The Rise of Nirvana

CHAPTER 2: Into the Woods

As Sera followed the path towards the castle, she's barely surprised that she can still walk on her two feet without tripping on wobbly legs. She hated how she made suspense out of everything. Like she’ll be gobbled up if she didn’t properly get her guard up.

Looking around, the stalagmites she saw a while ago were taller than they looked from afar, and although they looked like they were very old and made from the dirt exactly where they rose from, it didn't show any signs of crumbling.

The air screamed of deafening silence. No one dared to speak a word. She can't even tell if the people she's with feel afraid of what will come.

She moved slightly faster to blend in with the crowd and as she neared the front, she got a clear view of the dark dead forest ahead.

Sera knew she should be terrified, scared enough to turn around and make a run for it, but no, she felt like an empty jar, like everyone around her. Despite this, her will to stay conscious kept winning her internal battle of emotions, which made her a lot more confused.

The fog began to thicken as they inched further towards their destination. Dead trees began to sprout as they followed the path under a massive undead forest that seems to entirely envelop the castle from beneath.

The darkness swallowed them as they stepped foot into the forest with no light source other than what little moonlight the forest has allowed to slip through. Though Sera thought that it would’ve been better if the blood moon didn’t help light up the forest, as it only made the scene a lot more horrific. The dead trees looked like blood were dripping from its rough branches and the dirt path was splattered with red stains; a scene straight out of a horror movie, indeed.

Sera hesitated to move forward, but the people around her didn’t. She took little steps forward while her eyes scanned the surroundings.

The dirt path is squeezed in between two densely packed rows of trees. She couldn’t see anything beyond the forest other than more dead trees, even with the aid of light from the moon. This made her pretty disturbed and wary.

After all, darkness meant concealment and a hiding bush for the unknown.

That's odd. Sera thought to herself as saw more and more remains while advancing forward. The stench of dirt and rotting flesh had intensified as they walked past bones and corpses that everyone walked over. 

A strong gust of wind raced past them—accompanied by a roar.

The that was loud enough to reach the river they came from, and thus several people covered their ears as it continued, getting louder each second that passes by.

"I don't want to die".

Sera turned to the boy beside her as he muttered the same sentence over and over again with his ears covered and his eyes fully opened, screaming of fear.

"We won't," she said firmly to give him reassurance.

He slowly turned his head to face her, "How sure are you?"

Not really. She thought, but couldn't find it in her to say it out loud since she doesn't really want to tell him comforting lies and was reassuring no one but herself that she will make it through.

She made it closer to the front of the crowd while passing through the shaken unmoving people, when she felt a cold hand grasp her wrist from behind that made her stop to look back.

"Such soft skin you have" a ragged old lady caressed her pulse with her rough thumb. Her big eyes were reddish, almost as though she cried herself to sleep for a week straight, and her waist-length hair, at least what was left of it, reflected a reddish tint above the layers of white, "almost like my husband's."

"Thank you?" Sera confusing said, "but would you mind if I–"

"But with the proportion of your flesh," the old hag looked at her straight in the eye with the most devilish grin, "I bet you'd be tastier."

Sera’s face crunched in utmost disgust and smacked the hand on her wrist.

She couldn’t believe that these people shook like a leaf upon hearing a roar of an unseen beast. How could they, when they are monsters themselves?

Were the people she’s been walking with all demented? If that’s the case, then is she also a sinner to that extent?

Anger rose up from her and her teeth clenched almost reflexively. She sprinted and didn't lessen her pace until she was a stone throw away from the front of the massive crowd. Instead of letting questions enter her mind, she decided to not think of anything. In that way, she’ll neither be accepting nor rejecting what she truly is.

Finally, she managed to free herself from the suffocation in between sardined folks. Sera looks on in sonder at the path behind her, dotted with strangers she'll never hear the stories of, before looking ahead.

This was the moment she realized—they didn’t stop walking because of the roar.

Pairs of red glowing dots appeared in a flash, encircling them as they helplessly looked at the approaching growling hellhounds.

They huffed and snapped while showing off their immensely pointy fangs that thirst for flesh to dig in.

Sera didn't know what to do. her heart pounding on her chest and cold sweat trickled down her forehead as she stared at the angry beasts. She couldn’t be afraid if there was just one, but she most certainly can’t fight off a hundred of them unarmed.

The hounds didn’t pounce on sight. It was almost as if they were waiting for a sign, or just quietly observing us. Either way, Sera felt that even a heave of breath would trigger them to attack, and so she didn’t attempt to even move a muscle.

At that moment, another roar thundered in the air, much louder this time. Her head immediately popped to where it seemingly came from, the castle.

