Chapter 11

Here he was again, standing at the large tree he'd taken shelter in five years ago. Talon kneeled by the large roots; they had seemed so much bigger back then. Colossal and the perfect shelter for a small, lost soul.

He ran his hand over the rough bark, memories flooding back. The cold, the sense of being watched. Now, the forest was eerily quiet, just the odd rustle of leaves and passing animals nearby. Talon stood up, glancing around. He was older now, stronger, more experienced. But the fear that gripped him back then still lingered.

It was still bright out, he had hours to wait before the forest would darken, and no doubt he'd encounter the beast once more. So Talon sat, settling at the same spot he'd tried to sleep that fateful night. He leaned against the massive trunk, drawing comfort from its solidity. He sat and waited, quietly flicking a switchblade around expertly, catching it in a perfect rhythmic motion. The repetitive action calmed his nerves, helping him focus.

Hours passed. As the light of day was gradually fading, a distant rustle caught his attention. Talon's hand tightened around his switchblade. He stood up slowly, his eyes scanning the darkening woods. The forest had fallen into an eerie silence. There had been rustling all day and occasional shouting. Talon put it down to hunters and trappers.

Something then broke through the thickets. Talon jumped to his feet, now facing down a very angry Dulren who was holding a tire iron. "This is where you've been hiding then? Sniveling coward…" Dulren snarled.

Talon's thumb nicked the blade as it rubbed against it over and over, feeling warm blood trickle down his palm. "You followed me," he stated bluntly.

Dulren made a noise that sounded like a snarked laugh, quick and sharp from the back of his throat to the roof of his mouth. "Your stench made it easy enough," he began circling Talon, who followed his pace. Amber eyes fixed on the other boy. "We don't want your kind here. My uncle got killed by a filthy Noxian—"

"It's not my fault your uncle died," Talon interjected. "I didn't ask to be born there, you know…"

"And we didn't ask for our loved ones to be hacked to pieces by you savages!"

"Your stupid Uncle should've known better than to fight a Noxian!" Talon screamed back, he couldn't take the words back the second they'd left his mouth.

"I'm going to kill you and bury you here, filth!"

He stepped up and swung the weapon. Talon easily dodged, the metal smacking against and splintering the tree bark. Dulren pulled it back and swung again; Talon didn't get so lucky this time. It smacked into his ribs, a painful crack and sharp feeling following. Winding Talon and sending him to the floor wheezing.

Gasping for breath, Talon struggled to get up, his vision swimming. Dulren loomed over him, a twisted grin on his face. "This is what happens to Noxian scum."

Through the pain, Talon's survival instincts kicked in. He rolled to the side just as Dulren swung again, the tire iron hitting the ground where his head had been moments before. Using the momentum, Talon pushed himself up, clutching his side. He grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at his attacker. Sending Dulren reeling back as the dirt got him right in the eyes.

He spat and swore in Demacian, snarling various anti-Noxian slurs as he wiped his eyes clean. When his vision cleared, Talon was long gone. Enraged and unwilling to let Talon slip through his fingers, he chose a direction and ran, hunting the other boy down.

xxx

"I can't believe he just… took off…" Quinn muttered, pacing around Talon's attic space. Her footsteps seemed to carve a path into the wooden floor as she wrung her hands behind her back. Caleb sat on the edge of Talon's bed, rubbing his arm quietly as he watched her. "Come on, we can't just let Talon go off into the forest alone," Quinn added, frustration evident in her voice.

"I'm sure one of the rangers would've found him by now, Quinn," Caleb replied, trying to sound reassuring, though there was worry in how it was delivered. "You know how jumpy people get when they see Talon with Mum… Imagine what they'd think seeing him roaming alone?"

Quinn stopped pacing and turned to face him, her expression hurt and judging. "What's that supposed to mean?... Talon getting treated like crap is supposed to be a good thing?"

Caleb looked away. "No, of course not… I just mean… Talon's been through enough, and now this? People are suspicious, and with all the disappearances, they're going to jump to conclusions."

Quinn's face softened, and she sighed, sitting down beside Caleb. "He's convinced that a monster is out there, and he's going to try and face it and get himself lost, if I know Talon. We have to go after him, he can't have gotten far in a few hours!"
"But- What about telling Mum or Dad instead!" Caleb protested. Watching Quinn walk past him, heading for the ladder.

