The forest had already swallowed them up a long time ago.
Asmara walked in front, her steps precise, quick, and calculated. Every creaking branch, every breath of wind was noted, recorded in her mind. Her eyes stared straight ahead, as if she alone knew the way in the pitch-black darkness.
Behind her, her squad followed. They all remained silent, never looking back.
"Close ranks," she whispered without turning around. "This forest has ears."
No one dared to answer.
But we all got closer anyway.
The mist swallowed the light from their lamps, making it difficult to see beyond them despite the blinding light. The trees, massive, seemed to draw closer with each step, making it even harder to move forward. The roots formed unstable ground on which one could stumble. Sometimes, a shadow rushed past them at high speed.
Anger, stopped for a moment.
- We've been shooting for an hour. We've already seen these marks on the trunks.
He pointed to the omega symbol carved into the bark.
Asmara approached. Her fingers brushed against the engraving. It wasn't their work. The mark was old, dusty.
She understood something… but said nothing.
- Let's continue, she decided.
Fear hesitated
-we could go back on our steps and-
Interrupted
"Move forward," Asmara ordered coldly.
The group emerged into a tiny clearing, shrouded in thick fog. In the center stood a collapsed hut made of rotten planks and moss-covered stones.
A deathly silence reigned. The surroundings seemed too quiet.
- A former position? asked disgust.
Asmara entered without hesitation, her weapon ready. The interior reeked of mold. Dishes littered the floor, books, chairs. On the walls, symbols similar to those on trees, but above all, scratches on the walls.
She stared at them for a long time.
Wild animals, she thought. Or…
"Get out," she said curtly. "There's no point hanging around here."
-We can rest here, breathed Sadness, tired and out of breath
-No, we're moving forward, ordered Asmara
As they left, the group noticed that their anger was no longer behind them.
- anger? called sadness.
A rustling in the ferns In the distance. Then a voice, faint, distant.
- I am here…
They froze. It was the angry voice, but it came from behind the trees.
Asmara serra son arme.
- Nobody moves. Anger?
But sadness, annoyed, pushed Asmara aside and advanced towards the voice
-Hey, anger, let's go, I'm tired.
Asmara reacts and grabs her
She ordered the others not to move.
- Don't go, she said in a low voice.
His hands clutched sadness, but his tone was icy.
- I'll just bring him back, that's all, Sadness breathed.
-Do you think it's him?
-he answered us, breathed sadness
-So who's that right there, anger pointing out of the house?
A deathly silence followed.
As they resumed their walk, sadness suddenly tugged Asmara by the arm.
- Look at.
Between two trunks, in the mist, an enormous, massive figure moved slowly. Too large. Eyes shone for a second, then disappeared.
Asmara raised her hand to signal everyone to bend down. Her lips were almost trembling as she whispered,
- we need to find a place to land. A sheltered place.
But it was the forest of shadows, there was no shelter.
The silence lasted for a moment, broken only by the sound of their footsteps on the creaking ground. The fog, thick, black, and increasingly dense, struggled to provide them with a guide.
Asmara slowed down. Something was wrong.
His eyes fell on the ground: small footprints.
- Stop. Defensive formation.
His companions froze immediately, adjusting their weapons. Disgust, he glanced nervously around him.
- Asmara… what is this? he asked in a low voice.
Asmara didn't respond immediately. She crouched down, stroking the print with her fingertips. The ground was damp, and the footprint felt fresh. A drop of cold sweat slid down her back.
"It's not in the manual," she said finally. "But it's not necessarily hostile. As long as we don't run into him, understood."
- Understood, they said in chorus.
A rustle to the left. Everyone swung their weapons in that direction. A breath. Then, footsteps… .
From the shadows emerged a hunched figure. A man. Unarmed, undressed. Rather, dressed in rags, his long hair plastered to his face, his eyes shining with an eerie glow. He seemed to have emerged from the very trunk of a tree.
Asmara signaled to his soldiers not to move.
- Who goes there? she asked clearly.
The man slowly raised his hands. His fingers were dirty, covered in mud.
- I… I live here. Don't shoot.
Disgust took a step back.
- A… inhabitant? It's impossible, right? The Forest… they're supposed to be deserted, it's impossible for a human to survive here.
- Nothing is ever impossible, the man replied dryly.
Asmara watched the man. His gaze moved from one to the other as if assessing their market value. Too attentive. Too aware.
Anger murmured, his voice low:
- we eliminate it?
Asmara didn't take her eyes off the man.
- Why are you here? How did you end up here?
He hesitated, his dry lips barely opening, and formed a crooked smile.
- I… I don't know anymore. Too much noise, too many machines. The forest is silent. It protects.
Asmara frowned. She didn't like this. Yet her instincts told her he wasn't an immediate threat. Perhaps a deranged soul, a forgotten survivor of the first waves of experimentation. The station had its ghosts, and some knew how to hide in the cracks in the rules.
But her recruits had to learn, didn't they? She took advantage of the opportunity.
-fear, approach. Ask him three questions. Evaluate him. This is your test.
Fear swallowed. He obeyed, however, taking a few steps forward.
-Name ?
- I forgot, said the man, his gaze fixed
- Age ?
- Here, time does not exist.
- Who are you exactly?
A smile split the mysterious man's face.
-I don't know
Fear stepped back, confused.
Asmara immediately took over.
- That's enough. Back online.
She turned to the man.
- You stay where you are. If you follow us, you're dead, if you set a trap... you're dead.
The man burst into a dry, almost mad laugh, then disappeared into the thickets without a sound, as if swallowed by the forest.
A heavy silence fell over the squad.
Sadness broke first:
-now I'm not sleepy anymore, what was that?
Asmara resumed her march, relentless.
- we just have to accomplish our mission, that's all
They walked for another hour, inspecting the areas, setting reconnaissance beacons. The tension eased in waves, but each crack rekindled the fear.
On the way back to their rally point, something was wrong.
A thrill traveled Asmara.
But she didn't show anything. She simply turned her head towards her team, before saying:
- we're going to change direction
Then she turned her dark eyes to the road.
- You heard. Tonight, no one sleeps.
And, without another word, she resumed walking, this time the forest opening up before them like a mouth of darkness.