A few days have passed.
Aksa was walking towards the hut, carrying a bunch of chopped wood in a hug, and wearing a tunic that Kael had made for him using the deer's fur, with a simple strap made of deer skin wrapped around his waist, holding both the tunic and the rousers he was wearing.
Before Kael left to gather some herbs that morning, he instructed him to throw some of the wood he chopped the day before into the hearth if the fire ever died down.
He stopped for a moment, looking at the shattered blood moon that was still hanging in the sky.
He didn't have any idea about what was happening outside the forest, as Kael never allowed him to go past a few meters away from the hut, telling him that it was too dangerous to leave the barrier when he was weak like that..
Before he could step inside the hut, his ears suddenly caught the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground. Then, he heard Kael's voice calling him from far away. "Kid! Are you there?"
Aksa's head quickly turned, facing towards Kael, who was now clearly visible through the trees as he tried to rush the horse he was riding. Panic filled his face as he kept looking behind him, as if he was running away from something.
As he got closer, Aksa looked at him with confusion filling his face. He raised his eyebrow as he asked, worry visible in his eyes. "What's wrong?
"Gather everything you can and get on the horse," Kael quickly answered as he rushed towards the hut. "We're getting out of here."
"Why? What happened?" Aksa questioned. He then dropped the wood he was carrying on the ground before following after Kael.
"The barrier is down. The whole area is filled with abnormalities." Kael immediately headed towards the wooden chest. His fingers fumbled as they pulled a set of small keys from his coat before trying to open the locks as fast as he could.
Once the locks were opened, Kael haphazardly went through it, pushing things randomly aside as if searching for something specific.
He then started throwing some books and clothes into Aksa's hands, who stood frozen in place, looking at Kael in shock as he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"Here. Take these and go put them in the bags mounted on the horse. I will follow after you in a minute," Kael added.
Although he was still shocked and confused, Aksa managed to nod swiftly before running outside.
Once the boy left the hut, Kael looked at the box again, now his eyes more focused, before extending his arm towards a piece of wood shoved into the corner.
He let out a heavy sigh as he pulled a small wooden horse that was tucked deep inside the chest.
For a few moments, he remained in his place, staring at it as he rubbed his thumb on it. He then lowered his head, moving the wooden horse closer to it before touching his forehead with it.
"I'm sorry, I need to go," Kael mumbled under his breath.
After a bit, he put it inside his pocket before grabbing what remained inside the chest and quickly following Aksa outside.
He then stuffed what was in his hands in the bags before helping Aksa get on the horse, before hopping on it himself.
"You ready?" Kael turned his head around before asking calmly.
"Yes." Aksa swiftly nodded. He then tightly held Kael's body as he had never been allowed close to a horse other than cleaning the stables, let alone ride one.
With a sharp pull, Kael yanked the lead, and the horse immediately started running again.
As they were navigating through the trees, Aksa caught a glimpse of something in the distance from the corner of his eye.
A creature with a body that looks like a deformed mix of a deer and a wolf, and a head that was split into 4 parts, with each part filled with needle-like teeth protruding out as they were opened like a flower.
It was heading towards them with unmatched speed, its joints moving randomly, and its skeleton appearing under its pale skin that stretched and shrank as it moved.
"Kael! There is an abnormality coming from the right," Aksa screamed. He had seen them too many times before, so he recognized it immediately.
"Don't worry, I saw it," Kael assured him before whipping the lead harder, forcing the horse to move faster.
He then pulled a small knife from his pocket before slashing his palm with it. In a few moments, his blood started floating in the air, forming into the shape of a bow and an arrow.
He quickly stood up, trying to balance himself on the horse as he pulled the arrow back. Once he let go of it, the arrow launched towards the abnormality.
In the blink of an eye, it traveled the distance between them and the monster like a bullet before it landed directly inside its throat.
It immediately fell to the ground, rolling and stumbling before it collided with one of the trees. Its body then started inflating in random spots. Its skin started darkening before it suddenly exploded, its guts flowing everywhere.
"What was that?" Aksa uttered as he watched in shock.
"Blood manipulation," Kael explained as he sat down again. "It's quite effective against creatures with high concentrations of blood moon essence in their bodies."
Nevertheless, before Kael could focus on the road up ahead again, another abnormality appeared, but this time, it was right in front of them, as if spawned out of thin air.
Before he could react, the abnormality jumped, landing right on top of him. Then, its mouth opened as it moved slightly back, getting ready to land its teeth on Kael's face.
However, before it could move any closer, Kael grabbed its neck. He then moved his other hand, shoving it into the monster's chest.
He started ripping its ribcage bone by bone and tossing them to the side as it screeched in pain. Once its chest was opened, Kael shoved his hand deeper, reaching for its heart.
The abnormality tried to stop him, hitting him with its legs in the face. But Kael didn't even flinch as he pulled the heart out.
Once the heart was out of its body, the abnormality stopped moving. Kael then threw both the heart and the body away before adjusting his body and grabbing the horse lead, focusing his eyes on the road ahead.
After a few minutes, they finally exited the forest. Aksa's eyes widened in shock the moment they stepped out.
The luscious green grass that covered the land before was now reduced to mere ashes. Everywhere he looked, he was faced with the same scenery. Hills covered in burned grass and the wind carrying the gray ash, with some remnants of fire eating into what remained.
The ground was cracked, opened widely by the large rocks protruding out of it. A weird red plant with thorns poking out of it stretched across the land, covering every part of it from east to west.
Aksa started coughing violently as if something got stuck in his throat. Kael immediately turned around, handing a small piece of cloth to Aksa before shouting, "Cover your mouth, kid! If this ash reaches your lungs, you will die!"
Aksa quickly nodded before snatching the cloth out of Kael's hand and covering his face with it. "What happened here?" Aksa asked.
"This is the unfortunate effect of the blood moon shattering in the middle of the eclipse," Kael explained, "This is why the empire reunited after the last time it happened two hundred years ago. To prevent this from ever happening again."
"Then why did any of this happen?"
"I don't know. Something must have happened to stop the emperors from preventing it." Kael added. "We're gonna head to the empire's capital since it's the safest place to be right now, but the road will be long, so we're gonna stop by some places to rest as we move."
"How long will it take us?" Aksa questioned.
"Since we need to cross two or three districts to reach it... Maybe a month? Will you be alright?" Kael replied.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Aksa answered.
"Good. Now hold tight, we're gonna go fast." Kael replied, nodding slightly with a small grin on his face. Kael then whipped the lead again, harder this time, before shouting as the horse increased its speed, "Go feye, go!"