"That was quick, my lord," Valerith spoke as he watched Zephyr's body normalize, slowly revealing Aksa's body, which had healed completely.
"It isn't hard to convince someone of something if they have already accepted it, even if they deny it at first," Zephyr replied calmly, looking around at the corpses surrounding them. "Anyway, it seems that you managed to handle everything with ease."
"Even with the birth of so many of these creatures, they still do not hold the slightest fighting stand against me," said Valerith, his eyes closed as he spoke.
"Hmm, you did well," said Zephyr, with Valerith nodding slightly. "Nevertheless, how much time had passed by this world's standards?"
"I believe only a few hours had passed."
"It seems I'm not too late for my duties," Zephyr muttered as he started to levitate in the air. "I will be leaving now. Make sure to keep that child safe until he wakes up, then leave without leaving any trace and quickly join me."
"Wouldn't it be too risky to leave him to fend for himself in this situation?" Valerith questioned.
"You don't need to worry about that, as he already turned into a 'lost'." Zephyr was quick to answer, his tone calm as always. "I wish for him to experience what living in this world is actually like, and even if things get dire, I can always interfere."
"As you wish, my lord," Valerith nodded slightly as he spoke.
"Now then," Zephyr added, "I will leave this matter in your hands."
As Zephyr floated away, Valerith kept his face fixated on Aksa. He looked him up and down, studying his features intensely. Once Zephyr was out of view, the skin on Valerith's face began shifting, slowly morphing as the head changed its shape.
After a few moments, it finally stopped, only to now resemble the features of Aksa's face. It was an exact copy, mimicking every curve and bump on the boy's face.
"Please, stay strong. You are our only hope to stop this chaos," Valerith mumbled slowly as he leaned forward, touching Aksa's forehead with his own. His voice was now softer and more gentle, as if trying to calm the sleeping body of Aksa.
He remained like that for a few moments, standing in silence as the wind blew before he straightened his back again, with his face shifting back to its original state.
***
Aksa gasped for air as his eyes opened wide. His chest was heaving as if he was drowning, desperately sucking the air as if it was going to disappear at any moment.
His hands moved instinctively, scrambling as they reached for his body. He expected his eyes to witness the sight of blood dripping through his fingers as they picked up shattered pieces of bone.
Yet, there was nothing, he wasn't feeling anything but the sensation of his hand against his skin. When he thought about it, he noticed that the pain he felt earlier was also gone.
"What the hell... Was that?..." Aksa murmured in a quiet voice, his breath still ragged as he spoke.
The last thing that he remembers is the sight of the sky splitting before the blood moon shard pierced through his body. He was choking on his own blood, gasping for air as his vision darkened, and yet, he is still alive.
Suddenly, the sight of Zephyr flashed before his eyes, making his breath hitch. "Wait, I wasn't hallucinating?"
He shifted his vision downwards, looking at his body to confirm that he wasn't dreaming. He then lifted his head, turning it left and right.
His eyes opened wide, and he felt a chill traveling down his spine as his gaze fell on the flesh of the countless corpses surrounding him. Before he could speak, his body moved on its own, turning around before uncontrolably vomiting.
"What the hell happened here?" he muttered, his eyes twitching in irritation. "Did that man do this?" Aksa added, a frown appearing on his face as he imagined the scene in his mind.
However, his thoughts were quickly interrupted as his ears twitched, listening carefully to the faint growl he heard coming from afar. A rattling noise then followed, making him straighten up in panic.
"W-what was that?" Aksa questioned, his voice low, careful not to attract anything towards him.
The growls started getting louder and louder, making the boy's head swing in all directions, searching for their source.
"I need to get out of here," he murmured as he slowly stood up, still making sure to look in all directions to avoid getting attacked from behind.
However, as he started moving, heading away from the forest, he felt as if something was holding him, pulling him back into it. Aksa turned his head around, but there was no one there.
His head tilted down a little as sadness filled his eyes. Nothing was pulling him, it was just his mind. He wanted to go back there. He wanted to look at his brothers one last time, even though he knew it would bring him nothing but pain.
He stood there for a moment, silent as his heart was hesitant. He wasn't sure if he truly wanted to go there, but his body had a different opinion, as it slowly turned to face the forest.
A long exhale escaped his body as he dragged himself forward, his head dangling as he remained gazing at the ground.
A few minutes later, he stumbled on a corpse lying on the ground. When he looked at it, he immediately recognized the face of Sven, one of the slaves who accompanied him here.
He was the youngest of the group, always wearing a smile of hope on his face, even with the harsh life that they experienced.
His skin had already disintegrated due to the blood moon rot, with even the bones that were showing slowly crumbling.
The blood moon rot happens due to the body sucking in too much of the blood moon essence that is released into the air, resulting in the body losing control of the essence flowing inside the body.
