Chapter 80 – A Fading Flame in Your Arms (1)

As we descended the hill, the traces of destruction grew thicker and darker. A pulsating earth rumble. Ashes scattered here and there. And in the sparks flying in the air, we felt their breath.

And beasts were always more sensitive to such omens. Even so, the horse was a timid animal, so the lower it went, the more uneasy breathing it made.

“Shhh… Scarlett. It’s okay. Don’t be scared.”

“How should I buy it? Can I keep going?”

“I’m so anxious. Maybe I should let go soon.”

“Or use Scarlett as bait and we get out.”

“…”

Haru’s powerless voice kept our mouths shut for various reasons. Then the boy barely opened his mouth in the suffocating silence.

“I’m kidding. I gave him a name.”

“It’s not going to work out anyway.”

“I know, I know. Shit… I feel like I’m getting a fever again.”

“Is that a joke too?”

“Of course.”

“Wait a minute. Lope, look over there for a second.”

Then, Saya pointed toward the west with her hand. Although she couldn’t follow her vision perfectly, she could see as clearly as her black smoke floating in the air.

If there’s a place in this area that you absolutely must avoid, it’s probably over there. I opened the map once again and pointed my finger at the area.

“It’s a small city… With several villages attached to it. Most of the survivors who fled to the coast must have flocked there. There are probably plenty of hatchlings.”

“Yeah. But that doesn’t mean that hatchlings are only there. I can hear them all over the place.”

“Besides, the ground keeps vibrating. As the weather gets colder, it may have dug a burrow and made a nest in the ground.”

“It must be difficult in this and that way. But now we really just have to go a little further.”

The last word was actually for myself. Okay. You really only need to go a little further. A few more days of hard work can put an end to Saya and Haru’s pain. With that thought as a driving force, I started preparing for the final march.

The first thing I did was to take charcoal from the carbonized wood and apply it all over my body. A good amount of time had passed, and there was a good chance that most of the hetzlings had opened their eyes by now. Saya seemed to have noticed my intentions and started camouflage following me without a word. As soon as Haru put a charcoal stick to her cheek, she put her face out there.

“Is it camouflage? This is the first time I’ve actually tried it.”

“Yeah. I’ll take off the blindfold, is that okay?”

“I don’t care. What about bandages?”

“I won’t touch you as much as possible. The wound isn’t even fully healed yet, so be careful.”

“Okay. I’ll be careful, senior.”

Haru lowered his voice and nodded. And I sunk them in the black ashes. If I had stained their hearts so far, now it was time to stain their appearance black.

The more we erased the color of our bodies, the more our smell became obscured by the acrid stench, and naturally, we spoke less. The sun shone hard on our suddenly disappeared existence, but now we have come to a point where we cannot distinguish what is a shadow and what is us. It was tantamount to faking death in order to avoid death.

At this rate, a hatchling would not be able to distinguish its appearance even if it lay down on the blackened earth.

Having finished my camouflage with such a wish, I took off all the equipment I had put on the horse for the last time. Now was the time for him to find his own way. I wondered if there would be any hesitation, but the guy rather quickly ran away as soon as I lowered the saddle. I opened my mouth bitterly while looking at the back.

“I’m not even looking back.”

“Probably can’t afford that. You’re pretty terrified.”

“I think it’s rather fortunate. Then buy it. I’m sorry, but please lead the way and light the way. We don’t know where the hatchlings are.”

“Okay. Leave it to me.”

“Thank you. Haru, don’t ever leave me.”

“All right.”

“Okay. Then.”

…

“Let’s go.”

At my last words, everyone shut up at the same time. From now on, we couldn’t say a single word to each other. That’s how we swallowed each one’s breath ahead of the long silence.

And, with careful steps, we started our final march.

With each step he took, dirt and dust crumbled together with ashes under his feet. If I made a mistake, I felt as if my feet would fall off and the earth of death would swallow my body.

It wasn’t just a figurative expression. When the feet fall out, the posture collapses, and when the posture collapses, there is inevitably a sound. And the prey that will rule this land were very sensitive to that sound.

As soon as I had that thought, I looked around. Of course, I haven’t seen them yet. My sight is narrow and this land is too wide for that. So I looked all over the place with her eyes that she didn’t have while holding onto her day.

Maybe it’s flying in the sky.

Maybe it’s hiding under the ground.

Even the rocks in front of me could be their crouched bodies.

He sharpened and polished his senses more sharply than ever before, examining his surroundings. Even if I couldn’t see them, I cast my gaze, suspecting that they were there somewhere.

However, it was not through his eyes that he realized the existence of hatchlings, but through his ears.

“Ki-yi-yi…”

“Ugh…”

…

“Kuuuuu…”

“That’s right…”

“…”

Still couldn’t see. But I could hear them crying from all sides.

It was clearly different from the roars he had heard before. It was much lower than that, but there was a strong feeling that it was made by instinct rather than intention. If you think of it as the sound we make…

Yes, it sounded like snoring. And as if to disprove that fact, I felt a deep tremor here and there, like Haru’s horse.

Seeing that there were also traces of soil dug up here, there was a high possibility that they were actually digging a burrow under the ground and lying down. Of course, I couldn’t be relieved of that. No one knows how deep they sleep.

On the contrary, the anxiety only increased. It was like walking on thin ice. Just as I was thinking about that, Saya suddenly raised her hand and stopped us from moving. Then he pointed out a certain mound to the right.

“…”

“…!”

