Chapter 22 – The Wolf’s Embrace.
“Bellichye.”
At the sound of the gray wolf’s voice calling him by name, the silver wolf turns her attention to her. For a while, the silver wolf’s purple eyes and the gray wolf’s turquoise eyes looked at each other. When the faint sound of flowing water filled the air in the quiet surroundings, as if a river was flowing in the distance. The first one to look at was the silver wolf.
“The chief awaits.”
As he left those words, he turned around and walked away, hearing the sound of clearing water from the ground.
“Really stubborn.”
The gray wolf sighed at the sight of him and started walking after him. Usher wanted to say something, but he didn’t have the courage to open his mouth in such an ambiguous atmosphere. Borrowing the wolf’s back and going through the forest road filled with water, he somehow felt like he was riding a boat on a lake rather than walking in the forest. I wondered how much it had rained to fill the forest with water like this, but soon that thought disappeared with an echo like a scream.
“You’re here.”
When the moonlight, which had been slowly growing stronger through the cracks in the trees that were slowly widening in the dense forest, completely illuminated the forest. Because the old wolf and the place where he was sitting caught his eye.
“Eras. The test you will take is simple.”
He was standing on top of a cave. I don’t know how many caves there are around here, but Usher found them more foreign than any he’d seen here. The cave seems to be located in an empty lot out of nowhere, and there are no trees around. He shuddered at the sight of a huge mouth protruding from the ground, as if it had been cut in half from a huge rock and dug into it, devouring the waters that had risen in the forest. The faint sound of water that could be heard from a distance, like the sound of a river, was the sound of that cave swallowing water. Now that we were close to the cave, the sound of water went beyond the sound of flowing water and was hovering in the cave like a scream. Usher seemed to know what he was going to say next.
“Go through this cave.”
Under the cold moonlight, an old wolf with blue eyes shining brightly, as if trying to devour everything on the ground, pronounced the sentence from above the cave with its mouth full of darkness. His body trembled as the sight seemed to tell him to die. What calmed him down was, surprisingly, the silver wolf’s voice.
“Don’t worry. If you are truly worthy of passing the test, a guide will appear and guide you.”
It was also the image of Belka that came to mind together. Usher almost ran away from the more fearsome test than he could have imagined, but she warned them that their test would be dangerous. Even so, it was her own will that brought her to this point. Despite Belka’s disapproval, she was the one who said she would take the test. So I really hated giving up the test in front of that old wolf and going back to Belka. I couldn’t back down even though I felt the fear that I might die from the appearance of the cave where the water was constantly drinking into the darkness. Rather, he was slowly but surely walking towards the cave.
I still couldn’t figure out why. He just wanted to face her more confidently so that no one would wonder that he and her girl were together. It was a dark night when I entered the cave cautiously, but it became extremely dark. If you look back carefully, you can see the light, but it was not a place to return to. It was also a place of no return.
“The current is too strong.”
The cave sloped as if it continued downward. Because of this, he was swallowing the water up to his knees without difficulty. The floor of the cave is even slippery. Even in this situation, the reason he was able to avoid being swept away by the current was thanks to holding on to the uneven wall. Even that was barely holding on, but that was the limit. In that way, he held on to the rugged wall and slowly descended so as not to be washed away by the current, but he could not see the end of the cave. The darkness without a single light took away even his sense of time. His hands and arms, which had been holding on to the walls one by one, were trembling contrary to his heart, as if they had reached their limits.
“Oops!”
However, Usher’s efforts to not be washed away by the current were in vain as a small stone that rolled along with the current hit his submerged leg. The pain caused him to lose his hand on the wall. He felt that the moment was very slow, but the outcome was fixed.
“Whoop!!”
He could not get out of the water even though it was not very deep. Because it happened so suddenly, he couldn’t even prepare to take at least a full breath. He had no choice but to close his eyes and float away. The moment when his mind became more and more confused because he couldn’t breathe. Usher noticed that the current that was carrying him had suddenly weakened and the water had lowered its depth. The current, which had been strong enough to carry him away, could no longer carry him away.
“Puha!”
Barely sticking his head out of the water, he realized that there was light here. When he opens his eyes in anticipation that he may have passed through the cave, a disappointing sight is in his eyes. He was still in the cave. The identity of the light was that the moonlight was pouring down from a hole in the ceiling above the cave. The ceiling was really high and of course there was no way he could get out through it. Relying on the moonlight leaking in like a wet mouse, he found a dry place in the cave where the shallow water did not reach, and he lay down to rest a little.
Haha, moan, there’s no place that doesn’t hurt.”
