Chapter 5: Flight Through Ghost Forest
First silence, then calm, then light whispers circulating through the crowd, and then low voices, came from the villagers. And then a howl could be heard tearing through the night, followed by other cries, cries that became more and more shrill, and which set off utter hysteria among the villagers.
Rayman opened an eye. His gaze fell directly on the corpse resting next to him. Everyone was running, yelling, and the crowd shook with cries buried by its chaotic fleeing. The villagers were all terrified, and followed their instincts which told them to escape as quickly as possible, which led them into the stupid and primitive stampede of a herd of hunted wild animals. Rayman didn't understand, he couldn't grasp what was occurring before his eyes. And he was in pain, his abdomen hurt him terribly. Instinctively he got up and looked for his mother's eyes among the agitated crowd. He finally found her, fighting against the rush of panicked people to get to him. He too tried to head towards her, but suddenly a gigantic hand caught him by the shoulder and wrenched him around to confront the man who had been with the drunk.
"What have you done?" the man gasped.
"I—I—I didn't mean to, it wasn't my fault!" stammered Rayman.
But the man fell to his knees before his friend's corpse, moaning behind the hands which covered his face, hiding his tears.
"You're a monster!" he cried, his face contorted.
"That's right! Get that thing out of our village!" added another man.
With black looks, muttering, the crowd agreed.
"Ray! Leave him alone!" cried Rayman's mother, putting herself between him and the villagers.
"You keep out of this!" another said. "We're going to free you from that horrible creature."
"Yes! He has to go for good!"
As if a hand were crushing his throat, Rayman felt a scream rising up in him. It stayed choked down inside, that cry bearing witness to his outrage at all men and their unending attacks. That anger would remain etched in the depths of his soul forever. His burning eyes, so tired, kept on closing as if they refused any longer to look at that unkind world in which he no longer wanted to live. Slowly, down his cheek slid a little star lost in that pitiless universe, drawing an arc of light on his skin before falling into darkness, leaving behind it a little golden streak and immolating itself on the hard, frigid earth.
One step, another, he backed away. He couldn't stay here, he knew that, and something told him to flee. He turned away, and he left. He ran back up the path, doing his best to ignore his mother's desperate cries. He reached the village and hurtled down the cobblestone road, paying no attention to the desolation of the place. He went down the path that ran alongside the river, and caught sight of his house, a distant black spot through the trees. He decided not to go home, that would surely put his mother in danger.
He looked away, and he took stock of what he had done. He had killed. That was an act no one could forgive, still less if it came from a being like himself.
"I've killed, monsters kill ... that means I'm a monster," thought Rayman.
That strange beam of light, what could that possibly have been? But he preferred to forget about that for the moment, and tried to think of a place to go. He looked around. Far away on the hill was Kito, its sleep disturbed by the torches of the anxious villagers. And in the other direction, into the distance there was spread the forest, like a black, cottony layer over the earth, stretching out over low hills like great dark, rolling dunes in the night. For some reason, Rayman felt drawn by that forest. He ran straight ahead, not turning back.
At the end of his run, Rayman stopped at the edge of the forest. He stood there, gazing up at the huge black trees that sprang from the earth and seemed to be striving to join with the sky, they had reached such a height. Involuntarily Rayman looked behind him, and saw his village forming a minute constellation up there on the cliff. He sighed, and entered the forest, passing between two trees. It was night, and the feeble light of the stars and of the moon didn't penetrate the dense foliage. He could hardly even see himself. Regardless, he went on through the darkness. The further he went, the larger and more peculiar the trees became. Some of them reminded him of the ancient oak back home. Home... no, he mustn't think of that, he must never think of that, he would never return.
With difficulty he picked out a path among the trees and thick bushes, ending up in a little clearing. Though he wasn't that far from his village, his travels had already exhausted him. Rayman sat down on a rock and looked at his surroundings. The trees made a sort of circle around him. Raising his eyes, he could see a few stars in the sky. Then he looked once again at the trees. There was an odd sensation coming from them, as though they were eyeing him. But he paid that no attention. Anyway, he was used to it.
