NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17 – Run
Wanting to try something new to eat, I decided to swim away from the shore of the lake and head toward the center. I brought a straw basket, and let it float on the water’s surface, as I dove down and looked for different kinds of seaweed. The water was really clean, so even though the bottom of the lake was rather deep, I can still search for seaweed. Or should I call it lakeweed?
Holding my breath for that long was the biggest issue though, and I can only randomly grab a few of the seaweed before scrambling to the surface for air. After a few hours, of gathering seaweed and goofing off, I swam to shore only to realize how silent it was. There was absolutely no sound of talking. Only the wind and the distant chirp of birds.
The tents I was used to seeing disappeared, but random bric-a-brac was strewn across the forest floor instead. Alarmed, I ran to where my house was only to see almost everything gone except my own personal belongings, and even then, many essentials were not there. Running around the village revealed that it happened everywhere.
Clearly, they all left in a hurry. Yet, the forest looked peaceful with no major threat anywhere. Knowing my parents, they wouldn’t have just abandoned me for no good reason, so there must have been something really concerning.
Giving up on deciding exactly what, I decided to follow the mass of footprints and left home. On the way, I saw random furniture, old spears, and even a tent that was tossed aside on the trail. If they were that in a rush, there is no way I could catch up, and that also means whatever threat they were running from must be imminent, which got me worried.
After hours of jogging and feeling tired, I heard a rumbling in the distance behind me. I turned around and there was a sea of black that was moving toward me.
I don’t know what that is but the reason why my entire village left is clear now, I thought. What I was more concerned about was if I could outrun that before I can get to safety. Chasing after my fellow lupoy is unlikely to work, since they run much faster than I do and still left in a hurry, so wherever they are running to is too far for me to get to before that
reaches me. But what else could I do?I ran as fast as possible, and after an hour, I turned around to see that the sea of black has become a whole horde of giant black rats.
Oh no. I assume these rats are like piranhas, so if I get caught by them, I’d be instantly skeletonized? Can they climb trees I wonder? Or maybe…, I thought as I looked around. Wait this place looks familiar. Isn’t this where the elves live? Maybe I can seek shelter there. I just have to hope that Anortha is around or else I would probably be denied access.
With the plan in mind, I quickly headed to the elven settlement.
Luckily, I saw Anortha outside practicing magic, so with a shout, I ran towards her.
She had a look of surprise, before yelling, “Haltu!”
I had no idea what that meant, so I kept running, only to feel a sharp pain on my forehead, and then I blacked out.