The lantern Quinn held was starting to fade out, the last dregs of oil slowly burning away.
"Talon!" She screamed into the darkness, then strained to hear a reply.
"Quinn, stop shouting like that!" Caleb hissed. "What if some large animal hears you?!"
Quinn shot him a stubborn glare, ignoring his warning as she held the lantern up higher. She moved closer to a large tree, scanning the ground. "...Tal's been here…" she muttered, more to herself than to Caleb.
Caleb followed her gaze, kneeling down to inspect the disturbed soil. "Yeah, it's been disturbed!" he agreed, running his fingers through the dirt. He could just make out the faint imprint of a boot in the mud. "It has to be him, Quinn. Not too long ago actually."
"Talon!" Quinn called out again, louder this time, desperation creeping into her voice. "Talon, can you hear me!?"
For a moment, there was only silence. But then–
A deep, primal growl came from all around them. Vicious and low. The twins quickly pressed their backs together, giving one another vision from the others blindspot. "That wasn't Talon…" Caleb whispered.
Quinn stiffened, her eyes darting through the darkness. The lantern flickered again, casting long, wavering shadows across the forest floor. "What was that?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
The growl came again, closer this time. It was followed by the distinct sound of heavy hooves pounding against the earth. The shape of a large, beastial creature began to emerge. Large, sharp tusks protruded through its snout, its deep blue eyes fixed on the two teenagers. It stomped its hooves into the ground, snorting and kicking up dirt as it lowered its head, ready to charge.
"Run!" Caleb shouted, yanking Quinn back as the tuskvore let out a deafening roar and lunged forward.
The two ran as fast as they could, chests heaving with exertion. In the panic to escape, the lantern was dropped. The light went out with a faint hiss as Quinn and Caleb continued to run through the dark forest. They finally broke through a patch of brambles, tumbling down and getting cut deeply in the process. Coming to a clearing, wheezing and staggering.
Quinn stepped back in sudden panic, spinning to face the ledge the large beast loomed over. It was staring at them, snorting and growling as it paced back and forth. Before slowly turning away and stalking back into the forest. "...Why didn't it follow us…?" She whispered, helping Caleb back up.
"I…I don't know…" He whispered back. He glanced around the clearing they'd stumbled into, a thick mist-like fog seemed to surround it everywhere. It was dark, like no fog either sibling had ever seen before. "Quinn-...What…Is this stuff?"
"Smoke?" She tried to suggest, wafting it a little with her hand. Feeling it dissipate, but the colour seemed to stick to her hand no matter how many times she brushed it against her clothing.
The hairs on the back of Caleb's neck stood on end as an unsettling feeling washed over him. There was something… wrong about this place. It felt like they were being watched. "We need to get out of here. Now."
Quinn didn't move. She was staring at something, in the far end of the clearing. Her amber eyes wide and scared. She slowly began to walk forward, ignoring Caleb's hisses to not go into that fog. In the clearing, slightly covered by some leaf litter, was something slumped over and stiff. Quinn felt her throat go dry.
The sight that greeted her made her stomach lurch. It was Dulren.
His body lay twisted in a way that was unnatural. His clothes were torn and soaked in blood. But what truly horrified Quinn were the wounds—deep, deep stab marks littered his torso, each one oozing with fresh blood. His face was barely recognizable, a mix of bruises, cuts, and terror frozen in his glassy lifeless eyes.
Quinn gasped in horror, her breaths sharp and high. Her hands clasped over her mouth, trying to muffle herself so as not to scream.
"Oh gods… What happened…? Is he…?" She heard behind her. Quinn couldn't take her eyes away from Dulren's body. The mist seemed to close in around them, growing thicker and darker
xxx
Fourty minutes earlier, the clearing had been silent. Undisturbed.
Until Dulren, filled with rage stormed through the fog. His breaths ragged and angry. His bloodied tire iron swung loosely in his hand, knuckles white from the grip. He'd sworn he'd seen the Noxian come this way, a figure moving through the trees, as quick as a shadow. The little sneak had tried to taunt him, only moving when Dulren began to bolt towards him.
