hey were not ready. None of them knew what
creatures lay in wait outside the locked entrance of the tunnel, and they didn't want to. Nate grabbed one of the lanterns that had been put on the floor while the door was unbolted and Ryan grabbed the other. Outside would be pitch black, that was one thing they were positive of. The sun hadn't risen since the day Damien was freed from his underground prison two hundred years ago. It was like the darkness that replaced Damien's soul had taken over the earth, keeping out everything, and nothing, not even the light from the sun, could break through.
They expected something bad but when they stepped out from the safety of the tunnel, what they saw, not even they could imagine. How could the creatures have left the place like this? That was the question all three of them asked themselves.
The entrance of the tunnel had been in the centre of a huge forest but where they stood now looked less like a forest and more like a battle ground. Those that had managed to return to the tunnel after going out never lived long enough to say what they saw. Their injuries were too serious to treat with the little medical equipment the humans still owned. Even if they had survived, they wouldn't have wanted to say anything about outside.
There were very few places where the floor was actually visible. Bodies covered every inch of the floor, or what had been the floor, ashes from the trees that had been burnt to the ground acted like there funeral pyre. Scarlet, Nate and Ryan could hardly see in the darkness but the smell that hit them was overpowering.
Death, decay and danger.
Scarlet didn't understand how a place could smell of danger but this place reeked of it. Only a year had passed since Scarlet had been outside but so much had changed. The memories of her childhood played back in her head. Back when her parents were alive things were safer. Scarlet's mother was a witch who could control the elements and was the most powerful person down in the tunnel. She'd cast a spell that shielded the tunnel and as far around it as she could. No monsters could break through this shield and it was safe to go outside.
The sound of branches snapping under heavy feet as she ran in circles, just happy to be outside, replayed in Scarlet's mind. She used to beg her mother to manipulate the air for just a minute so she could breathe fresh air. It was exhausting for her mother but she always gave in.
While breathing in the fresh air Scarlet would close her eyes and imagine how beautiful it must have been out there when the sun was shining through the leaves, when things were still growing, before the chaos began. She couldn't do that anymore. The thought of anything being beautiful seemed ridiculous now she was older and the madness in the world was all too real for her. After all, how could anything be beautiful when the world only held misery and pain? Even with this thought she still couldn't believe the place was so different.
There were bodies surrounding Scarlet's feet. Yet more victims of Damien's hatred for the world. As Scarlet thought this, something moved on the floor. One of the bodies, he was alive.
"Sir," Scarlet exclaimed, "Sir, are you okay? Can you speak to me?"
She dropped to her knees to get a closer look at him. Nate and Ryan bent down with the lanterns to give Scarlet more light. He had been shot in the stomach and had lost too much blood. There was no way this man was going to live, but Scarlet had to try. She wouldn't just leave him to die alone, she pressed her hand to the wound to try and stop the bleeding. Warm blood oozed from between her fingers until her hands were completely covered. She had tried saving so many people before and was used to the sight of the blood but the feeling of terror she got from knowing the person could not be saved was always there. Who would be next to die at the hands of the beast?
"Can you tell me what did this to you?"
The man tried to talk. "It...It was the...the keeper," he stuttered.
A keeper is a person, or in this case a monster, that protects someone of importance. Damien was the only one left with a keeper and that monster was not something you wanted to fight against. Scarlet knew.
"It ch...chased m...m...me. I knew there was n...no w...way I was going to l...live b...but I w...wanted to see it one l...last t...time," his voice was weak as he spoke.
"To see what? Can we help?" Scarlet didn't care what this man wanted, if she could do anything for him she would.
"Th...the tree b...behind you. I...I was so c...close. M...my Sophia carved h...her i...initial into i...it. I just w...wanted to s...see it, to f...feel close to h...her one l...last t...time."
She looked. Behind them, they could just make out a large tree. It was dead, like it had been trapped in an endless winter just like all the others in Scarlet's memory, but it was the only one left that they could see. The man had given up all hope but to see that initial one last time. It was such a simple wish, Scarlet had to grant it.
"Nate, Ryan, can you lift this man and carry him to the tree?"
Nate and Ryan lifted the man, holding him up by his arms and started to walk slowly towards the tree, trying to cause the man as little pain as possible. As they reached it, they placed his feet on the ground but still held him up in front of the letter 'S' that had been carefully carved into the bark.
"Sophia," the man whispered weakly, trying to reach out and touch the wood. He looked at Nate and Ryan. "Can you sit me up against the tree please?"
They did as he said, placing him on the floor with his back against the tree trunk.
"Thank you," he said slowly, "Thank you all."
Those were the last words the man spoke but he died with a content smile on his face. Scarlet couldn't help but feel a little sad. She wasn't as strong as everyone believed her to be.
"Are you okay?" asked Nate, noticing her staring at the body.
"We didn't even know his name," she whispered.
There was a moment of silence and all three realised they had just watched a man die and didn't even think to ask his name or if he had anyone they could say goodbye to for him.
"He said the keeper did this to him," Scarlet said, breaking the silence. "If it left without making sure he was dead Damien must have called him back for something. The wound was fairly new it couldn't have got far, if we hurry we can catch up. We're going to have to kill him if we want to get anywhere near Damien."
Scarlet felt terrible saying this but they had to stop Damien, it was what they were there to do and they couldn't forget that.
"Let's go," she said walking away from the tree and back to the entrance of the tunnel where they had left their bags of supplies when they helped the man. She picked them up as she wiped the blood off her hands on an old rag she had in her pocket.
"Things are going to get worse before they get better."
With that thought, they set off on the journey that could change the world. If only Scarlet had known how right she was.
3
Decision