Chapter 5: Into the woods.
Warning: This chapter includes slight body horror and suicidal thoughts.
Hunter was probably dying. He was struggling to breathe, feeling every single breath he took getting stuck on his throat. His vision was blurry and he couldn't even bring himself to look up to see where they were going (Were the halls always this small... this suffocating?). While the sound of his erratic heartbeat was echoing louder than any other sound, along with everything that happened.
The breaking staff. The cardinal's cries. The blast he sent to the emperor...! He could still hear them all. As if his mind had remained behind, trapped in that moment.
The only things he had that somehow still tethered him to reality were the pain on his bleeding shoulder and his hold on the staff, which was actually flying on its own, not really knowing where it was going, just that they had to get out of there. The difficult part was the 'how'...
...!
Suddenly they stopped. Everything stopped for a moment. As the sound of a distant, but loud shriek echoed... and then more of them followed, closing in second by second...!
Oh no-! "Keep going! Faster!" Hunter called out and the staff started flying again.
This time though, he was the one driving, not his palisman.
Okay, first things first, he had to calm down (for now at least). He basically grew up in this castle, he knew it like the back of his hand. He had to think of something!
Could they really just fly out the entrance? No, it would take too long, they'd get caught halfway there (or sooner).
Should he break a window? Why not?
Maybe he could try to tel-
...!
...
Hunter didn't have the time to register everything that happened. All he knew was that now he was lying on the floor and everything hurt. Most of all his shoulder and... his leg! There was a large cut almost all over his lower leg!
And looking up, he was face to face with the one who caused it. Not very much away, there was a breathless beast made of goop, filling the whole hallway. Its long arms were sharpened, each having at the ready five blades instead of fingers, one of which was stained with blood. And in the place of its face, a dirty, golden horned skull, with cold blue eyes cutting through Hunter's soul.
The boy immediately turned away, desperately clawing his way to his staff, which was fortunately not that far from his reach.
However, just as he held it, three blades were stabbed to the floor. One next to his hand, two next to his head. He gritted his teeth, holding back tears and a scared scream.
"Don't... make me hurt you... any more, Hunter. Hand... over... the staff." He could hear Belos' voice looming right above him, he could feel his heavy breathing on the back of his neck, and a few droplets of goop falling on him. And against all his will and all his effort, a soft whimper escaped his lips.
He had never felt like that before. This small, this broken, this... powerless.
The blades ever so slightly moved closer to his head, as Belos silently reminded him of his presence and the answer he was owned. And all Hunter could do was close his eyes, so he wouldn't see them, his hold on his staff getting so tight his hand was shaking. He could hear the cardinal chirping at him, as he let out a shaky sigh, words of compliance instictively on the tip of his tongue.
But then he made a mistake.
He opened his eyes. And saw his palisman staring at him, just as terrified as he was...
He shifted his gaze to his hand before closing his eyes again, swallowing hard.
I'm sorry...
The blades closed in more, just as Hunter was engulfed in a yellow glow and then teleported a few inches away from Belos' grip, trying to use his staff for support. And a second later, he disappeared inside the glow again, this time appearing outside the window, flying away. But not before giving Belos a fearful, yet almost apologetic, glance.
...!
...!
The emperor closed his fist, crushing inside it a part of the floor. And then the whole castle was shaken by his gruesome, enraged scream, as he lunged forward, leaving claw-marks everywhere and completely destroying the wall before him.
And at the edge of the hallway, amidst the rumble, he slowly returned to his original form. He was on his knees, too exhasted to move, his clothes still stained with goop, and a mop of blond hair over his face. While his eyes were fixed outside, catching a glimpse of Hunter's silhouette, before it vanished into the night.
"My lord!" Kikimora's concerned voice echoed from behind and she quickly ran up to him. "Are you all right? What happe-" She attempted to help him up, but he held up his hand to stop her.
"Send them all out. Search everywhere and find him. Bring him back! Alive!" With every word Belos' voice was growing more intense, making Kikimora already back away slowly.
"O-of course!"
"And get me the heads of the potions and oracle coven."
The sky was filled with clouds tonight, not leaving space for the moon or any star to shine. Which only made things even harder for Hunter.
Flying through the trees seemed like a good idea, since they could cover them from any search parties, but unfortunately it was also making it harder for him to see where they were going.
The amount of times he almost crashed on a trunk or hit his head on a branch at this point, was ridiculous. And that combined with the fact that he still had three open wounds, meant that he couldn't go on for much longer (unfortunately...). Part of him was actually starting to regret rejecting a couple of potential hiding spots they came across along the way, but... but they had to put as much distance between them and the castle as possible!
Now, though...
...
Hunter wasn't sure if he fainted or not, but he felt his eyes closing for a second, and the moment he opened them again he was floating on his staff in front of the mouth of a cave.
He had almost half a mind to command his palisman to keep moving... but, as much as he hated to admit it, he did need the rest... So, he let out a sigh, partly of defeat partly of relief, and let the cardinal take him inside the cave.
With his hurt leg and after losing so much blood, the palisman wasn't counting on letting his witch walk.
They didn't go that deep into the cave, only enough to be covered and be able to see if someone was coming.
And the moment he sat down, Hunter immediately took off his cape and started tearing it apart, to make some makeshift bandages. But the way he was doing it...