He pulled out of his pocket his little piece of cloth, that he would keep forever. He wiped his face with it – even if it was night, it was still hot, especially in the still air of the forest. Rayman wondered why he had come here. It was as if a mysterious voice had summoned him. Perhaps what he was seeking would be found on the other side of the forest. But no one dared venture further than this spot. His father knew only that if you continued on to the east, beyond the hills, you would reach the sea. Rayman had always wanted to see it some day, that infinite expanse of water which merged with the sky and out of which the sun arose each morning. Yes, water — but water which was unfortunately salty and wouldn't have been of much use to his village. But he thought perhaps he should go ahead; no doubt he would find what he was seeking there.
He thought for a moment, and a light breeze caressed his face. It felt strange, it was icy cold and empty, like the breath of an animal. Yet he was alone. He put away his scarf and stood up. He looked around and saw nothing odd, aside from the sullen atmosphere of the place. The breeze came back; but this time, he heard a chiming sound, which he had no explanation for, but which came from that mysterious wind. The breeze passed by again, but this time it was visible as a strange motion in the air, a sort of will-o'-the-wisp slipping past Rayman, who jumped back, startled. It was like smoke skimming over the ground, like a ... spirit?
"Okay... all right..."
Rayman took a deep breath and moved towards the bushes the thing had dived into. As he approached, he felt a cold chill run up his spine. After everything he had seen this day, including that he harbored some sort of murderous light, nothing would surprise him. Perhaps he would run across one of those mysterious beasts haunting the region? Or perhaps it really was a spirit? Many stories were told about this forest, about spirits, about ghosts wandering through it. But no one ever came here; the only witnesses of any bizarre phenomena were crazy old fools to whom life didn't matter much anymore. And yet... Rayman had clearly perceived that voice, that call, and as if by chance at the moment when he was about to flee, when he seemed lost. It was said that the spirits of this forest liked to play tricks on travellers who had lost their path. Rayman pushed that thought away, and slowly, warily approached the thick foliage in front of him. The bush quivered again, and Rayman took a quick step back. He felt he was being watched, as if hidden eyes were fixed on him from all directions. He steadied his nerve, and again examined the wall of leaves.
Then he sensed a deep inhalation in the darkness, and a heavy growl came out of the impenetrable depths of the forest. Two motionless red eyes emerged from the night, fastening on Rayman with a heart-stopping chill. In spite of that, Rayman put out a hand to move aside the branches. The growling intensified, and a nightmarish creature emerged from the shadows. It walked on all fours like a predator, though its paws were of uneven size. The hind feet were long, bony and ended in two pairs of razor-sharp claws. The forefeet were much smaller, armed with talons like a bird of prey. Its smooth, furless skin was deep black. Its muzzle was long and slender, with thin nostrils. The creature gave off a ceaseless high- pitched hissing, like a serpent about to attack. A line of sharp spines ran down its back from its head to the end of its whiplike tail ending in a tip black as its skin. But Rayman's eyes were fixed on its powerful jaw, opening to reveal a row of knifelike teeth. Motionless, the creature watched him, sniffing his scent and continuing to hiss like a reptile. Rayman was wondering why it stayed so motionless, when it reared up on its hind feet, abruptly doubling its height. It raised its head high, breathing in little puffs of air. For a moment it held that position; then gave off a series of short, harsh cries that rang through the forest. Drawing back, Rayman puzzled at what that behaviour could mean. But in a moment he had the answer, or rather heard it.
Dozens of sharp hissing sounds, and cries like those of the creature, came out the darkness; red eyes were everywhere. Now Rayman understood, but too late. The creature returned to a bent position, its maw opened, spat out a piercing cry; its two dilated, blood-red pupils shot out a terrifying glare. Rayman started sharply back. But another of the creatures, hiding in the shadows, knocked him down. He could smell its loathsome breath, it opened its jaws wide, advancing a set of pointed fangs that Rayman tried desperately to hold back with his hands. Then the other creatures attacked the first to steal its prey. In a moment they were all in a violent fight, and Rayman took the opportunity to race away into the forest.
He ran as fast as he could, colliding with hanging branches, dodging around the trees. Behind him he could hear the monsters galloping, and their rending cries made his skin crawl. He sprinted ahead with every bit of strength he could summon, in horror that at any moment one of the creatures might snatch him, hammer those fangs into him, devour him slowly. Oh, but he'd been dying to see one of them, hadn't he?
