When the rumble below subsided, Verd, having finished his meal, raised his gaze, wanting to see the cause of such wild noise. He had expected an earthquake, but reality turned out to be far more terrifying. The mist, like a veil, slowly dissipated, revealing a sight for which he was completely unprepared. The once-familiar mountains were now unrecognizable.
Dozens of peaks were warped, slopes had collapsed, and the remaining summits were stained with crimson-purple blood. At the sight, Verd's heart clenched, his mouth went dry with realization. A creature capable of such destruction could dispose of his life as it pleased.
'Well then…' – flashed through his mind as he turned his gaze to the fallen monsters. – 'This isn't at all the kind of outside world I imagined.'
Along with the horror, Verd saw something new: a faint, barely flickering glow breaking through the remains of rock. Vaguely, he assumed the source of light was inside some cave.
'Could there really be someone here besides me?' – a glimmer of hope arose.
Gradually processing the new information, he realized clearly: staying on the island any longer promised nothing good. The monsters, lying in a heap on top of each other, couldn't have ended up in such a position by themselves. Given that the battle had occurred precisely at the moment of their appearance, Verd suspected that all of this might be connected to a single entity.
Moreover, he had yet to learn about the mysterious figures in his consciousness and the enigmatic golden chalice.
The simplest solution in this situation seemed to be escape from the island. Despite everything seeming hopeless, Verd had already formed a plan. Dangerous, without a doubt, but there was no other way.
Ignoring the stench and filth, he wove the bodies together using strong sinews and vines. The blade, dull and useless, could barely cut a branch, yet still, the plan was half-completed.
What bold scheme lurked in his mind? With the means at hand, he assembled something vaguely resembling a raft. Fragile, unreliable, inspiring only doubt.
'Perfect. Now I just have to wait!'
The second, most important half of the plan remained out of reach. One day passed; he spent it sitting on the edge of the island. The prepared meat he placed into his "raft" as supplies.
The second day faded just the same. The evening promised emptiness, but peering into the distance, Verd's face lit up with a wide, uncertain smile.
'Finally!'
A colossal wave, surpassing the one that had washed everything away weeks ago, crashed with such force that it seemed it would soon swallow the mountains. It reached his island, stopping almost at Verd's feet. A deep breath, mustered strength. With the dull blade clutched in his hand, half-hidden within the bird's body, he jumped from the island.
Immediately, a stream of wind slammed into his face. Even with two arms, holding on would have been difficult under such force, but Verd had only one — his chances of failure doubled. Yet even so, he refused to give up.
Under the monstrous pressure, the vines tore one by one. Half the distance was covered; the problem was the remaining half. Without secure fastening, his "raft" began to fall apart. The bird's body broke away, falling separately, nearby.
The fallen body wasn't very close to Verd, but that was only a phantom comfort. Its absence meant the coming impact would be far more devastating.
'If I get out of this alive' – flashed through Verd's mind – 'I'll tell Kael exactly what I think of him. Definitely!'
At the most tense moment, when only a hundred meters remained, Verd pulled the vines and slightly changed direction. In doing so, he managed the incredible. At the moment when he should have crashed into the ground, in the very last second, the crest of the wave swept him up.
Seawater rushed into his mouth, mixing all his senses into one. Right became left, and left became right. Verd's orientation flipped upside down.
Holding his breath, he felt a surge of hope. Soon everything would be fine! All he had to do was surface, cling to the two remaining bodies, and let the current take him. But he had overlooked one detail. To create a foothold for himself by cutting the bodies, he had had to make a deep incision along them. This seemingly minor detail played a fatal role.
Water filled the bodies almost instantly and dragged them down. The guy tried to swim out on his own, but couldn't — he simply didn't know how to swim. Not that it would have mattered even if he did. Right before the jump, just in case, he had tied his legs to the bodies with vines, so he wouldn't fall by accident. And who could have thought that this life-saving idea would become the cause of his death?
He opened his eyes and tried to free himself, but in vain. Before he could do anything, he felt a burning sensation — salt water seared his eyes, turning them red.
'Well then…'
Once again feeling the full weight of his bad luck, he fought until the very end. The air in his lungs was running out fast. Unable to endure it any longer, he instinctively opened his mouth, and what seemed like liters of water rushed inside. As expected, Verd quickly sank almost to the bottom of the wave.
***
Under the merciless sun, Verd's body lay atop a sprawling tree. Vaguely regaining consciousness, he made out the bright green of grass.
At a sharp clicking sound, he turned around. Right before him, directly in front of his face, a squirrel was busily gnawing on a nut. Crumbs scattered onto the guy's cheeks, and he instinctively waved it away. The rodent dropped its prize and ran off.
Shielding his eyes from the persistent sun, Verd tried to get up. In the same instant, a searing, stabbing pain shot through his leg. He winced, squinting as he examined the extensive wound stretching from his knee to his ankle. Blood was flowing uncontrollably, coating his skin.
'How many times have I already bled out in these past few days.'
With difficulty, he sat up and stretched out his leg. Blood dripped down, soaking the leaves beneath him. Noticing them, Verd tore off a small bunch and pressed it to the wound.
'Will this help me?'
He looked around. A forest stretched out around him. Giant trees, overgrown behemoths, reached for the sky; every second one was at least fifty meters tall.
"Did the tsunami really carry me this far?" Verd wondered. "The mountains aren't visible at all."
Indeed, apart from identical trees, all cut from the same cloth, there was nothing. The unknown was troubling. What should he expect in such a place? Still, even here, there was a plus: he didn't have to fear the strange sounds coming from the mountains.
'It's so quiet here. Not like on that island where that giant bird was hunting me.'
He looked at his leg again. The wound, upon closer inspection, turned out to be shallow — more of a long but superficial cut.
'Alright, I need to do something. Just sitting here, under the sun, in this tree, is already a bad idea.'
With difficulty, he unclenched his fingers and stood up. His right leg, unlike his left, was trembling, throwing off his balance.
'I can walk. Even if it's difficult.'
But no sooner had he taken a step than his body plunged through the dense foliage and became caught on a vine. Shielding his eyes from the sudden fall, Verd couldn't understand what was happening; he only felt that he was hanging upside down, his face submerged in some kind of viscous liquid.
Freeing himself and opening his eyes, he saw a scene far from picturesque, unlike the one above.
The space beneath the trees resembled a dark, black swamp.
'Looks like this is going to be more difficult than I thought…'