The Legend of the North

Chapter 18

Announcement

Thank you for reading "The Legend of the North". This book is fully published on Amazon (under the same name), it would be very helpful if you buy the book to support me.

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Seconds later, Ezer notices the twenty goats coming down the hill and chasing after him making the ground shake. The adrenaline gives him a slight boost and runs faster, he can't stop thinking about his bad luck with beasts and his encounter with the bear.

Two hundred meters from him, a man keeps his bow on his back and sits down to enjoy the show.

"Show me your limit." After those words, he smiles to himself.

Ezer kept running through the forest, choosing shortcuts and paths that would not slow him down. His experience helped him unlike the first time he set foot in the forest, now he could make quick decisions judging the signs that nature gave him.

If vegetation, slope and even moisture were present, this indicated that there was most likely a nearby river. Which is exactly what Ezer was looking for as no matter how fast he runs, he can't keep up with his pursuers.

"If I stop to shoot them with my bow, they will reach me in a second. Besides, I don't think one arrow will work against twenty of those things." Even though his adrenaline was at its breaking point, Ezer kept his cool.

"But at this rate they're going to catch up with me..." Almost at the limit of his vision, Ezer notices a cliff that stretches across the horizon.

"I can't go around it and I don't know its maximum depth either, although the tops of the trees in the background give me an estimated idea... Trees?" At that moment an idea occurs to him, but his whole being wants to reject it even though he cannot.

"Why does every time I have to escape it have to be with suicidal actions!?" He yelled with all his might at the sky, venting his tension and nervousness about what he was about to do.

He was beginning to feel the trembling of the ground due to the hooves of the beasts when he runs directly to the cliff and with a tree as his target, he jumps trying not to think about the consequences.

It was less than three meters that fell until it reached the first branch of the treetop, but this one broke due to its weight and accumulated force, as well as the second and third that resisted its weight for a few seconds only to break slowly at the end with a characteristic sound.

Ezer fell to the ground breathless and feeling that all his bones and muscles ached, after checking that nothing was broken, he looks at the top of the thirty-meter cliff and sees the male snort and turn around a few seconds later.

Still on the ground, and with his legs and arms outstretched, Ezer begins to laugh out loud, someone who saw him would think he was crazy.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! That WAS scary... right Lia...?" Out of habit, he pronounces her name and looks for her, but no one is by his side, this depressed him even though a moment ago he was laughing at the top of his lungs.

"It's been over a month... When will I see you again?"

Getting up from the ground, he begins to look for a way to reach Rel's cabin clearly avoiding and trying not to run into the goats again.

On the cliff, when Ezer was already quite far from him, a man is standing watching him in amazement.

"That boy... is crazy. In the best of cases he reached the river, in the worst I ended up helping him. But to think he'd jump off a cliff and use a tree... No, he's not crazy, he's got what it takes, if only he had more time. I can't do more than this, I hope you forgive me." His last words are directed at the air and with complicated emotions reflected in his eyes.

At sunset, Ezer throws open the door and collapses on a chair in the living room of the cabin, which had a warm fire burning in the fireplace, the sunlight and the flames illuminated the environment in a special way, but Ezer was too tired to even appreciate it.

"Hey! Don't throw yourself on my newly finished chair!" Rel gets angry as he stirs the soup that was cooking over the fire.

"Sorry, did you finally finish your rocking chair?" He says it while rocking back and forth.

"Yes, it's the only thing I have to do. There are no women kilometers away, I have to pass the time with something." Lamenting, he puts more wood on the fire. "Clean and treat those scrapes. There is a small stream in that direction, follow the path and you won't get lost" He points with his finger while tasting the soup.

"If there was water so close, why did he make me bring it from a kilometer away!?"

In response, Rel simply shrugs and pays him no further attention.

"Ahh..." Ezer is too tired to argue anymore so he just leaves the cabin and follows the path to the creek.

The crystal clear and slightly cold water, coming from the mountains, cleanses Ezer's stained and damaged skin. At that moment, he notices something strange in his body that he had never seen before.

"Hairs... down there? I'll ask Rel later." Intrigued, he keeps looking for other changes in his body until he just gets tired and goes back to the cabin.

The soup had various wild roots and small pieces of meat warm and comforting, nothing special, but a delicacy for someone who couldn't have lunch before.

"What is the meat?" When he ate half of what was on his wooden plate, Ezer asks.

"Rabbit." Rel said as he had food in his mouth, not caring about manners.

Ezer stops the spoon midway at this, rolling his eyes at the irony.

The dinner passes without much conversation with the fire in the fireplace and a few oil lamps to illuminate the interior.