"No- We'll just get Talon in trouble. We'll find him ourselves! Get your shoes, Caleb and don't even think about telling!" Quinn warned, before disappearing down the stairs and towards the front door.

The two left home without a word to their father, who was still toiling away in the smithy. Heading West, hoping they could find Talon in time before he came to any harm.

Dusk was starting to settle over the forest, the fading light casting long, ominous shadows among the trees. Talon paused in his tracks, glancing up at the dimming sky. The canopy above him, thick and interwoven, let only the smallest traces of light through. He estimated he had maybe half an hour of daylight left, if that.

Talon had lost Dulren, the enraged swearing and threats long faded into the general noise of the forest. He made a frustrated snort, rubbing his sore ribs that would probably bruise horribly tomorrow. Then, something caught his eye. A small, worn object half-buried in the dirt just ahead. Talon frowned, kneeling down to inspect it. He brushed away some leaves and dirt, revealing an old, weather-beaten shoe. His shoe. The one he'd lost all those years ago when he'd first fled from the monster.

He picked it up carefully. Talon could still remember the terror, the desperate sprint through the forest, the looming shadow that had pursued him. He had been so small, so scared. The fabric was frayed, the sole worn thin. It was a relic from his old life, a reminder of the scared, hungry street rat he'd once been.

It was getting far darker now, Talon dropped the shoe. Letting it once again return to the soft earth to slowly decay. He could feel the change in the air—the quiet before something dangerous.

xxx

Nightfall had fully claimed the forest, blanketing everything in an oppressive darkness. The occasional glowing eyes of nocturnal creatures darted through the underbrush, only to widen in fear as something came storming through the trees. A fox, startled from its hiding spot, darted towards a nearby den as a figure crashed by, its lips curled into a furious snarl.

"Where are you?!" Dulren screamed into the void of the darkness. "Come out, you wretched piece of shit!"

He stumbled forward, his breath ragged from both exertion and anger. Talon had slipped through his fingers hours ago, disappearing into the depths of the forest. And no matter how hard Dulren tried, no matter how many times he screamed into the darkness, he couldn't find the Noxian.

Behind him, his two friends trailed along, their earlier enthusiasm long since drained. One of them kicked at a branch in frustration, muttering under his breath, while the other rubbed his arms against the growing chill of the night.

"This isn't funny anymore, Dulren," one of them finally said, his voice tinged with fear and exhaustion.

"We've been out here for hours. Let's just go home. Forget about Talon! We scared him off already, isn't that good enough?!"

Dulren shot them both a furious glare, his hands clenched into fists. "You think I'm just going to let him go? After everything? After he smashed up your arm when we were kids?! Slashed my face and broke your teeth!?"

His two friends glanced nervously between one another. Dulren slapped the tire iron in his palm over and over. "And your cat going missing? I bet he was the one who killed it when it got found, ripped apart by the forest edge, Reagan."

The other boy grimaced and shuddered at the memory of his beloved old tabby. "...Dulren, please…This forest feels creepy at night. It doesn't feel right. It's like we're being watched! Let's just go home and hope he dies of the cold!"

"I'm not hoping for anything! I'm not stopping until his brains feed the local wild life!"

"Are you seriously suggesting murdering him?!" Reagan repeated, his voice a mix of disbelief and fear. He looked at the tire iron in Dulren's hand and then at the dark, looming forest around them. "I knew you hated him—we all do—but, Dulren, this is madness. You'll get caught. We'll all get caught."

"Nobody is going to miss a fucking Noxian. Nobody wants him around here!" Dulren couldn't let it go. The thought of that Noxian, out here somewhere in the dark, mocking him by simply existing, gnawed at him like a festering wound. Offspring of the monsters that had slaughtered his uncle.

"Look, Dulren…I don't care about Talon anymore, I just want to get out of here." Reagan pleaded. Hoping his best friend could be reasoned with.

But Dulren was beyond reasoning. His hatred had festered for so long that it had consumed every rational thought. He could still feel the phantom pain of the scar on his face, the constant reminder of that day when the scum had fought back. Every time he looked in the mirror, it stared back at him, mocking him. He turned away from his two friends. "Fucking go then, but don't grass me up when I cave his skull in…"

Without waiting for a response, Reagan and the other boy turned and started to retreat, their footsteps frantic, hurried and nervous as they disappeared into the darkness, leaving Dulren alone. He didn't try to stop them; he didn't even look back. His focus was singular now—Talon. He would find him, and he would make sure he never came back from this forest.