Shadows in the Eastern Forest

Morning came too fast. My body was still aching from yesterday’s training, but Ricky had made it clear—we were leaving at first light.

I strapped on my boots, still damp from the snow, and tied my belt tighter than usual. Just when I was about to step out, Sora blocked the doorway.

Her face was pale, lips trembling. “Onii-chan… don’t go. Please.”

I froze. The way she said it—her voice carried that crack of fear. She tugged at my arm, almost like a child. “You’re still hurt. What if something happens out there? What if you don’t come back?”

I wanted to stop. I wanted to tell her she was right. But the words stuck in my throat. Instead, I pulled my arm free and forced myself to look her in the eye.

“I have to,” I said. “It’s necessary. For me. For us.”

She shook her head, tears forming, but I didn’t stay. I couldn’t. If I hesitated now, I’d never move forward.

Ricky was already waiting near the edge of the village with two others—Taro, a wiry hunter with sharp eyes, and Daisuke, bigger, broad-shouldered, carrying a spear. They didn’t waste words. We just nodded at each other and set off.

The forest swallowed us quickly. Snow crunched under our boots. Our breaths came out in little clouds, rising and vanishing in the pale morning light.

“Stay sharp,” Ricky muttered. His tone was steady, but even he scanned the trees like something was already watching us.

We walked for hours, cutting through frozen undergrowth, following faint tracks that led deeper east. That’s when we saw the first one.

A wolf. Or what was left of it. Its body was twisted, ribs cracked open like dry wood, eyes staring wide, frozen solid. No blood. No bite marks. No sign it had been eaten. Just killed. Brutally.

Taro cursed under his breath. “What the hell…”

We moved on. Then came more. A deer, throat crushed, legs bent unnaturally. A bear, massive and terrifying even in death, its skull smashed as if something had swatted it aside like nothing.

Everywhere we went, it was the same. Animal after animal. All dead. None devoured.

“This isn’t hunting,” Ricky said, his jaw tight. “This is slaughter.”

I couldn’t breathe right. The cold air felt heavier with every step.

“Who… who would do this?” I asked. My voice was low, almost swallowed by the trees.

Daisuke grunted. “Not human. No man rips apart a bear like that.”

We kept moving. Every few steps, another carcass. Birds with broken wings scattered in the snow. Foxes curled stiff and lifeless. The silence was crushing, not even the usual sounds of the forest remained.

After a while, Ricky slowed, his eyes narrowing. “Listen.”

We stopped.

The forest was dead quiet. Too quiet. No wind. No birdsong. Just that emptiness pressing in from all sides.

Ricky adjusted his grip on his blade. “Something’s here.”

I swallowed, my throat dry. Part of me wanted to turn back, run straight to Sora and tell her she was right. But another part—darker, heavier—kept me rooted.

Because if I couldn’t face this, then what was the point of any of my training?

The ground was quiet at first. Just the crunch of snow under our boots.

Then it came.

That sound—low, dragging, heavy. Not like an animal walking. More like… the forest itself was shifting.

And then I saw it.

Big. Too big. A serpent, scales dark bluish, shining like wet stone in the faint light. Its body was thick, fat like a tree trunk, and it slid across the ground without a care.

It stopped. A wolf had been snarling, weak, like it didn’t know whether to fight or run. The serpent didn’t wait. It coiled, pressed down. Bones snapped like dry sticks. The wolf’s ribs just—collapsed. The thing didn’t eat it. Didn’t even bother. Just killed and kept moving.

My chest felt tight.

“…what the hell is that…” Taro whispered. His voice cracked.

Nobody answered.

Ricky’s teeth clenched, eyes locked. “We don’t go from the front. That thing will swallow us whole. From the back. We strike from the back.”

Before we could even breathe, Ricky slammed his palm down. Ice ripped up from the ground—spikes, dozens, sharp like spears. At the same time he pulled up walls, ice trapping it in.

The serpent froze—only for a second.

Spikes slammed its body. Nothing. Didn’t pierce. Just a faint clink, like hitting steel.

It hissed. A horrible hiss. Made the ground hum under our feet, my stomach flip.

“Daisuke! Taro! NOW!” Ricky shouted.

They didn’t think. Just jumped, spears raised, war cries tearing from their throats.

For a heartbeat, I thought—yeah, maybe—

But no.

The serpent’s tail snapped sideways. Too fast for its size. The walls Ricky made shattered like glass. Ice rained everywhere.

And Daisuke, Taro—gone.

The sound of their bodies hitting trees still rings in my ears. Daisuke was spiked straight through the chest by a broken branch. His mouth opened, but no sound came out—blood poured, hot and dark on snow. Taro’s head… the sound. Skull cracking. His body hit the ground twitching, then nothing. Just red leaking everywhere.

My breath stopped.

