Ciclico: Leaving home always hurts ~ Past

When all the people that went to the hunt returned running back, speaking incoherently and scared shitless, I wasn’t surprised a little bit. Even now my hands tremble when I think of that enormous thing. Even if they had offered me the chance to come back, I would have not. How could I? I like staying alive too much, and at the end, I would probably end up getting in the way if I did.

Don’t misunderstand me, I would have loved to be there at my father’s side to not let him fight that monster alone, but at the end I could not bring myself to do so. That chat he had with us last night was something he had never done before, and at the very least, I got to respect that. And it was not all lost, if I stayed back, at the very least I could stay with my brother Ases.

That’s why when we found out that he had left Raz had to hold me and almost tie me to a chair. I could not believe it when she said that he went to the forest alone after them. How could he? How can someone so fearful and calm act so irremediably stupid when things actually get dangerous? It’s like a talent of his, I was absolutely appalled.

When neither my father nor him returned with the fleeing hunters, I was the one scared shitless. I didn’t even want to go to the forest anymore, what would be the point?

If they didn’t return from hunting that thing, they could only be dead.

People were there, screaming at each other, blaming everyone for the mess they had gotten themselves involved in. A fight was about to break out between everyone who had returned, but then, the ground started trembling. Something was coming right in this direction.

Everyone ran away again. No one wanted to be there the moment the enormous boar broke out of the forest and razed everything on its path. I didn’t want to be there either, but the weight of everything made me stay too long, and I noticed the thing that was on its way before it broke out of the forest.

It was not a boar. It was a full on monster, a three meter tall mockery of a human being, with the teeth of a wolf and enormous claws that broke the bark of the trees as if it was nothing.

I screamed. It was a shrill that I didn’t even know I could make, but then I bolted back home. I threw myself in and closed the door behind me, hoping that whatever that monstrosity was would choose any other house to invade.

Raz had already hidden a long time ago, she was looking at me absolutely terrified, hidden under a table as if that meager wooden piece of crap would be able to protect her at all.

I ran to her side, at the very least there was space for two in that shitty hiding spot. If we were going to die, at the very least, I didn’t want to die alone.

The monster outside was doing absolutely guttural sounds. I could hear them even with the log wall separating us. It was loud and clear enough that I noticed that they were getting closer, and soon enough, the thing had ripped the door out of its hinges.

The thing was doing inhuman sounds, approaching slowly, as if it was teasing us. Playing with its food, savoring the sheer terror his presence stilled in us.

I closed my eyes and hugged Raz. I only hoped it would be painless.

I waited… but the strike never came.

The silence was unbearable, what the hell is going on?

When I opened my eyes I could see the monster staring right at us. His face was inches apart from us. He seemed to be breathing heavily, but my eyes were ringing so loudly I could not distinguish anything.

The eyes of that thing were bloodshot, looking absolutely demonic, but lost in it, there was something that I found deeply, disconcertingly familiar.

And… Why is the monster crying?

“Ases?”

Raz said it before me, but I also had noticed it. Beyond the crooked smile and the terrifying shape, I could see the person hidden underneath.

“Leave them alone!”

The old lady, the one that had been tasked with taking care of us, lunged at the creature from the side with a kitchen knife. She had put all her weight into it, sinking it to the hilt between Ases’s ribs.

“Ases!”

I screamed and threw myself forward to try and reach him, but he rose again and swung his enormous arm to the side. The woman, who even after attacking him was deep in terror, could only watch as the enormous claw moved towards her face and slapped her against the wall. Ases did not even know what he had done, he simply felt the pain and swatted to the side to get away from whatever had hurt him.

Even then, that woman was no longer alive.

“There it is!”

The people that had gone to hunt the boar all had their weapons, yet unused, ready. One of them entered through the door and stabbed Ases again with a rake. Ases let out a guttural, deep scream of pain. Hitting the man to try and get him away. The man was also sent flying, unconscious, towards the kitchen.

When the next person entered, Ases tried to run away, breaking the wall of the house and jumping outside. There, people were armed with rakes, bows, axes and torches.

Torches. One of them had set the building on fire before he came out of it.

Trying to get away from them, and now seeing the flames that were quickly spreading, Ases threw himself and grabbed Raz and Herm. He grabbed both their arms and with a kick destroyed the opposite wall, trying to get farther away from the mob. The house, without two of its walls and the remaining ones weakened by the fire, came out on top of them before they could manage to get away.

Ases pulled them away, seeing that they were hurt, and got even more desperate. Raz had lost consciousness and Herm was screaming from the pain of the burns he had now on his arm. Thinking quickly, Ases grabbed them both, putting them on his shoulders, and ran away.

The mob tried to follow, throwing their weapons in hopes of hitting who they thought was a monster, but it was too fast for them. In a matter of minutes, the only thing Ases could see were the trees.

Letting them both on the ground, he looked at their wounds, seeing them bleed while he could do nothing about it. His scream of desperation overshadowed all the sounds from the forest, reaching even Ciclico, where the people were wondering if they should give chase to the monster.

Now, both Herm and Raz were both unconscious. Herm was burned and Raz had been hit in the head by a brick when the house collapsed. Both were full of bruises, and were bleeding from the multiple wounds they had. Ases tried to apply pressure to them, but it was useless. He simply was not enough.

“Stop running away you damn idiot!”

Ases turned around, ready to fight whoever had come to hurt them again, but was surprised when he saw it was the same woman he had seen before in the forest.

“Don’t you dare move from where you are. I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but you WILL return the power you have stolen.”

The woman was furious, but stopped moving forward when she saw how altered Ases was, as if she was thinking about it a little more. That moment of pause allowed her to see the two injured people at the monster’s feet.

After that, she looked at him again. Ases was in front of them, protecting them, trying to keep them separate from the woman. If she took another step forward, he would probably maul her to keep them safe.

“I can’t believe this is how it goes.” She said, sighing, before grabbing her hair in her fists. She started pulling her, slowly at first, but later it seemed as if she wanted to rip it from her head.

“I can’t fucking believe this!” She screamed, but then after, she gave three deep breaths. After a moment, she looked at Ases again. “I understand, so this is how it’s going to go. I need you to come with me, and I see that those two need help. I don’t think you can do any first aid with those claws you call hands, can you?”

Ases didn’t move at all, distrustful, but a glance to his hands was enough to know that she was right. The woman noticed and kept talking.

“Let’s make a deal. I’ll help you save them, and you are going to follow me after they are safe. You have taken something that is mine, so you have to take responsibility for what you did.”

After a moment of silence, the woman took a step forward. Ases gave a step back, unsure, but without any other options, moved to the side so she could reach them.

“If the other Gods could see me right now. Saving lives? Me? The world never fails to ridicule me, it seems.”

The power of death was not adequate to heal any kind of wounds, but it was more than enough to stave off death for a while. With the hopes of finding a place to heal them, Ases followed the woman through the forest, far from the place he once called home.