Upon closer inspection, it was not a mound. It was the flesh of a huge creature that rose and fell according to the constant breath. But it was so subtle that if it wasn’t for Saya, it was clear that she wouldn’t have noticed.

And there were too many such mounds around here. Besides, most of them were constantly moving, as we saw earlier. Only then did I realize one thing.

That we’re going head-on through a nest of hatchlings.

“…”

I shouldn’t have realized. As soon as I remembered that fact, my whole body was wet with sweat. If things go wrong, the only thing I can use is a gauntlet that gnaws through the intestines and a metal stick called a sword.

From then on, the sound of my heartbeat started walking along with my steps. With every step I took, my heart sank heavily and the pain in my chest got worse and worse. It would have been nice if I could go over this section quickly, but even that was difficult now.

There were even times when I had to pass right by the mound. At that time, even I, who was not sensitive to smells, could smell their stench.

“Ugh…”

“…”

“Ugh…”

“…”

I wanted to spit out swear words. But I just couldn’t do it. Now even the sound of swallowing my breath was jarring in my ears, and my heart trembled. Perhaps. In case the sound would be a nuisance, I continued to notice Saya and Haru. And every time their ears twitched, they swallowed their breath for no reason.

So I was gradually drowning in tension. The feeling of being suffocated out of the water was never pleasant. In addition, the ground became increasingly unstable, and my steps kept slipping.

Either go crazy like this and die. Die from suffocation It seemed like I was going to walk down one of the two paths.

“…!”

Then Saya raised her hand once again. I was momentarily nervous, but fortunately this time it was a positive sign. There was a small pond that was a bit embarrassing to call it a lake.

According to the map, it was the first passage through this field. In addition, the other mounds were quite far away, probably because hatchlings hate water, so they were perfect for intermediate bases. Once I had a goal, I relaxed a bit and my legs regained strength.

I nodded her head at Saya, then gave her a signal by gently grabbing her finger. Haru was just as nervous as I was, so I let out the breath I had been holding in little by little. Even in this suffocating time, it seemed that a short break would finally come.

But the dangerous moment always came at such a time.

When I stepped out with such an ominous feeling, the ground suddenly caved in and my feet fell down. Haru, who was holding me, also lost her balance and was dragged towards the slope, hitting her severed arm on the ground.

“…!”

“…!!!”

“Kihi…?”

As Haru and my body fell toward the pit, a horrifying cry scratched my ears. We pulled each other as quietly as possible. And I managed to get out before it was too late.

At the bottom of the pit was seething with acid saliva spilled by the hetzling. If even one of the two lacked strength, they might have fallen. But it was not yet at the stage of reassurance. Hetzling was already slowly raising his head.

“Keeeee…”

At that moment, Saya and I pulled Haru at the same time and threw ourselves into the ashes piled up next to us. It was the remnants of the flames emitted by the hatchling as he made the pit. And Saya hurriedly lifted the stone and shot it precisely at the opposite mound.

And her aim was right on target, attracting the attention of the other hatchlings. They raised their heads at the same time and bumped their heads against each other, perhaps because they were drunk.

“Ki…?”

“Keeeeek!”

“Kueeeee…!”

The guys opened their mouths at each other and were annoyed. But that doesn’t mean they dig into each other’s flesh like the blind hatchlings did back then. They just stared into each other’s eyes and engaged in a war of nerves, then buried their heads in the pit again.

We waited until they raised their heads again and then we managed to get out of the ashes. Dirt and dust filled his mouth and his chest swelled as if it would burst. While I was forced to hold back my cough, Haru felt anxiously with his hand on the severed arm.

But at least now, there was no time to reflect on the wound. Here and there they were flinching and trying to wake up. I couldn’t tell if it was just sleep talk or if I was really waking up.

Besides, because of what happened earlier, my steps were uneasy. It was now unclear even when and where the soil beneath their feet would disappear. It’s true that walking on shallow ground with hatchlings all over the place…

…I’d rather go crazy like this and become a madman.

Fortunately, before that happened, Saya’s footsteps reached the water’s edge first. We hid ourselves under a small slope before breathing out the breath we had been holding back.

“Haaa…”

“Whoa…”

“…This.”

Meanwhile, Haru was still rubbing the severed arm. The bandages, which had been left intact even at the moment of camouflage, were now soiled with dirt and unknown foreign substances.

“Day.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“…”

“Do not worry.”

We both gritted our teeth at the same time. But now was the time to focus on countermeasures rather than worry. I somehow searched inside, knowing there were no more bandages in the bag. Of course, only dried and twisted food was squeezed out of his hand.

In the meantime, Saya continued to look around and managed to come towards us. I finally gave up looking for her bandages and turned her gaze to her.

“Saya. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. But it’s much slower than I thought.”

“I’m sorry. We’re…”

“It’s not because of that. There are too many obstacles. Hatchling. Pit. The road is rougher than I thought.”

Saya’s point made his bones ache. The reality in front of us was still harsh. Instead of despairing about that fact, I raised a more pragmatic question.

“How long will it take to the port?”

“I don’t know. I can’t quite guess.”

“…Too many obstacles.”

“Besides, I think I have to move only during the day. Even if I’m alone, it’s hard to move at night in a place like this.”

Even with the eyes of an elf, can’t you avoid all the obstacles placed here and there at night? While I was thinking about that fact, Saya brought up one more story.

“Besides, you can’t stop for a single day from now on. They’re going through the winter for a while.”

“What does that mean? Do you know anything?”

“I’m not sure. But maybe…”

“…”

“…Means the mother is coming.”