As the sun set on the peak of the mountain range, beautiful oranges, reds, and yellows covered the valley. It seemed straight out of a painting. A silent forest with only the wind blowing the leaves, making the only noise. Until two fast-moving figures disturbed the peaceful scene.
"Grandpa! What's going on?" Caedus said loudly, following closely behind Jorah as he dodged branches and bushes, running as fast as he could to keep up with his terrified grandfather.
Jorah hissed at Caedus as he slowed his sprint down to a jog. "Don't you remember what cult runs the settlement at the bottom of the mountain?"
Caedus thought for a minute before giving up. He never particularly paid any attention to the groups his grandpa told him to stay away from. He just decided to never interact with other humans, and everyone could be a threat to his safety.
With Earth being run by criminals and cultists, it is hard to tell who is more dangerous. Criminals will do anything for their greed, and cultists will do anything for the one they worship. Many people, including Jorah and Caedus lean heavily to the side that the cultists are many times more dangerous than the criminals, as the duo are victims of losing family members to religious zealots.
"I'm stumped. I don't know." Caedus said through labored breaths.
"Think! There's only one cult and two criminal organizations in the village at the bottom of the mountain." Jorah said angrily, obviously feeling frustrated that he had to explain things and run. "It's Hollowed Earth!"
Caedus thought in silence for a second before the realization hit him.
The Hollowed Earth cult ruled the settlement at the base of the mountain, holding more power than the two criminal organizations that also existed. The Hollow One was said to be an entity deep within the Earth that only liked to feed and sleep, and its preferred diet was human flesh.
Devotees of the Hollowed Earth cult clung to their faith with manic devotion that Hollow One protected them from danger and provided food throughout the land for them when they fed him.
That was what Earth was like now.
There was no safety here, no peace. Only the suffocating presence of the rule of those belonging to dangerous organizations.
As a part of the Hollowed Earth cult's rituals, after an earthquake, the followers would begin a ritual hunt. A hunt for humans that disgusted even most cults in nearby settlements, well, rumors are they disgusted other cults. Jorah and Caedus never received confirmation, as they had never left their mountain, unless to go into the village, perhaps once a year.
They would capture men or women and sacrifice them by throwing them into an endlessly deep hole they call the Hollow. This was done to "feed" the Hollow One worshipped. The logic they followed was that since the ground had rumbled, their god must be hungry and must be appeased.
"Grandpa, wait! Slow down!" Caedus called out, reaching for his grandfather's shoulder to talk to him face-to-face.
Jorah angrily turned around, opening his mouth to yell at Caedus. Realizing he was about to get yelled at, Caedus quickly spit out what he was going to say.
"Why would they even come after us specifically? We aren't even in the village, its seems more work for them to come up here and come after us."
Jorah just turned around and kept jogging down the mountain.
Caedus was dumbfounded. As he was always a curious child, he grew up typically not being ignored by his grandfather.
"Hurry up, Caedus. I will explain while we run. We have to get to the river on the other side of the valley before we can rest easy."
Caedus didn't respond and caught up to follow alongside his grandfather.
Only heavy breathing filled the awkward silence between them before Jorah finally spoke.
"What do you remember about your parents' death?"
Caedus frowned slightly before responding with some exasperation.
"Just that some cult killed them. Guessing by how you mentioned my parents, was it Hollowed Earth?"
Jorah nodded solemnly. "That it was. Since our family never believed in their god, we became the targets for their rituals, as we also didn't belong to any criminal organization we aren't protected. In simpler terms, since we are unprotected, we are free game."
Not much more explanation was needed other than that. Caedus didn't have any more questions related to why. People didn't need a reason to be evil, as they also didn't need a reason to be good. His next concern would be, "What now then?"
Jorah didn't say anything for a second. "I-I don't know.. We need to leave the valley and hopefully get to an area with semi-sane people in power. Once we reach the river we can make our next move from there."
Knowing that Jorah wanted to leave the valley made him realize how serious this was. When Caedus was a kid, he always wondered why they always stayed on the mountain and never left the area where his father and mother were killed. He could see the heartbreak on his grandfather's face every time he looked down into the valley. Wouldn't it be better for them to leave the area of such trauma?
"Better the devil you know than the one you don't." Jorah would always sternly say.
"What does that mean, Grandpa?" A young Caedus asked.
"We know who's in charge here, but what if it is worse in other places?" Jorah responded.
Caedus snapped out of his thoughts when a branch scraped his face, leaving a small cut.
"Got it, let's leave the valley first."
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Another 45 minutes passed of jogging before Jorah and Caedus heard rushing water of the river. The forest was dark now with only the full moon above them illuminating the valley giving the shadows an eerie feeling.
Completely out of breath the duo were hunched over breathing extremely heavy.
"Finally, we are here." Caedus heaved.
He bent over and cupped the water from the river, drinking as much as he could until he felt like he was going to vomit. As Caedus stood up after drinking his fill. Jorah mimicked his actions while Caedus took in their surroundings.
Caedus wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and listened to the loud roaring of the river. The white foam seemed to glow in the moonlight giving the river an ethereal look. He looked up from the river over grandfathers hunched over figure and stared into the tree line across the river watching the branches sway in the wind. An owl could be heard beyond the light of the moon and hidden in the shadows.
*Whoo whoo*
At that noise Caedus' skin crawled. Something wasn't right. The owl hoot didn't sound natural. After living on the mountain for over a decade Caedus knew in his gut something wasn't right.
"Grandpa..." Caedus said in a hushed tone.
"I heard it too..." Jorah stood up from his drinking of the river and said solemnly.
Quickly scanning the tree line on their side of the river Jorah and Caedus silently looked at each other before readying themselves. Caedus brushed his hands on the hunting knife ready to unsheathe it, while Jorah notched a arrow in his bow ready to pull and fire.
Suddenly the wind stopped. The river seemed to quiet down also in anticipation.
*Crack*
A twig snapped in the tree line a dozen yards from them. Jorah shifted his stance to get a better aim at the tree line, while Caedus pulled out his knife and got into a fighting stance next to his grandfather.
Caedus' pulse quickened. The shadows behind the trees seemed to thicken, shapes flickering at the edges of his vision. Something was out there, watching.
Suddenly a loud rustled was heard an something came bounding at them faster then what seemed humanly possible. Jorah with inhuman like reflexes pulled the bow and fired at the moving figure and shot it down in one shot. As the figured slid across the ground towards their feet, Caedus and Jorah were able to see it. It was a deer. Seemingly the same deer that Caedus seemed to accidently let go earlier.
Caedus and Jorah just looked at each other before letting out a small laugh.
"Grandpa, who knew you were such a good shot, I guess being scared can help you perform better in battle." Caedus said while chuckling.
"Damn brat, who said I was scared. You were the one hiding behind me." Jorah said with a dark expression.
"Hiding? I-"
"You know. You should really respect your elders young man." A cool but manic voice said from the tree line.
Caedus could feel goosebumps cover his body. He and Jorah quickly looked back up at the tree line the deer ran from and saw seven figures emerge from the shadows, each was wearing the same thing, dark brown robes blending into the forest shadows with crude clay masks that obscured their faces.