They didn't let go of the trigger until it clicked. Then they reloaded as fast as they could.

  Smoke curled from the barrels of their pistols. The clearing reeked of gunpowder, the echoes of gunfire still bouncing through the trees. Adrian’s chest heaved, his ears ringing with the aftershock.

  The bush they had fired into was ragged, its leaves torn and branches splintered. Beneath it sprawled a boar-like creature, the kind they had hunted before. Its thick hide was punctured in half a dozen places, blood pooling beneath the carcass. For a fleeting moment, the suffocating presence lifted—then returned, heavier than ever.

  Sylmara and Draveth just stared, wide-eyed, frozen in disbelief. Their mouths hung open as they took in the scene. They had known the guns were dangerous, but this… this was something else entirely.

  Sylmara had a gun and even fired it before. But what she saw now wasn’t a weapon—it was devastation in human hands. That boar should have been a brutal fight, the kind of beast that could tear a man apart. Yet here it lay, dead within moments.

  "Wrong target," Alex yelled, "I can still feel it."

  "It was gone for a moment, then it came back. Fuck." Adrian shouted, his eyes scanning the area.

  "Let's get the fuck out of this forest." Alex said, and looked at Sylmara, "What is the next shelter?"

  They were still stunned by what had happened that they didn't even hear them.

  "Sylmara!" Adrian yelled.

  She got startled, "WHAT?"

  "What is the next shelter?"

  "It's a camp."

  Adrian looked thoughtfully for a moment. "That won't work." He paced around them. "How long until we are out of the forest?"

  "A few hours at the least," said Draveth.

  "Fuck," he cursed again. "Let's go."

  They started walking, but Sylmara and Draveth continued to look at them, shocked.

  "MOVE!" Shouted Alex, then they followed.

  For the next few hours, they didn't slow down or stop. They just kept going, but they never let their guard down. Sylmara kept asking them what was wrong; the only thing they answered with was "Everything," and kept moving. Luckily, no other creature found its way near them.

  After six long hours, they finally reached the end of the forest. The last trees stood before them like sentinels, marking the finish line.

  But the feeling still clung to them, crawling under their skin. Adrian and Alex exchanged a glance, then broke into a sprint, desperate to leave the suffocating woods behind. Sylmara and Draveth hesitated only a moment before following close behind.

  A minute or two of full sprinting, and they burst out of the forest. Still, they didn’t stop. Each step carried them farther from the trees, as if the shadows might reach out and drag them back.

  The feeling began to fade the moment they crossed the last tree line, but that wasn’t enough to slow them. Sylmara called out, tried to make them stop, but they weren’t taking any chances.

  Alex let out a loud breath. “Woo! Finally—it’s gone!” he said between gasps.

  Adrian hunched over, hands braced on his knees, panting hard. “I don’t feel it anymore.”

  The two of them kept their weapons close, still wary, but for the first time in days, they felt freed from the presence that had haunted them.

  Sylmara staggered up beside them, trying to catch her breath. “So… no more running?”

  Alex just shrugged his shoulders.

  Adrian still had no idea what the feeling truly was, only that every fiber of his being told him to run. It had started as something faint, almost dreamlike, but over time it sharpened, pressing harder and harder against his nerves until it became a deafening alarm. Every rustle, every shadow seemed ready to lunge at him.

  “Ah… that… forest… is cursed,” Alex said between breaths, then added with a weak chuckle, “And I’m not talking about Veythral.”

  “I’m not setting foot in there again. Fuck that,” Adrian groaned, already sprawled on the ground. After a moment, he added, “At least not anytime soon.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  They stayed there for nearly an hour, catching their breath, trading curses at the woods whenever the silence grew too heavy. Even Sylmara and Draveth, though less vocal, couldn’t fully hide how shaken they were.

  Adrian still felt the forest pressing on his nerves. Too close. Far too close. He urged them forward, quickening his pace, as if distance alone could shake off the shadows clinging to his mind. He didn’t want to set eyes on a tree ever again.

  "Do you have contacts in the closest village?" Adrian asked.

  "No, Korveth is the only one who is in contact with the villages," Sylmara said.

  "Is there a chance we can spend a night or two in one of the villages?"

  "If it was before the Ghast, yeah. Now I can't be sure."

  "Let's try it out. Maybe we get lucky."

  Three hours later, they saw the village on the horizon.

  The night had fallen by the time they reached it. The village was surrounded by tall palisade walls, their sharpened ends jutting upward like a forest of spears.

  It was far larger than Adrian expected. From its size, he guessed more than a thousand people must live there. At least, that’s what it looked like.

  “What’s this village called?” Alex asked.

  “Ashrine,” Draveth replied.

  Alex chuckled. “Ash again. Really creative.”

  They arrived at the gate.

