I could barely hear the carriage driver, George, as he told me that we were close to reaching home.
The sound of the horse's hooves hitting the ground, the creaking of the wooden carriage as it moved, the raindrops falling from the sky and striking it, the rustling of the wind brushing against the leaves, and the roar of thunder rising from the depths of the horizon, heavy with tons of dark clouds, all of that made George's voice almost impossible to hear.
I sat in my place, leaning against the only seat inside the carriage, then turned my eyes toward the window to my left and opened the curtains.
What met me was the sight of the thick forest trees swaying violently under the rough wind, while rain had just begun pouring down from above.
Even though the sun had not set yet, it was already somewhat dark outside, since the clouds had covered the whole sky.
Sometimes the sky would light up from thunder and lightning, followed by a terrifying roar that sometimes made my heart stop from how loud it was.
I looked at my pocket watch and saw that it was five fifteen.
It was supposed to be four, but the time had been moved forward across the whole country because of something they called winter time.
They started using it a month or two ago, I think.
"Ah, how annoying..."
A few seconds later, I put the curtains back in place and closed my eyes, thinking.
"The forest is truly rough in weather like this. If I had known the weather would change so suddenly, I would have stayed in the last town outside the forest and looked for an inn. But now there is no way back. We have already crossed half the road!"
As gloom settled over my heart, I found myself sinking into deep sleep.
None of the sounds outside could stop me from doing so.
I do not know how much time passed, but I woke up to a frightened scream.
It sounded like George!
A horse neighed, and then a violent shake ran through the whole carriage, making my head hit the ceiling.
I quickly pulled the curtain aside to see what had happened, only to find that the carriage had gone off the road and was heading straight toward the trees!
"George!!!"
As I shouted his name, I grabbed the cane beside me by instinct, opened the door, and jumped out.
There was no time to hesitate.
I rolled across the road until I reached the other side, soaking myself in mud and wet soil.
Holding onto the trunk of a nearby tree, I tried to stand, only for pain to spread through my arm.
It seemed to be broken!
But that did not matter right now.
With heavy breaths, I turned my head toward the carriage, which was almost completely wrecked.
The two horses had fallen to the ground and were breathing with difficulty.
"George! Where is George?"
I searched for him with urgency, but he was nowhere to be seen.
I moved toward the wreckage.
Maybe he was trapped underneath it.
I pushed aside whatever I could move and left what I could not.
Even in a situation like this, I was still realistic.
There was no way he could be under that heavy carriage frame.
"Where is he?"
I could not catch even the slightest sign of him.
The sun had gone down a little, and darkness had almost fully fallen already.
That made it harder for me to see clearly.
Following the road we had come from while searching for him, I walked slowly with the cane in my hand.
The cane was about one meter and twenty centimeters long, made from one of the hardest kinds of wood in the kingdom.
It had a handle decorated with silver, and its end was also made with a sharp silver tip.
It was one of the common canes used by nobles, and it was also a tool for self-defense.
A short distance ahead of me, I noticed a dark shape on the ground.
I walked toward it quickly, only to find that it was just a stain on the ground.
I touched it with my fingertips and brought them close to my eyes.
It was very dark.
It did not look like mud.
It looked red, as if it were blood!
But I did not want to rush to conclusions.
I tried smelling it and found that it had a sharp smell, just like blood.
I was shocked for a moment.
It was as if I had thought of a scenario I wished was not real.
What if this was George's blood?
But what could have caused that?
"Calm down! You need to calm down! This is a forest. There are all kinds of animals here. Maybe it is the blood of one of them!"
My breathing became fast.
George was nowhere to be found, and I was alone in the middle of a forest.
An animal could jump at me at any moment, and I would become its dinner, and my life would end just like that!
I need to get out of here!
That was the only thought in my mind now.
My survival instinct had taken hold of me.
I had to hurry.
I ran toward the two horses, hoping to take one and escape, but I found that their breathing had stopped, as if they had died.
"What am I supposed to do now?"
I truly did not know.
"Do I keep going on my way? No... I cannot. Walking alone in the forest would be dangerous. The carriage probably kept animals away, but now I am just a man holding a cane! Who would be afraid of that?"
