Clouds covered the moon the night both groups left the city, making the forest even darker.
Kai led at the front, with Max and the other thirteen soldiers behind him.
"The forest gets extremely dense from this place onward. It's very easy to get lost during the day; at night it is even worse, so let's not go far from each other. I marked some trees with cross cuts to where I followed them to," Max said, pointing toward one of the trees he had marked.
"All right, I'll go ahead alone, eliminate all the guards, and come back," Kai said before taking a step forward, detaching himself from the 'V' formation.
"Hey Kai, if you can't do it, come back, but if you decide to act — never hesitate. Be careful," Max said, giving Kai a high five.
Kai simply nodded and went deep into the forest. He wore the daggers given to him by Gray at his waist and moved skillfully.
His mind reeled on what Gray and his group would be doing at the monster's den.
…
Wind whistled between the trees as Damien flips the lighter. Sparks of fire danced from the tip of the cigarette and into the air as he placed it in his mouth.
The irritating sound of insects and frogs resounded over and over followed by the sound of leaves falling.
'An hour, and then I switch shifts. I just want to fuck that bitch before I sleep,' the man thought, spitting on the ground, smiling.
But then he felt something move behind him.
The insects and the frogs stopped singing, but the leaves continued falling. Damien turned his head swiftly, fingers moving down and reaching for the sword at his waist.
"Who is ther…" he had no chance to finish, not even to react. All that he felt was pain.
His hand slowly rose to his chest, his fingers touching something warm trickling down it, and when he pulled them back, they were stained with vivid red liquid.
Before him were two dual glowing eyes – hovering like those of a ghost, and followed by the silhouette of a child.
Terror consumed Damien entirely. He tried to scream, but the only thing that came out was a bubbling of blood.
He fell to his knees, hands twitching toward the small and terrifying figure. He coughed twice before falling to the ground, eyes still open wide.
The last thing that lingered in his vision before darkness surged in was the child moving toward him, as if wanting to take something from him.
Kai looked at the still body, blood seeping out of the open mouth that should have allowed screams to come out and never did.
He saw the man's white glow dimming, and the vibration reducing. He felt the man's fear like the blood now dripping from his daggers.
"Am I a monster like they say?"
Kai said, looking at the daggers and then at the man's face.
"No. They are the monsters. The bandits feel no remorse in stealing from or killing innocent people. By the marks on his face, I can say he'd killed more than I can count." He looked at the man in the pool of blood for the last time.
"One down," Kai murmured, swinging the weapon and making the blood fall from it. Then he used the grass underneath his boots, wiped it, and disappeared into the forest again.
After several minutes of strolling between the trees, Kai finally found the second guard, leaning against a tree just right in front of him.
He watched the man as he grumbled about how his wife was never satisfied with sex after spending a week at the bandit leader's house as a cleaner.
"I will kill that bastard if I find out he slept with my wife," the man said, slamming his hand on the bark of the tree.
'Does he have a child?' Kai thought, noticing a doll tied to the man's belt.
'I shouldn't lose focus.' He thought, diverting his mind to what he was tasked to do.
This time, he didn't hesitate. He sank the dagger into the back of the bandit's neck, pushing in until the man lost consciousness after a short struggle and slid to the base of the tree, dead.
Kai crouched, cut the cable holding the doll to the belt, and picked it up. For a moment, he pressed his fingers to the rough fabric and closed his eyes.
He thought of his mother briefly, placed the doll beside the corpse, and moved into the bushes again.
"Two down," he said, crouching in the bush, his clothes now stained with blood.
…
Nearing a stream of water, Kai saw his reflection and quickly washed the blood splashes from his face, dipped the daggers in the stream, and wiped them clean.
"Why does everyone have the look of despair when they die? Didn't they also commit evil?" he said, staring at his small face and the eyes that drew everyone's attention the most.
There, he remembered the happy face his mother had when she died. He knew his mother wouldn't have given birth to a monster, and he wasn't a monster. He was just unique.
He looked at his reflection one last time and brushed his hands through his blend of black and blue hair.
"Everything about me is… beautiful, like her."
He turned, heading upward, following the direction the stream came from.
Crashing sounds echoed when he reached the top and entered a hut illuminated by candlelight.
…
Two hours after going deep into the forest alone, Max and the others stood there with worried faces, waiting.
Max wondered if he had really done the right thing by listening to Kai's command, instead of doing what Gray had ordered him to do.
But as he moved two steps forward, a sudden sound came from the direction the boy had taken, which made them all draw their weapons.
Little by little, the sound began to increase, moving toward them at a great speed. Max turned, signaled the two men behind him, and turned back in that direction.
"No matter what comes, don't lose your guard!" he said, tightening his grip on his axe.