As he was washed ashore, he was bumped and his legs ached. The only good thing about him was that he miraculously didn’t show any bleeding wounds. Exhausted, Usher wanted to lie down and fall asleep, but he had to take off his wet clothes and dry them separately. Because he couldn’t sleep in wet clothes. Spreading out his clothes to dry, he lay down again on the dry ground. The floor of the cave, which had no animal skins laid on it by the wolves, was very hard and uncomfortable, but he could not overcome his fatigue and fell asleep. He didn’t notice the suspicious figures slowly moving towards him. In the case of the wolves who sent Usher down to the cave around that time.
“No way, I thought you would really want to take the test.”
The old wolf murmured and turned his head to one side of the forest.
“You wouldn’t have pushed Erath to take the test.”
“I have no right to stop Usher from doing what he chose to do.”
There her girl stood in her muddy water, not caring that her own clothes would get wet from the water and rain. Her red hair, like the flowers tied around her sides, was wet and flowing in the rain, and her porcelain-white skin added a pale glow to the cold water and air. Her water-soaked dress and white skirt sagged and seemed to show the girl’s mood. Then the old wolf’s gaze turned to the mask her girl had combed on one side of her head.
“It’s a mask. Come to think of it, I think that Erath also had one. Was it made for you?”
“Yeah, but it seems that the intention has been distorted now.”
“That’s probably the reason for the unpleasant smell that sometimes wafts from the town of Erath.”
The old wolf glared at the mask and as if he wanted to destroy it any minute, as if he had lost his enemy, but he only glared at it, not really wanting to break it. As if feeling his gaze, the girl touched the mask she wore and looked at him with golden light.
“Do you still resent him?”
At the girl’s question, the old wolf finally took her eyes off the mask she was wearing.
“How can I not be resentful? That Erath is the one who ruined my mission.”
His grave voice contained as many and complex thoughts as the years he had lived.
“It’s not your fault. No matter how much you fill in the gaps, the fact that there are gaps doesn’t change. It will happen someday, and it was just your time.”
The old wolf, who had heard her girl, met her eyes with her still.
“You are too kind.”
“…It is not so.”
“What could be more proof of your kindness than the fact that a being like you is conversing with us?”
The girl tried to say more, but the old wolf spoke first.
“Belicie, Hillis. We have a long way to go. Take him to the exit first.”
The wolves took the girl and left, leaving only the old wolf looking at the dark cave Usher had entered.
Usher opened his eyes in a daze, listening to the babbling sound of the water. I couldn’t figure out why. The moonlight and the vague sensations coming through the cracks in the cave let us know that he hasn’t been asleep for long. Even though it was impossible to blow away all the accumulated fatigue from a very short sleep that he couldn’t even dream of, the cold sensation that permeated even in his sleep forced him to wake up. Although there was no wind blowing in the cave, it might have been because the body was already soaking wet as it was swept away by the water. If not, could it be because of the cold stone floor? Or is it because he fell asleep naked? He couldn’t stand the cold that kept bothering him and got up.
“If the test was something like this, I should have covered it with food and at least took care of my skin.”
He was gruff like that, but he knew that if he had brought them with him, they would all be washed away if swept away by the current, or they would be soaked and ruined. It is now resting on dry land, but it has been washed a considerable distance from the entrance by the current. It was difficult to handle the current without any luggage, but if we had luggage, we would have been swept away earlier. If he did, he might have died. It was not so pointless that he tried to avoid drifting away as much as possible.
“Shall we put on clothes first?”
It was obvious that her clothes would still be wet, but it felt quite awkward that she was not wearing a single thread in a place like this that wasn’t even a house. Even if it’s only for a moment when changing clothes, it’s all the more so because I’ve never had to take off my clothes and walk around. As he looked around to find the clothes he had taken off, he felt a strange strange feeling.
“Was there anything like this here?”
It was like a pile of sand, and it was like a rock. Several of them, all of different sizes, were gathered around the place where he was. No matter how you looked at it, they were simple rocks, but he couldn’t understand why he felt a strange feeling as if something that wasn’t there had suddenly appeared. But there was no way the rock could move on its own, so he assumed Usher was on his own. Earlier, I was washed down by the current and barely took off my clothes and fell asleep. He couldn’t see his surroundings properly, so he thought he was just blind.
“It’s still wet after all.”
The clothes were found, but, as expected, they were still damp and not dry. You don’t know when your clothes will dry in this place where you can’t light a fire and there’s no wind. Just because it was safe here, if you stayed until your clothes were dry, you might not be able to pass the test or leave the cave. As soon as I hurriedly picked up the top and put it on, the coolness of the wet clothes stuck to my skin.
“Oh, it’s cold.”
