Happy 4th of July! Sorry I didn't post a story for today's holiday, because what I would have in there would not make sense, unless if you read The Discovery of Mt. Horn, and I'm not done with that yet. Sorry again for not updating in awhile, I was on a road trip with some of my relatives. But enjoy the chapter! P.s what are you guys doing for the 4th? I'm going to The Stadium of Fire :D
Day 1
The sky was still dark when Zane was still being chased by the pair of killer ghosts a few hours after the attack. Zane was surprised that he had made it this far. His eyes fixed straight ahead, where the dirt road still stretched strong southwards. When will the road end? Does it even have an end? When will the chase end? Where am I going? Zane just shook his head to shake off the questions racing through his mind as the ghosts began to slowly gain on him. Quickening his already fast pace, Zane tried to put as much distance between him and the ghosts as possible. The already intense pain from Zane's gash was steadily rising as a response to the change in pace. Zane seriously thought he would pass out from it, and it was still on the rise. Clutching his side, Zane looked up the the deep night sky. The moon he was looking up at from the bounty's deck only hours earlier was still hanging in the east, and dark, murky clouds were scuttling over the stars. Looking back to the seemingly never-ending road, Zane gritted his teeth, and kept right on running.
After quite awhile (basically the rest of the night), Zane unintentionally looked to the east, and saw a grey light. He couldn't be more relieved. The sun soon came sliding out of the eastern horizon in a ball of fiery yellow. The ghosts were forced into the forest, for they would disintegrate in sunlight. Zane took to the forest on the other side of the road, so the ghosts would not reach him. Silently (and painfully, because a bunch of plants were brushing against him as he passed) , Zane slipped into the foliage of the forest. He winced as the plants rubbed against his wounded side. The foliage began to let up after awhile, and soon stopped entirely. Zane then found himself in a relatively thin forest with tall redwood trees. "The plant life here has changed a bit, it is indeed a bit different than what I normally see at home." Home. The word painfully reminded him of his brothers. The wound wasn't helping matters at all either. He walked over to the nearest redwood tree, and leaned against it. Zane looked up through the green and brown boughs of the tree, easily able to see the blue sky above. White clouds were lazily drifting through the sky, a flock of birds soon joining them. Home. Zane sighed heavily, and let himself slide down the trunk of the tree until he was sitting. He sighed again, and closed his eyes. Zane listened as a gentle breeze kicked up and sighed through the boughs of the trees. He heard a songbird singing his heart out, a caw from a crow balancing on the swaying branch in the tree next to him. Zane ran his hand over the forest floor, the feeling of dead pine needles meeting his senses. Mother Nature was wrapping around him like a blanket. Everything was so peaceful, so… Zane dozed off, not knowing that he would sleep until the ghosts' chilling cries would snap him awake. Zane looked around wildly, to find the source of the cries. Then Zane realized it was night. Terror rose into his chest. They could be anywhere by now, possibly right behind him. Zane slowly turned around, breathing a sigh of relief as no threatening shadows loomed over him. Zane quickly got to his feet, wincing as the gash began to throb again, and made a beeline for the road. Zane couldn't follow along the road in the forest, because the undergrowth posed too much of a challenge and the forest gradually began to thicken,and if he got trapped in the forest somehow, there wouldn't be enough sunlight to delay the ghosts for the day. Zane ran up theslope, to the road. As soon as he stepped clear of the vegetation, the ghosts burst out of the trees on the other side. And so the second night of pursuit began.
Day 2
Despite him sleeping all day, Zane had grown weaker, and was stumbling over gnarled tree roots and stones jutting out of the road, often colliding with the compact dirt, sending waves of pain through his body. He could've laid there for hours, but with the ghosts tailing him, doing that was out of the question. He scrambled up from the ground, the pain from the gash almost throwing him back down. Zane's breath came deep and ragged. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw that the ghosts were only yards away from him. If he didn't pick up the pace, the ghosts would catch up to him, and Zane didn't dare guess what would happen after that. He couldn't anyway. He was in too much pain, too scared, and still was trying to comprehend all that had happened in the past couple days. The rest of the night passed without anything major happening, except the occasional trip over a rock or root. The sun soon sailed into the sky, forcing the ghosts into the forest, and giving Zane time to rest.
