FOREVER IN ABYSS

CHAPTER 22 - TO FIND ONE'S HOME

Hikaru stared at the fields before him. The sun was just about to set on the west. The field was covered by its reddish glow. He couldn’t afford to travel in the dark. He couldn’t think of what could happen when it is dark.

He let his horse gallop fast on the vast plain. He had been travelling the whole day. He had transferred from train to bus to horse. When he get to the woods, he would walk by foot.

He wondered whether those guys had finally noticed that he was gone. Hopefully, they were still busy tending to Kei’s heart break to notice. He didn’t want the others to wonder where he was. He couldn’t afford the attention that might cause.

Hikaru let the horse gallop faster. It was necessary. Time was not his best friend at the time. If he let it slip in his hands, he wouldn’t be able to  reach his destination in time.

Hikaru stopped when the horse stopped at the foot of the cliff. He stared ahead. He saw tall bamboo trees surrounding a vast flower field of different colors. He could barely see the differing colors meaning his surrounding was a darker hue than earlier.

He cursed and pulled the reign of his horse. He let it walk towards the east.

If he could remember correctly, there was a small waterfalls in that area. He stopped and listened until he could hear the gushing sound of a running water. He tried to locate it. It was hidden beyond a small hill. Nobody had travelled this way before. They didn’t know this shortcut but he, on the other hand knew better.

He jumped down from his horse, located an area where it can graze freely and tied it on a huge tree. From here on, he would travel by foot.

Hikaru stared at the crystal clear waters. He held his hand out and let the cold water cascade through his arms. It was colder at this time of the day but he couldn’t care less as he stepped on it and let it flow in his body.

The falls led into a concave. He needed to cross it until there is some hint of light from the far east. He jumped inside the darker cave, took a torched that had been tossed aside and lighted it using his lighter.

He ran and jumped as fast as he can. Most people took another day of travelling to get to the village but he knew better. He knew better than to camp out in the woods in the west. Wild animals roam that part of the forest at night and he was not sure if this part of earth hadn’t been invaded by those monsters yet.

He pulled to the stop in at the exit of the cave. “Kusu!” he cursed. It was already dark. There was no trail to follow in this part of the valley so he needed to be careful. He grabbed his torch and led himself towards the village.

He passed rows and rows of different flowers. The village that he was trying to reach was invisible to those unknowing people. It was hidden by huge mountainous and rocky terrain, nobody would suspect that there was civilization in this part of the country.

He sighed when he reached the border.

The border was at the foot of a mountain itself. Who would have expect that to go inside the village, you needed to knock at the mountain itself. There were several openings in this part of the mountain. In each one, there were guards protecting it from suspicious people.