Surviving The Jungle

Part Seven: God of War

"I'd Die for You" Belongs to Bon Jovi.

~ Nahkt's POV ~

That very night, I had an incredible difficulty falling asleep. I kept changing my position on the tree limb, but I was too troubled to feel tired. Every breath could have been my last. At this very second, Tamak could've been readying his Plasmacaster to blow a hole in me. It was possible AngKor could've been stalking me, preparing to throw his gaffi pike through my gut. So many thoughts raced through my head, I thought it would explode. Fear was taking a major toll on me.

From the branch I was leaning against, I could clearly hear Eden's dreary sobs. The cries carried on for such a long time; I thought they were never going to end... They suddenly came to a halt and were replaced with an eerie silence. I desperately wanted to jump down to check and see if she was alright. I sat up and prepared to leap from the branch. However, I hesitated at the last moment. I remembered that she wanted to be left alone... I respected her personal space. Plus, she and I had been through enough today.

The creepy quietness of the rainforest unsettled me. I kept telling myself that Eden was okay. If she was in danger, she would've called out to me. Maybe she fell still because she had drifted off to sleep. It was about time I did the same. I needed my strength for tomorrow.

I laid back onto the tree limb. After about an hour, I finally felt secure enough to doze off. I closed my eyes, and my mind drifted off into a restless sleep. The nightmare returned to haunt me. Every detail was the same as the night before. I tried to wake myself up, but I was a prisoner to my own conscience. When the dream was finally over, I was able to force myself back into reality.

When I awoke, I immediately questioned: Eden?

There was no response. Either she was still sleeping, or she was still too angry to answer back. I was being such a thug last night. I wouldn't have been surprised if she was still mad at me. I pushed off the tree limb and gracefully landed on the moist forest floor. A thin layer of fog lingered along the surface of the ground.

I approached the area where I last saw her. There was one teensy, tiny problem with this image... she was nowhere to be found. I searched and searched along the forest floor for clues. Then, a metal article on the ground caught my eye. I stooped down and picked it up. I held it in front of my face to get a better look at the curious object. After close examination, I realized it was one of the silver beads strung into Eden's hair. Panic welled up inside me.

The first thought that came to my mind was the possibility she had run off again. She seemed upset enough to do the job. But what if this was all another nightmare? A dream within a dream?... I pinched myself. A sharp, jabbing pain travelled up my arm. Everything happening around me was no nightmare. This meant Eden was actually missing... I was going to have to hunt her down a second time. Even if she was angry at me, I thought she was smart enough to know that running away was a bad idea. That girl was something else...

I turned around, and something else drew my attention. Eden's armor and pair of wrist daggers were still set in a pile at the base of a tree.

...Why would she leave her belongings behind?

This was puzzling. She never would've left her possessions here. That would've been idiotic. Last time Eden took off without letting me know, she took everything with her. On that occasion however, she willingly chose to run away.