This, in turn, leads to the body parts rotting away after the essence leaves it natural flow within the body and instead starts invading the body cells.
As he slowly kneeled down, Aksa's nose caught the thick scent of blood that filled the air, as the forest ground was now drenched with it, slowly mixing with the dirt. He stretched his arm, reaching for what remained of Sven's hand.
He brought it close to his face, touching his cheek with it as tears began to flood his eyes.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Aksa couldn't help but repeat those words. His jaw was shivering as he spoke, and his breath never stopped hitching.
Although he knew he had no hand in what happened, nor did he even know that it could happen, Aksa felt that he wanted to apologize. He needed to apologize. He remained like that for a while until his tears began mixing with the blood and the ground.
However, he suddenly felt something grabbing his leg, snapping him out of that state. He quickly turned his head, only for his blood to turn ice cold as his eyes met with Mark's.
Mark was the slave master working for the baron. This man made sure to make these kids' lives hell
His face was barely recognizable, as half of it looked to have been ripped apart, showing his skull, with his eye barely contained within it.
Half of his body was missing, as it was still stuck beneath the large moon shard that had fallen on him earlier.
As he dragged himself towards Aksa, the skin on what remained of his body slowly peeled away as it rubbed against the ground, exposing more of his guts.
"Why are you still alive, you worthless trash?!" Mark questioned loudly, his voice barely recognizable as his vocal cords were barely intact.
Aksa was speechless. He immediately fell on his butt, sinking into the ground as he began hyperventilating.
His jaw and lips were trembling along his shivering body. His eyes were wide open, terror apparent on them as sweat began dripping down his face.
"I am here suffering. I'm going crazy from the pain, but you... You are not even injured in the slightest." Mark added, his voice now wheezing as he tried lifting his head. "It's always like this. Always has been. We suffer, while your kind feel nothing. We die, while your kind lives. You filths are not even worth living, yet you are the ones to stay alive."
Aksa tried to scream, calling for help as loudly as he could, but nothing came out. It was as if his voice disappeared, as his mouth remained shut while he sat there in silence.
"How are you still alive, huh? ANSWER ME!" Mark screamed, "I'm not dying here while filth like you live."
"I-I don't k-know" in a low, trembling voice, Aksa answered.
"Who do you take me for? A fool?!" Mark questioned as he tried yanking the boy's leg, pulling Aksa closer to him, "I know you know something I don't. Now, answer me you fucking trash! How are you still alive?"
Aksa immediately pulled his leg, escaping from the grip of Mark. He then turned around, quickly trying to stand up and run away; however, before he could move, Mark managed to get hold of the boy's leg once again, pulling him back down.
"Where the fuck do you think you are going?" Mark called loudly as he glared at Aksa.
Aksa, however, wasn't paying attention to him, as his eyes were fixated on something else. Close by, he caught a glimpse of his axe that he had thrown earlier before he started running for his life.
He lunged forward, launching himself towards the axe and barely reaching it with his arms stretched.
Mark tried pulling him closer, but Aksa quickly turned to face him, holding the axe with both hands. Before he could speak again, Aksa quickly lifted the axe high in the air, closing his eyes shut before swinging it downwards, screaming at the top of his lungs as the blade landed in the middle of Mark's skull.
Mark's grip loosened as he screamed in pain, but Aksa didn't stop. He pulled the blade out before swinging it again. His arms kept moving on their own, swinging the axe over and over again. He didn't even try to stop himself, as he felt satisfaction in his act.
Even with his mind blanking, he started laughing loudly. He didn't intend to laugh, but the years of suffering under that man's hands.
With each hit he landed, a memory of Mark torturing him flashed in his mind. The times when he struck his body with the whip. The times when he forced him to work all night. The times when he was forced to go for days without eating for a simple mistake.
Years of hatred and agony were all coming out now.
By the time he got back to his senses, Mark was no longer moving. His eyes were blank as his body lay motionless on the ground, and his head tilted slightly, following the axe.
Aksa's grip loosened, letting go of the axe's handle as he breathed a sigh of relief. A large smile was curved on his face as he fell with his back on the ground. He started laughing again, but this time, just a subtle, exhausted laugh as he gasped for air.
As he looked at the blood moon hanging in the sky, he felt happiness washing over his body. A sense of relief that he had never felt before in his life.
Nevertheless, his relief was short-lived, as his ears caught on to the sound of rustling nearby. His body jolted upright as his head switly turned, looking in the direction from which he came. The growls he heard earlier were now becoming louder, along with a noise of footsteps getting closer and closer.
"No way! That thing followed me here?" Aksa murmured as he scrambled to stand up. Before what was following him managed to catch up, Aksa sprinted in the other direction, heading deep into the woods.