squarely in the face by a gelatinous mass that splashed a hot liquid all over his face. The blow was hard, it left him disoriented and blind for a few seconds. As he recovered, he stood up quickly with a wet and sore face. As he wiped his eyes, he saw what had hit him; Bogdan's head lay a few feet away from him next to the fire. The head was turned with empty eyes to the sky full of stars, stars they would never see again.

Haskel looked down at his hands filled with his friend's blood, which had splattered all over his face. Even taken by terror and misunderstanding what had happened he couldn't help but notice the head. At the bottom, at the junction of the neck and torso, the flesh was surgically cut away, and frayed at other points. Whatever it was that hit him, it cut deeply into his neck tearing away the rest with the force of the blow. Had it not met Haskel's face in its trajectory, poor Bogdan's head would have been thrown a few feet away? It all lasted a few seconds, but after this moment of anatomical reflection he automatically turned in the direction of the city and shot off in a desperate dash for his life.

Running through the trees, overcome with fear, he looked back and saw that the creature was now tearing the rest of his friend's body apart with extremely strong and brutal blows. He couldn't tell what it was, and he didn't even think about it anymore, all he could think about was running, his life depended on it. He ran for a long time, listening to the howls and growls dissipate into the distance. With his lungs burning and his legs trembling, he was forced to stop. He leaned back against a tree to breathe again, squeezing his eyelids shut to ease the burning in his eyes. He opened them and before he could restart his run, he noticed on his right the monster staring at him in the darkness.

"It's not possible! I have been running at full speed for a long time. That thing stayed in the camp busy with what was left of poor Bogdan. And now it's there again, looking at me amidst the trees?" He thought.

He ran out even faster, looked back one last time, and saw that the eyes were still there, standing in the darkness. It didn't matter, in a few more minutes he would be at the Citadel; he could glimpse in the distance the lights of the first houses. He started to go down the hill that led to the road, but at the end of the downhill, he stopped. Just over there, on the other side of the road, he saw the figure and its red eyes seemed to be waiting for him. Disbelieving, he took the opposite side up the hill again. From there, he would seek another entrance to Balga. He could see between small groups of trees the light of a cabin; smoke was coming timidly out of the chimney. At the time, there should be no one awake, but he would knock and scream for help. He thought about his life, he was young and nothing in it had been very easy. He thought of his beautiful bride, his wife in a few days. There he would be happy; he would hold on to life with all his strength. He ran more than ever.

On the way to the house, just ahead, there was a fallen tree with a not-so-thick trunk. The height was small, the young man easily jumped over it and then from it to the ground. In the middle of the trajectory, his body stopped completely suspended in the air. He felt around his neck an unimaginable pressure, the air immediately began to shorten. Then he saw, even with his eyes blurred from suffocation, the creature that was strangling him.

"And what a strength that was!" He thought.

Even though he waslosing consciousness, he could still think about how the creature had gottenthere. He must have run three or four times faster than an ordinary man, he haduncommon strength in his arms and the most intense fury that a glance couldradiate. As he sank into these last thoughts, he felt a stabbing pain at thelevel of his bladder. And the pain was rising as hot blood trickled down hislegs.