"Dulren… This way… Come and find me…" The voice hissed. Low and taunting, all around him. In his head. It drove the teenager mad. Dulren snarled, spinning around as if expecting to see Talon right behind him, but the forest was empty.
"Stop hiding!" Dulren shouted into the darkness, his voice cracking with rage. "I know you're out here, Talon! Show yourself! Little rat, when I find you-!" He stopped, seeing the hooded figure between the trees and bushes. The dark space under the head, while no eyes were visible, Dulren could feel Talon staring directly at him.
He snorted, looking around this clearing. Dark, thick fog loomed around. The air felt thick and oppressive. The whispering had stopped, Talon was just staring at him. "Come on then! Little bastard, you've nowhere to run!"
The hooded figure moved, disappearing into the fog and out of sight. Dulren's heart raced as he took another step, then another, his ears straining for any sound, any sign of the boy he was hunting. "Where are you? Where the fuck are you…" He growled to himself, eyes darting in every direction.
They stopped when Talon was standing there. About ten feet away. Dulren gripped his tire iron tighter, wiping his nose with his sleeve and sneering. He would've charged him, and ended the chase. But he froze in place when Talon was the one slowly walking towards him.
Something wasn't right. The way he moved, it was jerky and unnatural. Talon's head was dropped, his features hidden by the hood. Dulren looked at the other's arm, they weren't…Human. Sharp, black claw-like appendages peeked under the sleeve.
Dulren's blood ran cold. As Talon lifted his head, Dulren gasped in horror. Staring back at him were not the familiar amber eyes of his enemy, but glowing red orbs, filled with malice. His mouth—no, its mouth—was filled with far too many teeth, jagged and unnaturally large, stretching and splitting the lips in a grotesque grin.
"Found you." the voice hissed right in his ear, and the night swallowed his scream.
xxx
Quinn and Caleb ran for what felt like hours. Every turn seemed to end right back where they'd started, the clearing. Only now Dulren's body was nowhere to be found, confusing and frightening the twins. Quinn clutched Caleb's hand, dragging him along as they stumbled through the thick undergrowth. The trees all looked the same now. It felt like they were running in circles, the path never leading them to safety. The fog that clung to the ground only added to the confusion, making it harder to see where they were going.
"Why does everything look the same?!" Caleb cried. "We're lost, Quinn! We're lost!"
"No, we are not!" Quinn snapped, trying to keep her voice steady, but panic was creeping in. "We'll find a way out! We just… we just have to keep moving!" She picked out a new direction, dragging her terrified brother behind her.
A twig snapped nearby and the twins froze.
Quinn's eyes darted around, scanning the forest. Breathing frantically as she tried to see what could've made it. Her vision landed on something out of place, far off in the distance between the trees. It'd seen them too, and was moving towards them, fast.
"Oh no- Run! Run!" Quinn screamed, shoving Caleb along as they fled.
Every glance behind her, Quinn could see the figure still trying to follow them. It was shouting, she could barely hear because of the sound of blood rushing to her ears. They broke into a small clearing, panting heavily as they tried to catch their breath. Caleb doubled over, hands on his knees, his body shaking. "Quinn… I-I can't… I can't keep running…"
"Yes you can! We can't sto…" The words froze in her throat. It was here, running towards them through the fog. Quinn grabbed the largest, thickest branch she could handle.
The figure burst through the fog-
Quinn swung.
"Ouch!"
The figure fell to the leaf-littered floor. Groaning and rubbing his shoulder. Quinn dropped her weapon, realizing all this time, they'd been 'chased' by their own brother. "Talon!" She cried, reaching down to help the poor boy back up.
"What…What was that for, Quinn?" he muttered, glaring up at her. Quinn knelt beside him, helping him sit up. Caleb hurried over as well, his face pale with fear and relief.
"We thought— We thought you were… something else!" Quinn stammered, her voice trembling. "We've been lost for hours, and then… and then we saw you running at us! We were terrified!"
"This is why I didn't want you both following me! You'd both get lost like this!" Talon snapped.
Quinn frowned. "You run off after saying we'd go to the city together, why?! Why lie?!-...Talon…It's not safe here…We saw-" She swallowed, Talon tilted his head.