  "Who goes there?" Came a shout from behind the gate.

  "Travelers. Looking for a place to rest."

  "Entry at this close to sundown is forbidden!"

  They looked at each other, shoulders slumped, until Alex suddenly shouted, "We got a gold coin!" Adrian shook his head, chuckling.

  The gate creaked open, and the voice came again. "Dear travelers, welcome to Ashrine!" The guard smiled, holding out his hand expectantly.

  Alex slipped the gold coin into it.

  The guard stared at the gold coin, his expression one of shock.

  The coins they had brought from their world were perfectly shaped, without any markings.

  He bit into it, testing if it was real.

  "It's pure gold!" Alex said, slapping the guard on the shoulder.

  The guard blinked at them for a moment before asking, "Welcome! What can I do for you?"

  "We're looking for a place to stay," Adrian said.

  "Come with me." The guard grinned and started walking toward the village.

  It was already dark, and the village looked almost empty.

  The guard led them to a house and knocked on the door. "Ed, come out!"

  Soon, the door opened, and a young man appeared. "What?"

  "Get these nice folks some bedding!"

  They chatted for a few minutes before going inside. Their room was small, with a bed and some bedding on the floor. Sylmara took the bed, while the others settled on the floor.

  It was the next day, and they were walking around the village.

  The village was different from what he had expected. The one thing that seemed common among the villagers was the fear in their eyes. Almost everyone he saw carried it—fear, panic. And everyone they passed stared at them.

  He also found himself admiring the diverse architecture of the village. It was nothing like he had imagined.

  It looked like a mix of different time periods. Some houses were made of wood and stone, as he had expected, but others were built from brick or even concrete, or something that looked like concrete but was probably not. Some buildings reached two or three stories high. Even the paths winding through the village were varied.

  "Why is everyone on edge?" Adrian asked, curiously glancing around.

  "The Ghast, my best guess. Word must have reached the village already, so they’re afraid," Sylmara replied.

  "Then why is everyone staring at us?" Alex asked, fixing his gaze on a man in the crowd.

  "Same reason, and new faces," Sylmara said.

  "Makes sense," Alex muttered.

  They were heading towards the market to stock up on food.

  The market was not huge, but it was not small either. There were dozens of stalls, selling different things.

  "What's that? Ashfruit?" Asked Adrian as he pointed towards a stall, smirking.

  Sylmara shook her head, "Terofrit, it's a luxury fruit."

  "Is it good?"

  "Never tried it, it's expensive."

  "Sounds tasty," he grinned, and went over to the stall.

  "How much for four of them, good sir!" Adrian asked.

  "Eight silver!" The merchant smiled.

  Adrian had a gut feeling he was getting scammed, though he couldn’t say why. Still, it was a new world, and there were things he wanted to try. Besides, they would be rich in a month or less. They had artifacts to sell. He had even started calling them artifacts himself.

  He reached into his pocket, pulled out eight silver coins, and handed them to the merchant.

  The merchant grinned as he handed over the fruit. Adrian almost reached for his coins to take them back when he noticed the merchant’s reaction. Yep, he definitely got scammed, he thought.

  He shrugged and walked back to the others. Just a few months ago, he was barely surviving in the slums, and now here he was—letting himself get scammed. He chuckled at the thought.

  The fruit he bought was purple, speckled with silver dots. It looked truly otherworldly and smelled sweet. It was slightly bigger than his hand.

  They went into one of the empty corners and tried the fruit.

  "Whoa, this is good!" Alex exclaimed, taking another bite. Sylmara let out a soft “mhm,” tasting it silently but saying nothing more.

  Adrian chuckled at their reactions and took a bite of his own. He almost choked—it tasted divine, custardy, and sweet with a hint of spiciness. He felt a little better for getting scammed after trying it out.

  They continued walking around the village when Alex suddenly said, "What's that?"

  He pointed toward a wall at the end of the town center, covered in what looked like graffiti.

  "Graffiti?" Adrian said.

  "Why is there graffiti in a medieval village?" Alex added.

  "Medieval?" Sylmara repeated, confused.

  "It's something from our hometown," Adrian said quickly.

  He stared at the wall, fascinated. There were flying creatures, painted in a riot of colors, along with trees and what looked like a palisade. There were too many individual paintings to count, but the style reminded him of graffiti.

  One painting caught his attention: a single leaf, jet black, with its veins painted in gold. It was stunningly beautiful.

  They spent the whole day wandering around the village, sampling different foods from the market. Adrian found it fascinating. He even managed to talk to some villagers who didn’t look at them too strangely. He genuinely enjoyed himself.

  They had planned to leave in the morning, but they got too caught up in everything the village had to offer. In the end, they decided to spend one more day exploring and set their departure for the next morning.