"RUN!!" a man screamed, making everyone let panic and fear get the best of them. The hounds started pouncing at anyone in sight, biting their necks and ripping of what their sharp fangs get a hold of first.

In a matter of seconds, the lush brown ground was covered in a bloody mess of bodies and scattered entrails of unfortunate victims.

Some tried fighting them off with branches and knives they've managed to pick up somewhere she doesn't intend to care about, but running was the only thing Sera could do with her frail body, and she muttered a soft 'sorry' as she entered the dark woods and strayed away from the path to avoid being followed.

The tree branches didn’t just look sharp, they prick and scratch harshly too. She tried her best to sweep away the low-grown braches and cobwebs, but there’s only much she can do.

Sera quickened her pace when two hounds followed her trail after noticing her escape. She continued to dash away from the horrific scene without even thinking of slowing down, or else she’d be dead meat too. She felt bad for running away on her own, but staying there won't be of any help either. She’d just be stocked up to the pile of dead bodies.

The forest was endless and she didn't know where to go, but getting lost was the least of her worries. She turned and detoured around, and even left fake trails to mislead the hounds behind her, but they seemed unfazed and their eyes are completely locked to her to the point that she even felt their gazes on her spine.

There’s got to be a way to lose them.

Sticks were scattered on the ground, but none looked tough enough to resist the force of the hounds’ jaws. She doubts that rocks would even work against them. They practically have a strong build like steel.

Just then, she saw a slight clearing ahead, and there stood a familiar figure with a laid-back posture.

"Psst, over here!" the girl from earlier waved at her while leaning on a tree. Almost as if she’d been waiting for her.

How long had she been in here? How come she came out of that bloodbath, unscathed?

She didn’t have time to ponder on those. The hounds behind her are tailing closer than before. They started to bark and howl while snapping their fangs. Their red eyes started to look angrier, determined to not lose their prey.

“Hey!” Rianne shouted while cupping her mouth with her hands, “need a hand?”

She finally got out of the cramped rows of trees and into the clearing, but she didn’t even think of slowing down, and neither did the hounds chasing her. Sera used her last bit of air to accelerate towards the tree where Rianne was leaning at, and the moment Rianne noticed the girl speeding up to her, she backed away just in time.

Sera ran a few heavy steps on the trunk to flip on her back. She shifted her weight on a foot sole and kicked one hound as she strikes down. She managed to promptly spring on her back and land behind the other hellhound to give it a roundhouse to the abdomen.

Soon after that, Sera’s lungs gave in and she fell to the ground. Her legs were shaking of exhaustion from running a marathon. Her mouth went dry. but she didn’t feel the need to drink water. Even her head went hazy from all that running.

“You okay, hun?” Rianne leaned over to reach out her hand and help her get up, ”Seraphina, right?”

“Yeah,” she lazily said as she took her hand and stand back up to her feet. She was still a little out of breath, but she didn’t want to take her time lying down the dirt.

“Did you get followed too?” Sera managed to ask her.

“Apparently, but I can take care of one pup.”

Is she a fighter? She looks a little petite with a fragile build.

She looked ahead to see her fur jacket hung up to one of the trees. It would indeed be a nuisance to run through the woods while wearing that.

No matter how hard Sera looked, Rianne appears to be your typical pretty rich girl who hates to do anything that might chip her nails. She wouldn’t survive even if a little pup chased her here. Either way, what matters now is how they’d get out of the forest

“That’s two hounds down,” Sera muttered to herself.

“And a hundred to go,” Rianne added, giving her an innocent smile, “or not?”

Sera raised a brow at her, when mighty paws pushed her torso and eventually pinned her to the ground. It happened so fast that Sera almost didn’t have time to react. She managed to get a hold of a random branch on the ground and gagged it to the hound’s mouth that was inches away from her face. Its eyes glowed with the same bright color of red that almost illuminated the unlit forest.

“He wasn’t dead! Just kinda hurt from your kick, I guess?” Rianne said from behind the hound in front of me.

“Well, would it be a bother if you lend me a hand over here?” Sera shouted over the hound’s clamorous growls. She tried to kick it below, but it seemed like its body got harder than when she kicked him before. The beast didn’t even flinch no matter how hard she resisted. What’s worse is she could hear the cracking of the branch, the only boundary between her and the hound.

What’s the point of even asking Rianne for help, when she can’t even swing a hand to a pup?

Sera closed her eyes as she felt the thick branch slowly snapping. The hellhound’s breath came closer and closer until she could smell the awful stench of decay.

Wait...

Sera slowly opened her eyes to see what has happened. The hellhound’s breath on her face suddenly ceased, and its persistent force on her weakened, until its body slammed on the ground beside her. Her gaze flew up to Rianne in front of her, raising a bloody silver dagger.