"Phew… I barely managed to fix it."
Will, a burly man of little more than twenty years, attractive, with gray eyes, gallant and slender like a knife, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of the hand.
Around him, dozens of pieces of wood were covering the ground. The chaos was suggesting that they had gone out in search of firewood and that the work had been arduous.
The shadows of the nearby trees were lengthening, projecting restless figures over the dry earth.
Next to him, Vanessa was observing the result of the effort. Her long reddish-brown hair, gathered in a braid that was falling with grace over her back, was moving slightly with the breeze. She was wearing a dark dress that was contrasting with the warm glow of the sunset, as if the light was trying to embrace her without success.
The wooden cart, which had had a wheel out of place, now was remaining firm. Will, with both hands grasping the axle, was pulling it by a narrow path flanked by leafy trees.
The cart, loaded to the brim with pieces of wood. Meanwhile, Vanessa was pushing from behind, with her hands firm on the structure.
"What should we do? Perhaps we should prepare the dinner as soon as possible… Or we will get into trouble with our master…"
The voice of Vanessa was sounding worried, as if the time had become an enemy.
But Will was not responding. He simply limited himself to pull the cart with the head bowed. The sun, relentless, was making him sweat as if it was trying to tear away his energy.
"Darling! We cannot go by that path! Look ahead…"
Will raised the head. At about ten meters, the path was forking. To the left, a longer and safer trail. To the right, the shorter route, but also the most dangerous at these hours.
"It is the first birthday of our young master. If we arrive late, even if by a few minutes, we will have serious problems."
Will took a decision. He opted for the short path, conscious of the risk.
"But even so…"
Vanessa was not seeming convinced. Her arched eyebrows and the anxious expression were revealing her anguish.
"We will not be able to avoid it. If we take this path, we will save approximately one hour of travel."
Both advanced with caution.
The trees were passing around them like silent witnesses. Although the trail was dangerous, it was only so during the night. Will was not feeling nervous.
The low branches were brushing his shoulders, and the crunching of the leaves under his feet was marking the rhythm of his march.
He had lived twenty years as a slave. His childhood and all his adult life had been marked by hardships and humiliations. He was sharing the unease of Vanessa, although he was trying to hide it.
The first time that they sent him to the forest, he remembered all the old stories that they told him as a child and his stomach churned. Images of spirits and beasts filled his mind, but afterward he had laughed at that, discarding the tales as childish fantasies.
But he was already a veteran of thousands of expeditions, and the endless expanse of dark jungle that his masters were calling the Enchanted Forest was not resulting terrifying to him. He was knowing every sound, every shadow, and was walking with the confidence of one who had tamed his fears.
A cold wind was blowing from the north. The trees were whispering as if they were having a voice of their own. Will felt a presence.
Something was observing him. Something cold, relentless, without intention of offering him mercy. The sensation was bristling his skin, although he was trying to ignore it.
Somewhere in the forest, a wolf howled.
The sound cut the air, distant but ominous, and Will stopped for an instant, looking into the distance with a reflective gesture. His eyes were searching among the trees, trying to decipher the source of the noise.
Further ahead, several bodies of wolves were lying motionless among the trees. Their pelts, of dirty gray color and disheveled appearance, were stained with blood accumulated around their heads and chests. The wounds were indicating that they had died in violent form.
The eyes of the wolves were remaining open, with a dull shine. The mouths were showing the fangs exposed and the tongues out.
"Warg Wolves! They are one of the most aggressive and difficult to face stellar beasts in this forest."
Will gave a shout, startled by the revelation. He was already beginning to regret having chosen that path.
Vanessa had not been mistaken.
The bodies of the Warg Wolves were reaching one and a half meters in length and were showing a uniform greenish-gray pelt.
Their green eyes, of ghostly appearance, were standing out with intensity, although the most striking feature was the collar of green fur that was rising over their backs.
Any of these creatures was possessing the strength necessary to kill Will with a single blow.
To find a dozen in one same place was representing bad news, since they could not be considered common wolves. They were stellar beasts belonging to the first evolution.
But nothing of that was reaching the gravity of what was awaiting them further ahead. In the distance, a luxurious caravan appeared overturned and partially destroyed. Various corpses were surrounding the vehicle, each one more torn than the previous.
They were eight, men and women. There were no children, at least Will had not seen any. On the ground were lying some swords, a few bows… One of the men was having an axe still grasped in his rigid hand.
Will avoided concentrating on the bodies. The spectacle was too tragic.
How had they ended like this? Had the wolves annihilated them?
Will turned the head.
At about five meters to his left, among the remains of several trees uprooted from the root, was lying on the vegetation the mutilated corpse of a gigantic warg wolf, whose length was exceeding three meters.
The most disconcerting thing was its pelt. It was not showing the typical greenish-gray tone of the common wargs, but a bright and intense green, as if its entire body had been sculpted in jade.
"This will not be an Elite Warg Wolf… will it?"
Vanessa and Will exchanged helpless glances, incapable of finding an answer.
The face of Vanessa, always calm and charming, lost its color upon facing that frightful situation.
And it was not for less.
An Elite Warg Wolf was not any creature. It was a stellar beast of second evolution.
To get an idea, if one of first evolution was barely reaching the level of a five-year-old child, the elite one was like a soldier seasoned in a thousand battles.
The difference was not only large… it was discouraging.
"This place has become a path of corpses. The stellar beasts have become more and more aggressive."
Will clenched the teeth.
"I feel terrible… Let us hurry and get out of here."
Vanessa covered the mouth. Her expression was reflecting sorrow. She was a kind woman, empathetic, incapable of ignoring the suffering of others.
"Fine."
"Whaa! Whaa!"
The sound that made Vanessa open the eyes was not the response of Will, but the cries that were coming from some nearby place.
"I cannot believe it…!"
Vanessa turned around. At a few meters, in the arm of a corpse, was lying a baby wrapped in a white blanket.
"Whaa! Whaa!"
The crying intensified.
"Vanessa!"
Will turned and saw his wife agitated. The crying of the baby was seeming to have shaken her inside.
"But…"
With a titanic effort, Vanessa turned around and continued pushing the cart. Her hands were trembling, but she maintained the pressure on the wood.
"Whaa! Whaa!"
"The sooner he leaves this world, the better it will be for him."
Will was understanding what she was feeling. He also was feeling that oppression in the chest. He was knowing that ignoring it was the best. He was trying to convince himself of it.
"Vanessa?!"
But against all expectation, Vanessa stopped. Will saw her eyes, full of tears.
"Stop, Vanessa!"
She crouched and picked up the baby that was crying with desperation. The smile on her face and her gentle expression were betraying the happiness that she was feeling upon holding him in her arms.
"Whaaa! Whaa!"
"Are you wanting that he lives his entire life as a slave?! Understand that we are people who never will be able to enjoy a happy life."
Will perceived the tension in the mouth of Vanessa and the contained anger in her eyes.
"No, that is not true. I am very happy as a slave," she turned and looked at him with warmth, her beautiful eyes were shining like precious pearls. "And that is because when you arrived in my life, you liberated the curse that was weighing on me, Will."
"Vanessa…"
Perhaps because Vanessa still had not been a mother, or perhaps because of the intensity of the moment, Will felt that the heart was giving him a turn.
The firmament was shining with more force over the crimson twilight. For an instant, he dared not to breathe. Vanessa, in that moment, was exceptionally beautiful.