I grimly stepped away from the bodies and moved deeper into the forest, beyond the point where the map could guide me. Sweat trickled down my forehead, and my breath came shallow, my heart racing with a mixture of fear and intense anticipation. Each step felt heavier, as if the very air around me was thickening, pressing in with a sense of doom. The trees towered above me, their gnarled branches twisting like skeletal fingers, and the shadows seemed to shift with every passing moment. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched.
I walked slowly, my senses heightened, my every step deliberate. The silence of the forest was suffocating. Then, suddenly, a faint sound—a simple rustle in the underbrush. I froze, instinctively scanning the darkness between the trees. My eyes darted around, but there was nothing. Nothing but the oppressive silence.
A second rustle came, this time from a different direction. I shifted my weight, trying to track the source of the noise, but once again, I saw nothing. My instincts screamed at me that I wasn't alone. I drew my sword with a swift motion, the metal glinting in the dim light as I held it in front of me, my grip tight. My heart pounded louder now, drowning out all but the sound of my breath and the rustling leaves.
Then, the noise came again—closer this time, from behind me. Without thinking, I spun around, my sword raised, nearly giving myself whiplash in the process. But this time, something caught my eye.
A small figure stood in the shadows, no more than fifteen feet away. A little boy. Unlike the other bodies I had encountered, he didn't seem to be dead. He was standing, his frail form barely visible in the half-light, staring directly at me with haunting, empty eyes. But something wasn't right. He was covered in the same black, viscous goop I'd seen on the other corpses. His skin was torn and battered, wounds deep enough to make anyone believe he was already dead. And yet, here he was, alive—or at least, looking it.
The boy didn't speak. He didn't even blink, just stared at me with an unsettling stillness that sent a chill down my spine. My heart hammered in my chest as I took a step back, unsure whether to approach or retreat. But I had a job to do. Finally, I forced myself to speak, my voice shaky but steady.
"Are you okay, boy? What's going on in these woods?"
There was no response. He didn't even flinch. His gaze remained fixed, unblinking and vacant. My breath caught in my throat, and I tried again, my voice tinged with uncertainty.
"Hello?"
Still nothing. The air around me grew heavier, and my nerves began to fray. Just when I thought I might turn and leave, the boy's arm lifted slowly. His frail, malnourished limb trembled as he raised it, and then—without a word—he pointed directly at me. He held his finger there for a long moment, as if trying to communicate something, but then, just as suddenly as he had raised it, his arm dropped and he turned away.
"Hey, wait! Come back!" I called, my voice rising with a mixture of urgency and disbelief. But the boy didn't stop. He didn't even glance back. He simply walked away, his movements slow and deliberate, vanishing deeper into the forest.
Was he leading me somewhere? Was this some kind of trap? The thoughts flashed through my mind in rapid succession. I should turn back. I should leave. But no matter how much I hesitated, my mission remained. I had to see it through. Trap or not, I had no better options.
I sighed, a deep, resigned breath, and followed him.
To my surprise, it didn't take long before something shifted in the air. A change so subtle, so unnerving, that it was impossible to ignore. The trees seemed to close in around me, their branches stretching out like reaching arms. And then, out of the darkness, more figures emerged—more children. They appeared from the shadows, their pale faces and empty eyes eerily familiar. They were all the same age, their features ghostly and unnatural. Just like the first boy, they were covered in the same black goop, their bodies marked by wounds that should have killed them.
They moved silently, walking alongside me, their presence a growing, suffocating weight. None of them spoke. None of them acknowledged me. They just walked in step, as though they were part of some macabre procession.
My skin crawled, and my heart raced. What kind of monster could do this? What kind of twisted creature was controlling these children, turning them into walking husks? Could these children even be saved, or were they already beyond redemption? And worse yet, what if I touched that goop? What if whatever had happened to them happened to me as well? Would I end up like them?
I forced myself to push those thoughts aside. Doubt was a weakness I couldn't afford. I was already too deep, already too far into this cursed forest to turn back now. Whatever lay ahead, I had to face it. Whatever monster controlled these children, whatever horror awaited me, I had no choice but to continue.
I gripped my sword tighter, the metal cold in my hand, and moved forward. The children walked beside me, their hollow eyes never leaving me, their silent march leading me deeper into the heart of the forest.