"Where's that killing light gizmo when you need it?" he thought.
But it looked like nothing short of a miracle could save him from this situation. Nervously, Rayman turned to look for his pursuers. Oddly, there was no sign of them coming after him. He looked ahead again and saw too late that he was running into a deep ditch. His feet grappled in emptiness, and he fell forward, bouncing violently from rock to rock. He slid down a muddy slope and landed in a pile of dead leaves. For several minutes he lay there unconscious. When he came to, his head was splitting, and he felt as though something were crushing him into the ground. Everything was spinning around him, his ears were ringing, he felt sick to his stomach. Attempting to stand up, his body seemed to weigh a ton. However, he managed to get himself up clutching the trunk of a tree, and for a moment he stayed there leaning against it, gazing up at the height of the gulf he had just tumbled down — and holding onto his stomach, which was still threatening to vomit.
"Must be five meters," he thought. "Could have been a lot worse."
There seemed to be no sign of the creatures. He must have lost them, or indeed, they weren't so stupid as to throw themselves into a gully after a prey that would barely have made a mouthful for even one of them.
He turned around. The forest stretched before him, bathing in a gentle morning light, for the sun was beginning to rise. Looking around, Rayman could feel almost safe now that there was some light. It was still dim, but he could begin to see better. And now he sensed a light breeze blowing through the woods. It wasn't like any he'd ever known; it was light and fresh, and it had a strange scent, as though it came from another world. Rayman tried to follow it to its source and set off through the forest again, hoping that this breeze wouldn't play the kind of trick on him that the other had. The further he went, the stronger the light grew, and so did the breeze. As he walked, he was rummaging through his memories to find that scent, so cool and moist, sometimes with an almost salty flavour. A few minutes later, he found that the trees ended abruptly at the top of a slope. He quickly climbed it, and finally discovered the origin of that breeze, which had now become a fierce wind.
He had done it, he had crossed the Ghost Forest. Now he looked down on an incredible sight.
First silence, then calm, then light whispers circulating through the crowd, and then low voices, came from the villagers. And then a howl could be heard tearing through the night, followed by other cries, cries that became more and more shrill, and which set off utter hysteria among the villagers.
Rayman opened an eye. His gaze fell directly on the corpse resting next to him. Everyone was running, yelling, and the crowd shook with cries buried by its chaotic fleeing. The villagers were all terrified, and followed their instincts which told them to escape as quickly as possible, which led them into the stupid and primitive stampede of a herd of hunted wild animals. Rayman didn't understand, he couldn't grasp what was occurring before his eyes. And he was in pain, his abdomen hurt him terribly. Instinctively he got up and looked for his mother's eyes among the agitated crowd. He finally found her, fighting against the rush of panicked people to get to him. He too tried to head towards her, but suddenly a gigantic hand caught him by the shoulder and wrenched him around to confront the man who had been with the drunk.
"What have you done?" the man gasped.
"I—I—I didn't mean to, it wasn't my fault!" stammered Rayman.
But the man fell to his knees before his friend's corpse, moaning behind the hands which covered his face, hiding his tears.
"You're a monster!" he cried, his face contorted.
"That's right! Get that thing out of our village!" added another man.
With black looks, muttering, the crowd agreed.
"Ray! Leave him alone!" cried Rayman's mother, putting herself between him and the villagers.
"You keep out of this!" another said. "We're going to free you from that horrible creature."
"Yes! He has to go for good!"
As if a hand were crushing his throat, Rayman felt a scream rising up in him. It stayed choked down inside, that cry bearing witness to his outrage at all men and their unending attacks. That anger would remain etched in the depths of his soul forever. His burning eyes, so tired, kept on closing as if they refused any longer to look at that unkind world in which he no longer wanted to live. Slowly, down his cheek slid a little star lost in that pitiless universe, drawing an arc of light on his skin before falling into darkness, leaving behind it a little golden streak and immolating itself on the hard, frigid earth.
