The portal to Apricon.

12

"According to this map... it should be on the left," he murmured, trying to decipher the map. It would be easier if it wasn't in mystical language!

Have I been wrong?

I hesitate for a moment, wondering if I should have turned down this mission. But, after so long locked up, this place is worth every risk. Especially with creatures as strange as the chameleon and dragonfly mix that floats around here. I would like to take a picture of it.

I continue to move forward, absorbed in the environment. The trees glow in golden hues, as if I were walking in a museum full of ancient treasures, only here I can touch everything.

However, something among the bushes catches my attention. I approach, carefully brushing aside the branches... and there they are.

A nest. With eggs.

Glass.

The flash they emitted is almost hypnotic, until I got close enough to see what they contained. I crouched down, intrigued, but the initial surprise soon turned to revulsion.

It was grotesque.

Inside each egg, there was a developing creature, an abominable mix of the bright and the horrifying. The fetuses reminded me of school science experiments, only infinitely more disturbing.

"Obviously, it had to be weird..." he muttered, as I reached out to take one.

The instant I hold it, what's inside moves and slips out of my hands. The egg falls to the ground and shatters with a sharp sound. A thick liquid spills out, and the exposed fetus begins to writhe in the mud, alive, emitting a high-pitched screech that freezes me in horror.

The sound paralyzed me for an instant, but soon another noise was added. A squawk. He raised his head to the flock of birds. They weren't crows, but I couldn't tell they were common birds either. Their prehistoric and deformed figures looked at me from above.

"Oh, no," I whispered, acknowledging the danger.

The squawk intensified, and in a matter of seconds, they swooped in, and I do the only thing I know how to do: run.

My body reacted before my mind, zigzagging through the trees for shelter. The creatures' wings flapped around me, and the squawks echoed throughout the forest.

I cover my head so that its flapping wings don't hit me. A flock of birds pursues me; their squawks fill the air and force me to take refuge under the grove.

Suddenly, there is silence.

I stop, panting, resting my hands on my knees. Have I lost them?

A sharp blow to my feet makes me jump. One of the birds has fallen, writhing on the ground with a toothpick stuck across its chest.

I did not attack him; and I think I saw that toothpick in the Apricon bazaar.

They are following me!

The thought alone makes panic invade me and I run again. I look at the sky, to the sides, behind me. Nobody. But I don't stop.

Adrenaline clouds my senses, I don't see the root until it's too late. I stumble and roll on the ground, mud clinging to my skin, but, without stopping, I kneel down and grasp Nero's dagger, waiting for something.

Nothing.

There's nothing.

I don't see anyone.

My breathing is heavy, my heartbeat echoes in my ears. I must continue. I must not stop. I must not let my guard down, and as Nero said: I am good at running.

I quickly pull a marble out of my backpack, throw it hard, and it explodes into a thick fog that allows me to escape.

I run blind. I've already gotten out of the way of the map, but if I don't continue... They're going to kill me.

Then, the ground disappears under my feet. I don't fall much, but enough to land on the shore of a lake of water.

Everything is silent, gray and the mist that covers the lake gives me chills.

I have to get out of here. Slowly, I try to get up, but the ground is slippery and I fall again.

My foot touches the water causing a mini wave that expands through the lake, and suddenly, something huge and flaky emerges. A snake.

Perfect.

As if the birds weren't enough!

She enlists her fangs, ready to attack me. It's huge, and I... Well, I'm about to be your dinner. My brain screams in panic, but I can't move, I'm paralyzed, and I close my eyes accepting my death.

However, a gust of wind prevents that end. A flash of light blinds me and a scorching heat fills the air.

I open my eyes, surprised that I'm still alive.

What I didn't expect was to see a man engulfed in flames, his hands burning. Its wings spread with a dry sound, defying the beast.