Legends of Adanes Book I - The Darkness Rises

Chapter III {Jake}

ADANES

BEN AND JAKE WERE going to die.
     That was the only thought that coursed through Jake's head as the two continued to walk alongside the frozen creek. The two had woken up soaked, and the temperature in the mysterious, monstrous forest seemed to be well below freezing. Hypothermia was quickly coming to greet them both. Jake recognized the symptoms.
Shivering; stops as condition worsens. Jake's shaking had slowly ceased as the duo trudged on. Ben was unnaturally still.
Lack of coordination. Neither of them were very coordinated to begin with. As they kept going, however, it seems to have gotten worse.
Shallow breaths. Jake was afraid that each raspy breath he took would be his last. Being out in the cold didn't do wonders for Ben's asthma already, but being out in below freezing temps while soaked didn't help either. Jake could hear each shallow and ragged breath he took.
Low energy. Jake could feel his energy being sapped with each step. He also saw fatigue's effects on Ben. It was apparent that neither of them would last much longer.
     The sky had the yellow-grey tinge it had whenever snow was to come. The sun was hiding somewhere, not offering its light or warmth to them. They had been walking for what seemed like hours, but what was likely no more than an hour, and there still wasn't any sign of people. Their surroundings looked the same all around them, so there was no real way of judging how far they've gone, or how long they've really been walking. If they didn't find help or shelter soon, they were as good as dead.
     Ben and Jake hadn't said a word since Jake had shared his thoughts on their whereabouts. The pair just silently plodded along through the snow, eyes and ears alert for something, anything. Neither dared to say a word, both afraid of missing something if they happened to talk over it.
As Ben surveyed their surroundings, Jake looked over at his best friend. Both of their conditions were rapidly deteriorating. Ben's shaggy black mop of hair had frozen over. His lips appeared a faint shade of blue. He moved as if even his bones were frozen solid; he hardly covered any ground whenever he took a step. He appeared to be hunched over, as if he was trying to curl into a ball to keep warm. Jake couldn't blame him. He was surprised he had made it this far. Every step felt slow, laborious; he could feel his energy sapping as he continued the effort to trudge onward. He no longer felt anything in his left foot, his sneaker still missing. He was afraid of the further damage that may occur to it if they kept going.
Surprisingly, Ben spoke up in that moment. "T-t-that foot's gotta be p-pretty bad."
Slurred or stuttered speech.
Jake scoffed. "Y-yeah, that's a u-u-understatement."
"You c-c-can use m-my shoe," Ben replied. "M-my feet are in b-b-better shape; you n-need it more than I d-d-do."
Poor decision making.
That was one of the many reasons Jake liked Ben. He was single-handedly one of the most generous human beings Jake's ever met. Ben was currently willing to give Jake his shoe so that he wouldn't have to be without one, even though it meant that he wouldn't have one to protect his own foot.
"N-no, "Jake said. "You n-n-need it. I'll b-be okay."
"Actually, you w-w-won't. If we keep g-going like t-this, you could lose the d-d-damn foot. So," Ben halted for a moment, taking off his left tennis shoe and handing it to Jake, "take the s-shoe."
Jake just smiled, taking it from him. "What'd I ever d-d-do to deserve a friend like y-you?" he asked, putting it on. Ben was a much bigger shoe size than Jake and the shoe was damp from walking through the snow. But it's better than nothing at all, he thought to himself as he slipped it on.
"I don't know. You m-m-might've messed up b-big in a past l-l-life or something to get s-stuck with me now."
Despite the apparently hopeless situation that the duo was in, Jake laughed. It made him feel a little bit better.
"So," Ben said as the pair continued onward, "if w-w-we're definitely not home, then where t-the hell are we?"
     "Like I s-s-said earlier, I have n-no idea," Jake replied. "The only thing I'm c-c-certain of is that we're not h-home anymore."
     "Then w-what is this place?" Ben asked. "And why d-d-does it look so w-weird? How did we even g-get here?"
     Jake looked up at the monstrous pine trees. "You're k-kind of right on t-t-the weird part. As for h-how we got here, I h-h-have no clue."
     "At l-least I know one t-t-thing for sure," Ben said.
     "Hm?"
     "I'm c-c-cold."

•••

Their current situation only deteriorated from there, and at a quicker rate than before.
The two boys were now immobile, too stiff and utterly exhausted to take another step. Jake noticed that the beginning of what he then called 'the beginning of their end' started when both had suddenly stopped walking, neither daring to move.
"J...Jake..." Ben's voice was hardly audible now. His breaths came shorted and more ragged with each one he took.
Jake looked over at his best friend, not even wanting to muster the energy to speak.
Ben didn't say anything else. All he did was look around at their surroundings.
Their surroundings appeared the same as they had at the beginning of Ben and Jake's journey. The only difference between then and now was the wind. It was a swift devil, the kind of wind that sliced through you and chilled you to your very core. It only worsened the lost pair's situation.
In that moment, it appeared as though Ben had decided to give up. He slowly shambled to the closest towering pine, almost collapsing against its hulking trunk. He sunk to the ground, leaned against the tree, and did his best to let out a sigh. Even in that moment, Jake could tell that it was a sigh of defeat.
I haven't ever left you behind before, he thought. I'm not about to start now.
Jake sat next to his best friend in what he thought would be their final moments.
Ben slowly turned his head to face his friend, the boy who gave him a cookie on that first day of school six and a half years ago.
     "T...thank...thank you."
     As Jake closed his eyes for what he thought would be for the final time, he took in what his dear friend said. In that moment when he felt himself sinking off, he truly understood what his dear friend meant.
     Jake was sure the crunching sound, like boots on snow, was in his head. He was delusional and close to death. It had to be in his head.
     He was even more sure when he heard the voice. That can't be real. There's no one out there.
     The voice sounded strange, thick with some foreign accent. It seemed to be calling out to him.
Since when was God Scottish? Jake thought as he finally sank into unconsciousness.

•••