Ricky roared, snapping me back. “Ruu! FIRE IT!”

I pulled the flare and slammed it—woosh—red fire streaked into the sky.

“RUU!” Ricky’s voice cut sharp. “BACK UP! Stay out! Don’t you dare step near that thing!”

I shook. “But—”

“BACK!!” His voice cracked like thunder, no space to argue.

I stumbled back. My legs moved on their own.

Ricky threw off his coat. Steam rolled off his body. The ground around him started frosting over, cracks forming. He looked like something alive and burning cold.

Then he moved.

Fast. Too fast. Circling the serpent, kicking up snow, throwing spikes that shattered, chains of ice that snapped, walls that broke. Every trick. Every attack. Nothing stuck. Nothing worked.

The serpent hissed, twisted, tail smashing trees to splinters.

But Ricky didn’t stop.

His voice tore out raw when he finally slammed both hands into the ground.

The earth shook. Cold burst everywhere, stabbing my lungs just to breathe. Ice crawled up the serpent, layer after layer, until its massive body froze solid, hiss cut off mid-breath. Trees froze with it, branches snapping, air dead silent.

Then quiet. Only Ricky’s ragged breaths.

He was down on one knee, shaking, skin pale, steam rising off his back.

He looked at me, face tired, lips pulling into a weak grin. “Heh… told you…”

The forest was too quiet after Ricky froze it. Too quiet.

For a second, I thought maybe he did it. Maybe we could breathe. My chest eased just a little.

Then—

szzzzhhhhh…

That sound. A hiss, but not the serpent’s. Like boiling water, but sharper. I blinked. Steam. The ice wasn’t holding—it was melting. No, not melting—burning away. The serpent’s body twitched under the frost, venom seeping from its fangs, dripping down and eating straight through the ice like acid.

“Ricky!” I shouted, throat tearing. “Behind you!”

He didn’t turn fast enough.

The serpent broke free in one brutal lunge. Its coils snapped the last of the frozen prison, shards of ice flying everywhere. And then—its mouth opened wide, fangs glowing with that sick venom, and it struck.

The sound—gods, I’ll never forget it. Bones cracking, flesh ripping like wet cloth. Ricky screamed, but only for a heartbeat. His body tore in half—clean, like meat split by a butcher’s blade. One half hit the ground with a sickening slap. The other hung in the serpent’s jaws, blood pouring in a river, soaking the snow red.

My knees buckled. The world tilted. I wanted to scream but nothing came out. Just a choking sound, my throat locked in terror. My heart was hammering so loud it hurt, but my body wouldn’t move.

He was gone. Ricky. My brother-in-arms. My rival. My friend.

Torn apart right in front of me.

My vision blurred, the serpent’s shadow stretching across me. My hands shook, useless. Fear froze me harder than any ice could.

Then voices. Shouts. Reinforcements.

“THERE! OVER THERE!”

Boots thundering, weapons clanging. Luna was in the front, hair whipping, eyes wide the moment she saw him—saw what was left of him.

“Brother!!” Her voice cracked, raw, breaking into a scream that tore the air. She fell to her knees beside what was left, grabbing at him, blood soaking her hands. “BROTHER! Answer me! Please—please!!” Her cries shook me harder than the serpent did.

But Ricky didn’t answer. He couldn’t. His eyes were already glass.

“NOOO!” Luna’s scream echoed, breaking apart, her body shaking as she held him close, like maybe warmth could still bring him back.

The others didn’t wait. Twenty men, hardened fighters, rushing in with blades, axes, spears, whatever they had. Rage carried them forward.

The serpent didn’t flinch.

The first three struck—steel against its scales, sparks flying. The serpent’s body twisted, tail whipping around. One man’s chest caved in with a crack, ribs splitting through his own skin. Another was flung into a tree so hard his spine bent backwards, snapping like dry wood.

The air filled with screams.

Two more tried to hold it with chains, ropes, anything. The serpent spat—venom spraying like rain. Their skin blistered instantly, flesh bubbling, melting off bone. Their cries cut through me like knives.

Another swung his axe down, aiming for the head. Too slow. The serpent’s jaws caught him mid-swing. One bite. His body folded in half, torso gone, legs dropping to the ground like discarded meat.

“KEEP FIGHTING!!” someone roared.

But it was useless.

One by one, they fell. Crushed. Torn. Burned. The snow turned black and red. The forest stank of blood and smoke, the serpent hissing louder with every kill, like it was feeding on the slaughter.

I stood there, frozen, heart pounding so loud I could barely hear Luna’s screams anymore. My whole body screamed at me to run, to hide, but my feet wouldn’t move. I just stared. Stared at death dancing through twenty men like they were nothing.

And I realized—this was no beast. This was something else. Something worse. A monster born to end lives.

And I was standing right in front of it.