Chapter 13:
The air remained thick with a static charge, a faint smell of atmosphere mingling with the scent of inclined earth and splintered wood. With silent, skillful steps, Leo and Tarra traversed the mossy ground and fallen leaves. Every rustle of disturbed undergrowth, every distant snap of a twig, sent a jolt of adrenaline through Leo. His gaze swept the surroundings, but Tarra, silent and observant, was slightly ahead, her superior senses on alert.
The landscape bore witness to a recent, violent clash: ancient trees lay scattered like matchsticks, their roots ripped savagely from the earth. The ground was littered with craters, some still faintly smoking, others brimming with stagnant, unnatural puddles that gleamed with sickly colors. It was a scar ripped across the face of the ancient forest, a wound that would take centuries to heal.
They hadn't traveled far when Tarra suddenly stopped, a low, rough growl rumbling deep in her chest. Leo stopped instantly, his body tensing. Tarra's gaze was fixed on a dense clump of undergrowth to their left. He strained his ears, hearing nothing but the faint, steady pounding of his own heart. Then, a sound reached him – a heavy, dragging movement, followed by a soft, wet snuffling.
One of the searching creatures. It was close.
Leo held his breath, willing himself to be invisible. Tarra remained utterly still, a statue of predatory readiness. The sounds grew closer, the snuffling punctuated by the occasional low whine, as if the creature was frustrated by its lack of success. It sounded large, its movements heavy and deliberate. Leo pictured the Hideous forms he had seen earlier – the hunched shapes, the unnerving gait.
After what felt like an eternity, the sounds began to recede, moving away from them, deeper into the ruined section of the forest. Tarra waited another long moment before slowly relaxing, the low growl fading. She shot a look at Leo, a silent confirmation of the danger passed.
"Too close," Leo mouthed, his voice barely a whisper.
They resumed their movement, their caution amplified tenfold. The encounter reinforced the reality: the forest floor was crawling with these things, and they were actively hunting for something – presumably more fragments like the one Leo now carried. The weight of the antler fragment in his inventory felt heavier now, not just a valuable curiosity, but a potential target.
As they moved, Leo's mind churned. The term "Primordials." Beings that shaped the forest. What kind of power did that imply? The antler felt like incredibly dense wood, ancient and hard, yet it pulsed with that faint energy. And the fruits... growing directly from it. Magical, certainly, perhaps deeply connected to the bear's life force or the elemental forces it wielded. He had glimpsed their description during the brief appraisal, but hadn't focused on the 'unknown' potential uses. Was this something that could be eaten? Crafted? Did it grant power? He needed time and safety to analyze it properly.
But safety seemed a distant prospect in this ravaged place. The path ahead twisted and turned, skirting fallen giants and navigating treacherous pits. The deeper they went, the more alien the environment became. The air grew colder, a strange mist beginning to curl around the base of the standing trees. The sounds of normal forest life – birdsong, the rustle of small animals – were conspicuously absent, replaced by an unnerving silence broken only by the wind whistling through broken branches and the invisible movements of dangerous things.
Leo kept his hand near the grip of his weapon, his senses on high alert. Tarra moved like a shadow, her eyes constantly scanning, her presence a silent promise of defense. They were small specks in a world torn apart by colossal forces, carrying a fragment of that very force.
The journey was slow, tense, and exhausting. Each minute felt like an hour under siege. But Leo pushed on, fueled by a desperate need to escape this immediate danger and the growing, unsettling curiosity about the forest's true nature and the power he now held a piece of. The center of the forest beckoned, a point of uncertain destination in a world that had suddenly expanded to include titans and primordial forces. The silence deepened around them as they ventured further into the heart of the ruin, leaving the immediate wreckage behind, but carrying its implications with every cautious step.