The clothes spread out on the cave floor were cold enough to make it feel less cold to take them off, but I couldn’t help but put them on. If you don’t wear clothes, you’ll get scars that won’t come out and you’ll end up with unnecessary burdens. Just as he was adjusting to his cold clothes and was about to pick up the next one, he noticed something odd.
“Did I put something like a stone on your clothes?”
On top of his other clothes, little by little, but nearby clusters of sand-colored rocks occupied. The moment he carefully picked up his clothes, feeling the sense of incongruity he had been feeling from the appearance of a rock standing on his clothes.
“Uh?”
Wow, the rock opened its mouth. Let’s reveal what was obviously just a rock like a pile of sand. What could be seen inside was something that must have belonged to a living creature, and what looked like a melted human hand. At that unrealistic look, he just let out a dumbfounded sound and let go of the clothes, and that was luck. Something like a melted human hand snatched the clothes he was holding and dragged them into the mouth of the rock. It really was only for a moment that his hand might have been caught by it had he not missed the dress. But the action of the rock did not stop there.
The thing that had eaten his clothes was moving enough to know it was chewing. Only then Usher had to admit that it wasn’t rocky. When it mistook the clothes for food and started moving to digest them, its true form, which had been seen as a pile of sand or a rock, was finally revealed. It looked like a strangely mutated fish. The four fins, the exact same color as the body, stood on the ground like legs, and the swollen skin without even scales and the rock-like dull body reminded me of a toad rather than a fish.
– Gurg gurg.
Even the cry was like that of a toad, but that was not what one would call a toad. It was using like feet but had fins. It was very ugly and looked like it could not swim, but it had the shape of a fish, albeit vaguely. However, it would be difficult to call it a fish again. Now, I don’t know how long they’ve been here, but they’re clearly out of the water and camouflaged like rocks. As if waiting for prey to come. Why didn’t I understand? Even though he hadn’t slept for a while, the cold sensation that woke him up was nothing like the cold.
It was an instinctive warning. It was a warning that if you stayed asleep, you would be eaten by them. Realizing that fact brought to mind the melted human hand-like tongue that was visible the moment it opened its mouth. Even on top of the water-soaked skin, the cold sweat running down the nape of my neck was clear. When I woke up, it was not an illusion that the rocks around me suddenly appeared. All the rocks that surrounded him were not rocks, but rather camouflaged. He was now besieged by what was neither the fish nor the toad.
It was clear that they had gathered to eat him while he was probably asleep. Perhaps the reason he disguised himself as a rock was to avoid being noticed by his prey. Knowing that, Usher was able to know facts that had not been seen until now. They were certainly motionless and still, but could be heard out of his sight.
“…”
-Sludge.
– Swish.
It wasn’t the sound of running water. When the water is flowing, there is no way there is a sound of water splashing or something walking around, and there is no sound of stones scratching. As he turned around, gulping nervously, he could see the boulders approaching just as clearly. Some were half-immersed, and some were already near him. And it is also seen spitting out his clothes as if he realized that what he swallowed was not something to eat.
-Kureuk tuk!
However, the clothes it was chewing on were already tattered and partially melted, as if they had been hacked up by something sharp. It didn’t occur to me that if he was eaten by these things, Usher’s future would be more or less than that suit. The moment he takes a step back. A sudden sharp pain pierced his ankle.
“Evil!”
Surprised by the pain, he looked down at his feet and saw that something smaller than those around him was biting his ankle. Maybe because he was young and small, he was able to move faster. He hurriedly tried to pull it off, but a trickle of red ran down his ankle. And the fishy smell of iron stung his nose. And looking back at the creeping chill that came. Everything that surrounded Usher had opened their eyes. Then, the mouths opened all at once. Their mouths were too large for their size. It felt as if he was obsessed with swallowing anything bigger than himself.
– Knock off.
-Rurrule.
Inside it was a tongue glistening with drool, a pale red tongue like a melted human hand. I’ve never seen him, but is it really like that under a person’s skin? As if they had no intention of letting Usher go, their mouths that looked bigger than his head were open, and their tongues, like melted human hands, were directed at him. It was even more terrifying because it looked as if the dead had only reached out through their mouths and beckoned. Eventually, they started running at him one by one, as if their patience had run out, but no matter how much they looked around, they couldn’t find a hole to escape from.
Melted human hands stretched out one by one, followed by their mouths filled with darkness. Thinking of being surrounded like this and being eaten by them made me feel gloomy. Eventually, as the hands tried to grab him, the mask that had fallen nearby was hit by his foot. When the little cross drawn by the girl on the plain white mask caught my eye, I immediately came to my senses.