"The carriage is already half destroyed. I cannot hide inside it."
At that very moment, I felt as if the sky and fate had joined hands to put an end to my life.
"This situation cannot get any worse, can it?"
I smiled foolishly as I thought that the sky really might surprise me with something even worse.
That had happened many times during my years in the army...
I was about to sigh when I heard a rustling sound behind me.
"George?"
I turned my head quickly to look behind me, but it was not him.
It was the sky's surprise.
A huge shadow was making its way through the trees as it moved forward slowly.
It truly did not look human at all.
I could make out a glimpse of its head, and it looked like the head of an animal, maybe a wolf.
Its body was covered in fur, though I could not tell how thick it was.
It looked like the half-wolf I had once read about in old folklore when I was young.
From the darkness, I could see its dim glowing red eyes, as if boiling blood had filled them.
My body stiffened from shock, from fear, from terror.
I could not move even an inch!
When the half-wolf came within a few meters of me, I could hear its breathing.
Each breath made my heart pound so hard it felt like it would pierce the left side of my chest.
I need to run.
I have felt fear before.
The despair of coming death, the terror of killing.
Maybe this was beyond everything reasonable that I knew, but the feelings were the same.
Drawing some courage from my thoughts, and using the pain in my arm to wake myself from fear, I turned and rushed into the forest.
With the half-wolf's huge body, it would be hard for it to run through the dense trees.
And well, that was the only path full of obstacles.
I would be stupid if I ran through the open road.
As soon as I entered the forest, I heard the sound of huge footsteps pounding the ground behind me.
I knew it was him.
I ran as fast as I could, as if my life were on the line.
And it truly was.
Everything around me was speeding up.
All my hearing focused on the sound of my heartbeat, or maybe my heartbeat had become so loud that it was enough to stop me from hearing anything else.
It did not really matter.
Strangely, all of that made me feel a little calm, even though I knew death was right behind me.
It reminded me of the old days, when death waited from every direction.
I ran and ran and ran.
I do not know how much time passed.
Even when I could no longer feel my feet, I kept going.
My speed started slowing little by little, but I kept going!
My lungs were burning and my breaths were boiling, but I kept going!
Stopping now meant the end of everything.
"Keep going, keep going, keep going..."
I pushed myself forward with those words, but it did not last.
A giant and terrifying ravine began to appear ahead of me through the thinning trees.
My heart slowly sank into despair.
Who would have expected me to end up in this place?
There was supposed to be a bridge to cross to the other side, but it was far from here.
I stood there for a moment in disappointment, then realized that there was nothing behind me.
Did I survive?
"No... wait! The ground is shaking a little! I can hear it!"
A series of steady thuds echoed from the forest, heading straight toward me.
"It is him!"
I do not know when the rain had stopped, and the sky had cleared of clouds.
A half moon hung behind me, lighting the scene ahead and making it clearer than before.
The half-wolf was running toward me on all fours, making the earth shake and making all my limbs shake with it.
"So this is the end? Well, at least I tried."
I took a charging stance, then held the cane with the sharp silver end in front of me with both hands.
Even with my broken left arm, I did not care about the pain, because after this moment, pain would no longer matter.
Death came closer.
I saw it raise its arm and try to strike me.
At that moment, I lunged forward.
Just like in my days in the army, when I thrust a spear hundreds and thousands of times, I carried out the same familiar thrust and drove the sharp end into the left side of its chest, right where the heart should be.
I hoped that was where it was.
I do not know if it helped.
It did not stop immediately, and of course, I did not think that alone would stop it.
It kept moving forward and slammed into me with its huge body, just like a raging bull.
Very quickly, we reached the edge of the ravine, and it still did not stop.
It was as if this was its final struggle, or as if it wanted to drag me with it, because it did not want to die alone.
It grabbed me as it fell with me over the edge.
And I accepted the end.
At least I would not die alone.
Kill the enemy.
If you cannot, then die with him.
That saying fit this situation.
Heh, that is nice...
Who is the enemy in this case?
Me, or him?
Darkness was the last thing that covered my sight.
And that was my end...