Zane stumbled into the forest on the opposite side that the ghosts were in. He was in bad shape. Dehydrated, famished, and exhausted, Zane stumbled to find a source of water. The ground was slightly hilly, but still showed no sign of a creek bed or a spring. Walking on for a few more minutes, Zane finally leaned against a tree to support him. He couldn't go on any farther. The gash was gnawing at him, worse than the night before. He stayed with the tree for awhile longer, recovering some of his strength. Suddenly, he noticed that the ground sloped downward, and listening closely, he could hear the sound of trickling water. Water. New hope rose through him. Zane bounded down the slope, towards the sound. The forest floor was still covered with dead pine needles, making the ground slippery. And running down a hill covered with those doesn't help matters at all. Zane realized that when his foot shot out from under him, sending him flying through the air, tumbling down the slope, and crashing into the rocks near the creek bed. The fall caused so much pain, Zane blacked out for a couple hours.
While unconscious, forest animals passed by to drink from the creek, but keeping their distance from Zane, for they haven't seen anything like this in their territory. An elk with a very impressive pair of antlers walked nimbly up to the creek, but stopped when he saw Zane heaped up on the bank. The elk raised its head to sniff the air for any scent from predators, but detected none. Then he walked closer to the bank until his hooves and part of his legs were submerged in the water. Lowering his head, the elk drank huge gulps from the creek. Zane then stirred slightly, causing the elk to whip up his head in alarm. He sniffed again, and looked at Zane. The elk decided that he presented no immediate threat. Taking one more cautious look around, the elk resumed his drinking. Zane stirred again, and groaned. He was finally awake. The elk whipped up his head again, and saw Zane move. The elk stepped a few paces back, his hooves loudly clattering against the smooth, waterworn rocks. Zane quickly turned his head, in alarm of the loud noise, to see the elk standing there, water dripping off his muzzle and fog coming from its nostrils. Zane turned over to his good side to get a better view. He gasped at the sight. The elk stared at him with his beautiful amber eyes before violently turning his head to the trees behind him, and bounding gracefully up the slope and disappearing into the trees on top of the rise. Zane stated after it for awhile, taken aback at what he'd just seen. The elk's magnificent antlers and coarse, brown fur was permanently burned into his mind. Sure the creature was beautiful overall, but what stood out was those piercing amber eyes. But Zane was snapped out of his trance when the throbbing of his wound came on without warning. Zane's face was twisted with agony. He clutched his wounded side again. He looked down at his wound, wincing at the sight of it. He saw all kinds of debris lodged in it. He shifted again, accidentally putting his hand down in the creek's icy water. Zane yelped in surprise and quickly drew his hand back. When he saw that it was the creek, he remembered how parched he was. He crawled over, cupped his hands to drink the cold water, but stopped, because he knew how some water sources could contain arsenic, a deadly poison. He emptied out most of the water from his hands, and carefully sipped the remaining water. There was no odd taste to be cautious about. Zane gladly cupped his hands again to fill with water, and eventually quenched his thirst. He drank some more after that to edge off the hunger a bit as well. A large, lichen-covered boulder was nearby, so Zane crawled over to it. He payed down at its side, propping his head on its side. Completely exhausted, Zane slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Zane opened his eyes to see the sun beginning to sink low in the west. He got up, carefully, using the rock to support himself. Once he was up, he began to head back to the road, looking back at where he had encountered the elk. Then Zane made his way to the road. It was getting dark, but not dark enough for the ghosts to come into the open. Zane decided to use this time to get some extra distance between him and the ghosts. Feeling somewhat rejuvenated, Zane took off at a sprint, trying his best to ignore the horribly throbbing pain from the gash, and followed the now-somewhat faltering road stretching ever southwards.
Zane had gained a little extra distance from starting early, but that didn't stop the ghosts from catching up to him when it was dark enough to come out. The sky was clear, and the moon was at its last phase before it disappeared for the end of the cycle. The next few hours passed uneventfully, but towards the end of the night, Zane had tripped again. He underestimated the distance between him and the ghosts, giving an advantage to them. Ghoultar sped ahead poising his weapon. Zane turned around to see the ghost some feet behind him. Ghoultar aimed for a slash at Zane's back, but Zane rolled over out of the way just in time. Getting up, Ghoultar tried again. This time, Zane felt the cold metal slice under his artificial skin. Zane yelled out in pain, and stumbled. The ghost's blade sank into the ground right beside him. Ghoultar, and pulled on the handle, but it wouldn't come out. The scythe was stuck in the ground. Zane quickly got up and took off while the Ghoultar was still struggling. He heard the Bansha scream after him. Zane had lost one, but by now Bansha caught up. The agony from the cut on his back had made running all more the difficult. The rest of the night was quite dull, except the road was now thinning noticeably, and the forest was growing thicker.
After what seemed like forever, the sun climbed out of the eastern horizon, forcing the ghost into the forest. Zane once again took to the other side, finally able to rest again at last.
Soooo... How'd you guys like? Comments, tips, and reviews welcome, and comment anything that can make this more exciting. (I'll give you credit.) Anyway, happy 4th of July, and STAY AWESOME!