The Smiling Death

The sky was darkened. Everything was pitch dark.

In this darkness was moving a single fire. It was none other torch held in hand of Amon.

His steps made a crunching sound throughout the silent forest.

Since his feet occasionally step on dry leaves and sticks.

'For now there is no sign of them. That is good. But I don't know how long they will keep hidden'

Amon knew, despite he cannot see them. They were still there. Looking at him. Observing his every moment.

There was another thing he noticed. That once it was night. There was no sign of another monster in forest. It seems as if they hide themselves from this dark beings.

Which was a good thing for him. He don't need to fight or wary of them.

He remembered the first monster he face in forest. How it ran away sensing this creatures presence.

Amon could understand its feeling. They felt very unpleasant. Very wrong.

It makes him not to fight them. It's very unique feeling.

Amon couldn't tell what it was.

'Hah...I am feeling little fear. Damn.'

A thought had came to his mind. Trying to fight one of them but he dismissed it immediately.

No need to put himself In unknown danger.

And thus the time came. After hours of walking, for the first time since night started. He saw them.

Just like every night. They were lurking in darkness. Everywhere. The only place they were not present was in brightened surroundings made by fire.torch.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

His hear started to beat again.

Fear naturally came to him the moment he saw them.

The unknown fear. The malice. The danger.

He felt every bad thing from them.

Just then-

"AHHHHH!"

"AHHHHH!"

"AHHHHH!"

Suddenly some of them started to scream. The scream that Amon had become use to.

Goosebumps ran through his body.

He flinched.

"Fuckk!..."

Amon turned around and saw in all his directions. His hand extended forward to stop anything that might come to his direction.

"Okay I need to walk. Walk straight don't look at them. Just move forward."

With one mantra Amon walk forward. His breathing fast.

But he didn't stopped.

Amon kept walking.

Step by step.

Crunch… crunch…

Dry leaves and broken twigs cracked under his boots, the sound echoing far too loudly in the silent forest. Every noise felt like it was announcing his position.

His grip on the torch tightened. The flame trembled slightly, not because of wind, but because his hand was shaking. His legs trembled too.

"…Don't stop," he whispered to himself. "Don't stop. Just keep walking."

The darkness around him felt thick, heavy, as if it could swallow him whole if the fire went out even for a moment.

Behind the reach of the torchlight.

They were there.

He couldn't see their full bodies. Only vague shapes. Heads. Shadows that didn't fully form. But he could feel them.

Watching.

Following.

Slowly.

Too slowly.

The screams echoed again.

"AHHHHHH—!"

"AHHHHH—!"

"AHHHHHHHHH—!"

They came from different directions. Left. Right. Behind. Above. The sounds twisted through the forest, sharp and shrill, scraping against his mind.

Amon flinched hard.

"Shit… shit… shit…"

His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

His breathing became uneven. Cold sweat soaked his back.

"Light Goddess… Light Goddess…" he muttered under his breath, voice trembling. "Please… please protect me… I won't ask for anything else…"

His lips kept moving nonstop.

"I will pray every day… I will believe… I will—just… please…"

He didn't even know what he was saying anymore. Words spilled out on their own, mixed with fear and desperation.

The screams followed him. They were not rushing. Not attacking. Just moving with him.

Matching his pace.

When he slowed, they slowed. When he quickened his steps, they shifted too, staying just beyond the firelight.

Amon felt it clearly now. They were herding him. Guiding him. Or maybe enjoying his fear.

"…No… no… no…"

His knees felt weak. Every step felt heavier than the last. His legs screamed at him to stop, to rest, to collapse.

But his mind screamed louder.

Don't stop.

If you stop, you die.

So he walked.

Even when his legs shook violently.

Even when his breath burned his lungs.

Even when tears formed in the corners of his eyes from pure terror.

He kept walking.

The torch flickered.

Amon panicked instantly and raised it higher, shielding the flame with his other hand.

"No—no—don't go out… please don't go out…"

The fire stabilized.

The shadows hissed softly.

Some of the dark shapes recoiled slightly, retreating a step back when the flame grew brighter.

That small reaction gave him just a bit of hope.

"…Good," he whispered. "Stay away… just stay away…"

But they didn't leave.

They followed.

Slowly.

Patiently.

The night stretched endlessly.

Minutes felt like hours.

Hours felt like days.

The screams continued. Sometimes loud, sometimes distant, sometimes right beside him, as if one of them was screaming directly into his ear.

Every time, his body jerked in fear.

His nerves were stretched thin.

His thoughts became scattered.

"…Light Goddess… guide me…" he muttered again and again. "Please… please…"

He didn't look to the sides anymore.

He didn't dare.

He stared straight ahead, eyes fixed on the small circle of safety created by the torch.

Everything outside that circle did not exist.

He refused to acknowledge it.

Even though he could feel them.

So close.

Too close.

The forest felt endless. The night felt endless. But Amon had no intention of stopping.

Not even for a moment. As long as his legs moved. As long as the fire burned. As long as he lived.

He would keep walking.

And behind him, in the darkness beyond the light, the unknown beings continued to follow.

Watching. Waiting. Enjoying the long, terrifying night.

---

Just like that, he spent the entire night walking.

He did not stop even once.

When morning finally came, the very first thing he did was collapse and sleep.

His body could no longer endure.

He slept through the dull grey morning, waking only briefly to kill a few wandering monsters that came too close. Then he slept again, saving his strength.

And when night fell, it was the same as before.

Amon walked through the forest with a burning torch in his hand, surrounded by those dark beings lurking beyond the light.

Another long night passed. Then morning came once more. And this time, he saw it. The tip of the building was closer now.

Much closer.

No longer a distant shape barely visible beyond the trees. It stood clearly ahead, rising unnaturally above the endless black forest.

Amon had finally reached this place.