His breathing was uneven, his movements frantic, angry, almost violent. And his eyes were wide, dazed, intense and yet... fragile.
When he was done, both with making and putting on his bandages (with a little help from his palisman), this fragility was all that remained. This and the stinging feeling of all the tears he had been holding back.
And then finally unleashed.
Burying his face in his hands, Hunter begun bawling his eyes out, the weight of everything that happened, everything he did, finally settling in. And it was too much to bear.
He blasted the emperor, his uncle. The man who gave him a staff, a purpose and a home! He was officialy a traitor. He lost everything... Or rather, he threw it away!
Why did he do it? Why did things have to get so messed up? What would he do now? Where would he go? Was this how the rest of his life would go from now on? Hiding in the forest from cave to cave? Was there any point for it to continue at all?
Maybe he should just rip the bandages out and let himself bleed to death! Or go outside and make a ruckus until a scout would spot him and either blast him to pieces right then and there or take him to the conformatorium for a petrification! Yeah, that would be great! That way everyone on the Boiling Isles could see how low the mighty Golden Guard had sunk! It wasn't like he didn't deserve it! And hey, maybe he'd be more useful as a statue!
...He'd leave his staff behind though. That was the point, after all, the reason it all happened. So that he could save it from Belos. Maybe it'd be for the best. The cardinal could go find his palismen buddies, or even better, some other witch. A better witch...
...
...!
Hunter lifted his messy-haired head from his hands and wiped his eyes a bit, surprised by a soft sound in his ear. It almost sounded like a voice.
His palisman. He was sitting on his shoulder. He had a strange look in his eyes... he wasn't sure he had ever seen it before. Maybe he had, but it wasn't meant for him.
Instictively, Hunter wanted to call it pity, but pity was supposed to be a bad thing. Pity was for the weak... Which, maybe he was. He was sitting in a cave, crying like a baby, just a second ago, for Titan's sake... But still. Pity was meant to make you feel ashamed, and right now...!
He didn't really have the time to think and the cardinal came closer, rubbing his head on his cheek while trilling softly. He raised his hand to shoo him away, but at the last second he stopped.
This was different. It was nice...
He... he needed this. He needed his palisman.
So, instead he put his hand around the bird's body, gently stroking it with his fingers, as a few silent tears fell down his face and the faintest feeling of warmth blossomed in his chest.
Maybe he hadn't lost everything. And maybe he still mattered to someone.
Hunter wasn't sure when he fell asleep, or for how long he had been, but he knew that this was a terrible way to wake up.
On the one hand he had his palisman pulling on his hair, and on the other-
"Oh, come on!"
"Shut up..."
"Do we really have to?"
"Ugh... Yes!"
"But, have you seen the sky? It could start raining any time! Besides, we've been here searching all night and still no sign of the Golden Guard!"
Coven scouts! Of course!
Immediately, he stood up, only to almost collapse (betrayed by his injured leg) and be caught by his staff, before flying deeper into the cave. Which honestly, didn't serve them well, because the deepest they could go was apparently four meters away from where they were!
Even if they were covered for now, the scouts would come inside the cave to search and right now he was in no condition to fight. Teleporting was out of the way too, since he had no way of knowing neither how many more of them were nor where they were. He couldn't risk escaping two scouts only to run into a dozen.
"And you said 'Oh! He can't have gone too far! We'll be done in an hour or so!'! If I knew it'd take this long, I'd have packed sandwiches."
"For the love of the Titan! Will you stop complaining al-!"
Suddenly both of the scouts went silent at the sound of heavy steps from behind them.
"Something wrong here?" Kikimora inquired from her spot atop the Abomaton's shoulders.
Hearing her voice, Hunter felt his blood boil, wishing he could just go and smack her around like he did in Latissa.
Latissa... Well, that brought back memories.
He turned to the wall of the cave, before getting off the staff and kneeling on the ground, looking for a good stone.
"Kikimora! Ma'am! Uh, there's... nothing wrong here! Nothing at all! I was just trying to keep the spirits of my fellow scout up! We got to find the Golden Guard, don't we? Don't we?" As the scout finished, a strained smile could be heard in his voice, while his complaining comrade nodded (probably way too) eagerly, sweating beneath his mask.
Kikimora just eyed the two, clearly uninpressed, her gaze drifting to the cave nearby. "I see... And have you checked over there?"
The three of them made carefully their way towards the cave. But before they could look inside, they were met with a thick cloud of smoke.
"What is this? Is there a fire in there?" One of the scouts questioned, in-between coughs.
"This is no fire you imbecile! It's him!" Kikimora screamed, already sending blasts of fire everywhere into the smoke, the two scouts soon joining.
Hunter kept flying away into the smoke, teleporting whenever one of the blasts was about to hit. It actually seemed they'd get away.
That was, until a giant hand made of sludge grabbed him and slammed him to the ground.
And after that... he was dizzy, struggling to keep his eyes open, as he desperately tried to catch a glimpse of his staff. But all he saw was Kikimora's silhouette coming in front of him. And after that, everything faded to black.
This one came a week late, but hey, better late than never. I really hope it was worth the wait. I leave you guys for now and I promise to bring the next chapter sooner than this one. Please leave a review and stay safe. Byeee! :)