One step, another, he backed away. He couldn't stay here, he knew that, and something told him to flee. He turned away, and he left. He ran back up the path, doing his best to ignore his mother's desperate cries. He reached the village and hurtled down the cobblestone road, paying no attention to the desolation of the place. He went down the path that ran alongside the river, and caught sight of his house, a distant black spot through the trees. He decided not to go home, that would surely put his mother in danger.
He looked away, and he took stock of what he had done. He had killed. That was an act no one could forgive, still less if it came from a being like himself.
"I've killed, monsters kill ... that means I'm a monster," thought Rayman.
That strange beam of light, what could that possibly have been? But he preferred to forget about that for the moment, and tried to think of a place to go. He looked around. Far away on the hill was Kito, its sleep disturbed by the torches of the anxious villagers. And in the other direction, into the distance there was spread the forest, like a black, cottony layer over the earth, stretching out over low hills like great dark, rolling dunes in the night. For some reason, Rayman felt drawn by that forest. He ran straight ahead, not turning back.
At the end of his run, Rayman stopped at the edge of the forest. He stood there, gazing up at the huge black trees that sprang from the earth and seemed to be striving to join with the sky, they had reached such a height. Involuntarily Rayman looked behind him, and saw his village forming a minute constellation up there on the cliff. He sighed, and entered the forest, passing between two trees. It was night, and the feeble light of the stars and of the moon didn't penetrate the dense foliage. He could hardly even see himself. Regardless, he went on through the darkness. The further he went, the larger and more peculiar the trees became. Some of them reminded him of the ancient oak back home. Home... no, he mustn't think of that, he must never think of that, he would never return.
With difficulty he picked out a path among the trees and thick bushes, ending up in a little clearing. Though he wasn't that far from his village, his travels had already exhausted him. Rayman sat down on a rock and looked at his surroundings. The trees made a sort of circle around him. Raising his eyes, he could see a few stars in the sky. Then he looked once again at the trees. There was an odd sensation coming from them, as though they were eyeing him. But he paid that no attention. Anyway, he was used to it.
He pulled out of his pocket his little piece of cloth, that he would keep forever. He wiped his face with it – even if it was night, it was still hot, especially in the still air of the forest. Rayman wondered why he had come here. It was as if a mysterious voice had summoned him. Perhaps what he was seeking would be found on the other side of the forest. But no one dared venture further than this spot. His father knew only that if you continued on to the east, beyond the hills, you would reach the sea. Rayman had always wanted to see it some day, that infinite expanse of water which merged with the sky and out of which the sun arose each morning. Yes, water — but water which was unfortunately salty and wouldn't have been of much use to his village. But he thought perhaps he should go ahead; no doubt he would find what he was seeking there.
He thought for a moment, and a light breeze caressed his face. It felt strange, it was icy cold and empty, like the breath of an animal. Yet he was alone. He put away his scarf and stood up. He looked around and saw nothing odd, aside from the sullen atmosphere of the place. The breeze came back; but this time, he heard a chiming sound, which he had no explanation for, but which came from that mysterious wind. The breeze passed by again, but this time it was visible as a strange motion in the air, a sort of will-o'-the-wisp slipping past Rayman, who jumped back, startled. It was like smoke skimming over the ground, like a ... spirit?
"Okay... all right..."
Rayman took a deep breath and moved towards the bushes the thing had dived into. As he approached, he felt a cold chill run up his spine. After everything he had seen this day, including that he harbored some sort of murderous light, nothing would surprise him. Perhaps he would run across one of those mysterious beasts haunting the region? Or perhaps it really was a spirit? Many stories were told about this forest, about spirits, about ghosts wandering through it. But no one ever came here; the only witnesses of any bizarre phenomena were crazy old fools to whom life didn't matter much anymore. And yet... Rayman had clearly perceived that voice, that call, and as if by chance at the moment when he was about to flee, when he seemed lost. It was said that the spirits of this forest liked to play tricks on travellers who had lost their path. Rayman pushed that thought away, and slowly, warily approached the thick foliage in front of him. The bush quivered again, and Rayman took a quick step back. He felt he was being watched, as if hidden eyes were fixed on him from all directions. He steadied his nerve, and again examined the wall of leaves.