Caleb, still catching his breath, finished his twin's sentence. "Talon… we found… something. Dulren, he… he's…dead."
"Dead?" Talon repeated. "How? He-...He was chasing me. All three of them. Was they-"
"We only found him…" Quinn said.
"What do you mean, just him? Where are the others?"
Quinn shook her head, her expression haunted. "I don't know… We didn't see them. But Dulren… it was bad, Talon. Something… something tore him apart." Now they'd all calmed down, Quinn realized the moonlight came through the trees. It gave them some vision after running scared through the dark for so long. She managed to finally look at Talon, his hoodie was covered in blood. "Talon…What did you do…"
Talon followed her gaze down to the large blood stains on his body. His hand pressed to where the blood was thickest, wincing when he applied pressure. "You-...You seriously think I did it…It's my own damn blood!"
"No! No I wasn't!" Quinn quickly gabbled.
If I wanted to fight back, I'd have killed him.
She came closer to his side. "You're hurt…"
Talon gritted his teeth and nodded, slowly pulling his hand away to reveal the dark, wet stain spreading across his side. "Dulren hit me with the tire iron... I got away, but he got me in the ribs…" His eyes flicked down to the wound, the realization of just how bad it was dawning on him. "I didn't know he'd cut me…"
Quinn took his arm and put it around her shoulder. Caleb came to his other side, steadying him as the three slowly went forward. With Talon leaning on them for support, the three siblings began their slow, cautious trek through the forest.
After so long, Quinn saw what made her heart jump. Fields, just in the far distance. "There! There's the way out!" She stumbled forwards, heaving her injured brother along with Caleb's assistance. "We're almost there-" So much heaving later, the teenagers finally collasped into an exhausted heap at the forest's edge.
Talon slowly turned his head, back towards the thickets. In the far distance, in the darkness and fog within, he saw the figure staring back at him. With deep, red eyes.
"Hey!" A voice rang out. The three teenagers looked towards the pathway, a local guard was rushing towards them holding a torch. When Talon looked back towards the forest, the eyes were long gone. The guard stumbled over, dropping to a knee beside the three. "Are you all alright?! They're over here! I've found them!"
As more guards arrived, one of them began tending to Talon's wound, while another helped Quinn and Caleb to their feet. Talon heard Quinn call out, and immediately kept his head low.
"Mum!"
The ranger came running towards them, throwing her crossbow down and got both twins into a tight hug. Talon watched as his mother enveloped Quinn and Caleb in a fierce embrace. The relief in her voice, the way she held them so tightly, made his own chest ache. It was an ugly feeling, one from so long ago. Bitterness, he did not belong by blood and never would. Talon didn't invite himself in; he stayed where he was, leaning against the guard tending to his side. He lowered his head further, not wanting to meet her eyes.
"Oh thank the gods- Thank the gods you're alright…" She whispered, holding both tightly. "What possessed you all to run off into that forest?! We thought the worst–" She stopped, lip trembling as she desperately avoided crying. Just shaking her head and hugging them even more. "I'm just so glad you're both okay…"
Talon couldn't hope she wouldn't address him forever. She let go of the twins and knelt beside him, her hands hovering just above him as though she didn't know whether to comfort or heavily scold. "Talon… What were you thinking, running off like that? You could have been killed! I thought you were past this kind of behavior and you nearly got Quinn and Caleb-!" she stopped mid sentence, her voice hoarse with emotion. She reached out, touching his cheek gently. "...You're hurt…"
"I…I'm sorry, Mum…" Was all he managed. "I- I wanted to find the monster. The one stealing people…The people you're looking for. It's in that forest!" He winced, feeling he'd aggravated his wound more.
"Enough now, you're hurt…Lets get you up and that injury looked at…What happened?"
"...It was…" He paused when he saw in the distance a woman standing by a guard, calling the exact name he was about to say. The words stuck in his throat, Talon could only look at her. Thankfully Monarri didn't push, prioritizing getting him medical treatment. As she helped him up and began to walk him and his siblings away from the forest.