Octover

Chapter 2- Nightmares Are True

"A-are w...e almost t-there?" Veridith moaned.

"Isn't it my job to be complaining?" I laughed.

"I'm th-the one wi...th a gash i-in their side."

"That is true. Gartith will use some magic spell or something to fix you up."

"Yeah, probably..." She looked down at the bandage we put around her waist where the cut was.

"Are you going to live?" I said sarcastically.

"Of course I am." Veridith yelled.

"I was just joking, jeez."

We walked silently until we got into the deep part of the forest. The grass was purple instead of green. The trees were dark blue with purple leaves instead of brown trees. As we got deeper it got colder. The leaves and grass looked more dead as we got farther.

We both finally ended up in an area without any trees. "He should be here," I said.

"What are you doing here?" asked a familiar voice.

"Uh..."

Corith came slowly walking out from the shadows, covering his stomach. "Answer me!" he yelled.

"I'm h-here for G-gartith."

"Coward" Corith said under his breath.

Veridith glared at Corith after he insulted me.

"Where is Gartith?"

Corith looked around in silence. He then hung his head and replied, "H-he's gone."

"What?" I asked.

"I said he's gone."

"Like gone out to do something?"

"He was a fucking TREE!"

"What do you mean by 'was'?"

"He's fucking dead!"

"W-what? But he's a tree... he can't die like a person..."

"Get out..."

"N-no..."

"Why not?"

"Because Veridith is hurt! I can't leave her untreated!"

"Yes you can, it's called letting her free."

"W-what do you mean?"

"She'll eventually bleed out and then she will be free from this terrible place."

I went silent. "Where's Gartith's grave?" I eventually asked.

Corith pointed to a patch of dirt on the ground. I walked up to it and started to did Gartith out.

"W-what the hell are you doing?!?" Corith asked frantically. I continued to dig until I found a large tree that had a carved in face. I picked it up as the extra dirt fell off of the tree. "Wake up..." I said as I set down the tree.

The tree's carved face started to move. Soon the tree started to chuckle. "I'm sorry that I alarmed you! You do know that trees can't die like a being with a soul."

"I-I..."

Veridith fell to the ground. "Veridith?" I asked, "Are you ok?"

"Ow... it... h-hurts" she quietly said. Tears were rolling down her face.

"GARTITH! Please heal her now!"

He quietly chuckled. "Is that what you want? To let your friend live to suffer again?"

"N-no..."

"If you let me heal her, she will be trapped down here and suffer like this once again."

"H-HOW DO YOU KNOW!!!"

"In this world humans are the most targeted for attacks therefore your friend has a high chance of getting more injured or worse."

"T-then what do we do with her?"

"K...kill m-me..." Veridith barely said.

I stared at her as she tried hard to live. I took a stick that I found on the ground. She looked up at me as I held the stick in my hand.

"You desire to become a hero..." Gartith said.

Veridith closed her eyes and opened them as they were filled with tears. I took off my mask and threw it to the ground. Corith was leaning on Gartith in the distance. I raised the stick in the air.

"And this is your chance..." Gartith said once again.

I gripped the stick as hard as I could. I knelled down to Veridith's level and impaled her with it. Blood splattered everywhere. I stared into her lifeless body as the blood began to spill. I looked at my mask that remained untouched by the blood.

I picked it up and put it on. As I did I felt a piercing pain in my hand. I looked at my hand in silence as it hurt more and more. Black blood came running down my hand. "Ow!" I yelled.

A large thorn has went completely through my hand. Corith huffed and said, "I guess the b- I mean kid is gone."

I stood up and said, "Well, can you give me a moment?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I can't move..." replied Gartith.

"You can stay... I just don't want Corith to see this."

Corith walked into the forest and said, "Tell me when you've finished."

I sighed. "Good bye..." I knelled down once again. I lightly took off my mask and set it down right next to me. I grinned as I looked at Veridith's dead body. "Feeding time..." I chuckled. I started to devour her dead body as her blood continued to spill. Gartith sat there, staring at my choice of action.

I got up as I wiped my mouth. I looked at the puddle of crimson blood where Veridith once laid. I grabbed the stick that I used to kill her and sliced my arm. "Out of my respect for you," I mumbled. "I give you my blood." I held my arm over the puddle as drops of black blood came out of my arm. It dripped into the puddle.

I grabbed my mask and saw that it changed into a white mask with one red dot in the middle. The out lining for the eyes were black. Everything else was blank. I pulled it over my face. "Well done. You have a bright fut-" Gartith tried to say. It looked like someone has cut into his side. I walked away as he started to fall. I ran into Corith.

"Hey buddy!"

"Um... hey..."

"Are you okay?"

"You just made me kill my friend!"

"Um... oh yeah. Right." he sighed. "Ya know, It's not easy being human around here. Everyone sees you as an easy enemy. I chose to become the strongest of all the humans. I exchanged my free will for strength... it was-"

"Yeah, yeah. Sad boring backstory, sad boring person. I just want to be left alone."

"Oh... I-I'm sorry..."

"You better be."

"I-Is that a threat?!?"

"J-just let me morn..."

"When you're done we need to talk."

"F-fine. Just leave me alone..."