The Darkened Highway

The Darkened Highway Chapter Twenty-Six

The trees seemed taller when I realized the terrain sloped up on either side of the trail. We tracked through the soggy mud as the slopes became hills. The farther in we went, the mountain turned to steep walls. As I had guessed, we were entering a narrow valley—a sense of danger built while we slowed to a walk. The wind blew from behind us, meaning we were at a disadvantage. We were upwind, and any creature ahead of us would smell us before we smelled them. To make matters worse, we were going downhill now.

As the ground became steeper, we became more alert as we scanned the forest around us for any sense of danger. A throat retching roared from somewhere ahead of us, causing us to jump. We sprinted down the hill into the narrow valley. Tree branches snapped loudly, and leaves rustled up behind us. A gust of wind carried the scent of our pursuer. It wasn't Isaacs, so whoever it was must have been on his side. I ran so fast that I missed the fallen tree before us. It clipped my foot, sending me tumbling down the hill painfully.

"Ow... Ow... Fuck!"

Maya pulled me up quickly but paused. Leaves being crushed by footsteps were approaching us. We hid behind a nearby tree.

"Hannah!" a familiar voice called.

"Ben?" I replied.

"I found you again!" he said.

I hugged him in a burst of joy. Ben paused momentarily, taking in everything.

"I found a place we can hide. Follow me!"

Maya seemed hesitant but followed along after Ben offered her a hand. I followed close behind, holding his other hand. Being with him had eased my fears, and the safety of his presence was reassuring. He took us up the steep wall in sections, helping us individually. Once we reached the top, I got a bird's eye view of the valley and the forest. The valley was just a tiny pinprick in an ocean of enormous forest. As far as the eye could see, the landscape of hulking trees stretched as far as a human could see. The overall terrain was a mixture of flat land that rolled into hills, big and small. The highway we had been on for so many days was nowhere to be seen. Even if it was there, the giant forest of trees hid the road from my perspective.

Faint mountains rose from the landscape towards the night sky to our north and east. To our west, dark, ominous thick clouds filled the heavens as light flashes of lightning sparked within the dark clouds. To our south was what I could only call a volcano. It rose out of the earth and dominated the entire horizon. It was a vast range of blackened mountains with a massive shield mountain at the center. I could see the glow of melton rock even from my far vantage point. Pitch-black smoke billowed upward from the peak of the volcano. It was menacing, and a shiver crawled down my back. The strange and eerie trees were breaking through the surrounding canopy of the dark forest. There were many dotting the horizon that I lost count. Many were distinctly different from others as they spotted the horizon.

Aside from the massive volcano, the most surprising thing I witnessed was the night sky. It was full of unrecognized stars that I had never seen before. None of the constellations matched the ones I had known my entire life. Then there were the many moons. There was not one moon that I recognized, but five moons. The illumination from the sky revealed at least one moon was in its full moon cycle. The large moon was four to five times larger than I knew, casting its glow over the entire forest. Could that be the reason Isaacs and Maxen could maintain their beast forms at will? But that didn't explain how Isaacs spoke in that form.

Another thing that bothered me was how they tricked us. The werewolf stories I heard didn't explain them in that way. But these weren't werewolves. Werelions or Were-mountain lions?

Ben took us back down a steep hill. We walked for a while before we came to another cabin. The cabin appeared out of nowhere—another massive cabin with the characteristic mansion. The cabin was eerily similar to Isaacs' cabin. Maybe this was a rival that Ben had discovered. He led us to a foyer, and a massive grand double stairwell greeted us. Before we could look around, Ben took us upstairs down an elegant hallway. My senses became on edge as the scents I had smelled earlier returned. It was the same scents from those men we encountered earlier. Were they here too? I was about to question Ben when we ducked into a bedroom. Ben tossed Maya on the bed, then pushed me on top of her.