Then he sensed a deep inhalation in the darkness, and a heavy growl came out of the impenetrable depths of the forest. Two motionless red eyes emerged from the night, fastening on Rayman with a heart-stopping chill. In spite of that, Rayman put out a hand to move aside the branches. The growling intensified, and a nightmarish creature emerged from the shadows. It walked on all fours like a predator, though its paws were of uneven size. The hind feet were long, bony and ended in two pairs of razor-sharp claws. The forefeet were much smaller, armed with talons like a bird of prey. Its smooth, furless skin was deep black. Its muzzle was long and slender, with thin nostrils. The creature gave off a ceaseless high- pitched hissing, like a serpent about to attack. A line of sharp spines ran down its back from its head to the end of its whiplike tail ending in a tip black as its skin. But Rayman's eyes were fixed on its powerful jaw, opening to reveal a row of knifelike teeth. Motionless, the creature watched him, sniffing his scent and continuing to hiss like a reptile. Rayman was wondering why it stayed so motionless, when it reared up on its hind feet, abruptly doubling its height. It raised its head high, breathing in little puffs of air. For a moment it held that position; then gave off a series of short, harsh cries that rang through the forest. Drawing back, Rayman puzzled at what that behaviour could mean. But in a moment he had the answer, or rather heard it.
Dozens of sharp hissing sounds, and cries like those of the creature, came out the darkness; red eyes were everywhere. Now Rayman understood, but too late. The creature returned to a bent position, its maw opened, spat out a piercing cry; its two dilated, blood-red pupils shot out a terrifying glare. Rayman started sharply back. But another of the creatures, hiding in the shadows, knocked him down. He could smell its loathsome breath, it opened its jaws wide, advancing a set of pointed fangs that Rayman tried desperately to hold back with his hands. Then the other creatures attacked the first to steal its prey. In a moment they were all in a violent fight, and Rayman took the opportunity to race away into the forest.
He ran as fast as he could, colliding with hanging branches, dodging around the trees. Behind him he could hear the monsters galloping, and their rending cries made his skin crawl. He sprinted ahead with every bit of strength he could summon, in horror that at any moment one of the creatures might snatch him, hammer those fangs into him, devour him slowly. Oh, but he'd been dying to see one of them, hadn't he?
"Where's that killing light gizmo when you need it?" he thought.
But it looked like nothing short of a miracle could save him from this situation. Nervously, Rayman turned to look for his pursuers. Oddly, there was no sign of them coming after him. He looked ahead again and saw too late that he was running into a deep ditch. His feet grappled in emptiness, and he fell forward, bouncing violently from rock to rock. He slid down a muddy slope and landed in a pile of dead leaves. For several minutes he lay there unconscious. When he came to, his head was splitting, and he felt as though something were crushing him into the ground. Everything was spinning around him, his ears were ringing, he felt sick to his stomach. Attempting to stand up, his body seemed to weigh a ton. However, he managed to get himself up clutching the trunk of a tree, and for a moment he stayed there leaning against it, gazing up at the height of the gulf he had just tumbled down — and holding onto his stomach, which was still threatening to vomit.
"Must be five meters," he thought. "Could have been a lot worse."
There seemed to be no sign of the creatures. He must have lost them, or indeed, they weren't so stupid as to throw themselves into a gully after a prey that would barely have made a mouthful for even one of them.
He turned around. The forest stretched before him, bathing in a gentle morning light, for the sun was beginning to rise. Looking around, Rayman could feel almost safe now that there was some light. It was still dim, but he could begin to see better. And now he sensed a light breeze blowing through the woods. It wasn't like any he'd ever known; it was light and fresh, and it had a strange scent, as though it came from another world. Rayman tried to follow it to its source and set off through the forest again, hoping that this breeze wouldn't play the kind of trick on him that the other had. The further he went, the stronger the light grew, and so did the breeze. As he walked, he was rummaging through his memories to find that scent, so cool and moist, sometimes with an almost salty flavour. A few minutes later, he found that the trees ended abruptly at the top of a slope. He quickly climbed it, and finally discovered the origin of that breeze, which had now become a fierce wind.
He had done it, he had crossed the Ghost Forest. Now he looked down on an incredible sight.
