NOCTEM

mist wraith

In the heart of a sprawling jungle located on the eastern side of the ivonriel continent, the eerie stillness of the tranquil forest was shattered by the frantic rustling of leaves, followed by a torrent of footsteps.

The forest— an ominous expanse of emerald foliage, which stood unnervingly still and bereft of life was now disturbed by distant chatters, which only served to aggro the nature's woodland as a palpable intent of malevolence washed over the entire forest.

And in the confines of the tranquil woodland, a young boy could be seen running for his life, His face contoured into a pained grimace whilst he tightly clutched his bleeding hand.

His clothes hung in tatters, clinging to his sweat-drenched body, while his breath escaped his lips in ragged, shallow bursts.

The sounds of his labored breathing were muffled by the exquisite dagger firmly placed between his lips, his eyelids threatening to shut themselves, indicating that the child was at his limit.

Yet he never slowed down, not for a second even as jagged branches clawed at him or tree trunks bruised his sides.

The strange forest was unforgiving and intensely lethal making his already perilous journey even more hazardous.

From time to time, a few stray vines would try to wrap themselves around him but he would cut through them using nothing but his dagger and sheer force, straining his slim muscles to the extreme.

The forest itself seemed alive, like an enormous abomination waiting patiently for its prey to come to it. This realization made the kid shudder but his mind was quickly drawn away from that thought as he heard sounds behind him, signifying that his hunters were nearby.

"Capture the kid... don't let him escape." one of them yelled.

Fear surged through his veins, quickening his already frantic pace.

His heart thumped loudly and the rate of its beating quickened up, like a prey about to be caught by its predator, his instincts kicked in, releasing adrenaline which surged throughout his entire body.

The desire to flee was the only thing on his mind, constantly fueling him and propelling him forward, as long as he escaped, nothing else mattered.

Nox... Run, you have to escape, you can't let yourself get caught... Please, do not end up like... Irene.. you must survive, no matter what.!

These words continually echoed in his mind, like a chant, it repeated itself, a stark reminder that his priority was to flee, to escape alive from the dreadful hands of his pursuers who massacred his pack.

'... Can't.. get... Caught! I.. have to ... run faster.' He repeated inwardly.

It was as if his mind was locked in a loop, as his muffled thoughts became frenzied.

It felt like he was going insane, like clutching onto those words was going to do him any good in his present predicament. His internal mumbling increased and like a plague, it escalated within his mind which was on the verge of collapse.

Drowned in a sea of the repetitive thoughts, he momentarily lost focus on his location yet the realization only lasted a second before a dart-like bullet whooshed past him only missing its target by a breath's inch.

Stunned, the child's foot tripped over a stray vine and then, his body involuntarily began its descent down the slope– like terrain of that location of the forest, rolling down the steep hill like a ragdoll.

A pained grimace marred his face as rocks tore at his flesh, accompanied by the sound of snapping twigs beneath his tumbling body.

Each impact brought with it a fresh burst of pain.

This went on for several minutes until, with a sickening thud, his fall abruptly came to an end.

He had veered off the steep terrain of the forest and had landed in another section of the greenland, letting out a pained cry as his body connected to the uneven ground of the forest.

The frail body of the child bounced off the ground like weightless latex, spinning a few more times before finally stopping.

—Keuk!!..

Blood splattered from his mouth and his nostrils whilst he lay unmoving like a lifeless corpse in a pool of his own blood, his tired eyes blinked slowly, as though he was going to pass out at any given moment, yet he didn't.

For a moment, silence reclaimed the strange jungle.. but it was short-lived as a heavy groan resounded like a pained wail in the eerie silence of the malevolent forest.

He struggled to stand up, supporting himself with a nearby tree while taking in quick, shallow breaths.

His body was in a pitiful state, his ribs had been broken severely and his left hand was completely out of place, his legs seemed like they were going to give out under the faintest strain.

He was limping, every movement was torture, yet the pain from his damaged body did nothing to stop him from moving.

Honestly it was baffling —A body severely damaged littered with life threatening injuries —Both internally and externally which should have rendered him immobile for a couple of days to say the least, was moving across the deadly interiors of the forest, navigating its harsh environment while using the trees as a support to aid his movement.

His pursuers didn't seem like they were going to get to him anytime soon but even that did nothing to quell his unease, rather the unsettling feeling he had since he fell into this section of the forest only seemed to increase the deeper he went.

As he moved forward, that sense of unease continually increased, and it seemed like the adrenaline boost he had from being in danger could only do so little to improve his condition

The forest was serene, a little too quiet, as if inviting him to find solace in the tranquil abode of the inhabitants of the woodlands.

Unknown to the child, he had long gone past the safe zone of this said forest and currently, he was within the death zone of the forest, a place where only a few said entities had managed to survive, while keeping their sense of reasoning intact.

He winced in pain as he took a few more steps forward, after several minutes of movement, his battered body had finally given up.

His trembling body fell to the ground with a loud thud, despite that he tried to stand up again but he still plummeted to the ground. This went on for several minutes before he completely abandoned the idea of walking, clearly that wasn't getting him anywhere, instead he decided to crawl, sinking his fingers into the damp wet soil of the jungle, tirelessly dragging his mangled body across it.

A disturbing memory flashed into his mind, one painted with crimson, the blood of his people being spilled like liquid wine, turning their once joyous village into a graveyard for his peers.

'i can't... stop ..here.... mother... Father..., I'm tired... I'm really tired, how do you expect me to go on ... Without you here? Just how.. am I supposed to.. live now?'

While the child thought to himself with a silent whimper, succumbing to despair from the fact that his parents were really gone, an eerie voice answered.

Its voice low and serpentine, like the hiss of a mist as it spoke.

"How bland... You thirst for revenge yet you wallow in despair, a truly pathetic existence despite the potential and vast power within that body..."

As soon as the kid heard the voice, he shuddered, His eyes widened in surprise and fright while his lips trembled.

'N..No way... Th.. This voice, it's mine, but why.. is my.. no, what exactly is happening right now?'

He had been so absorbed in his thoughts and the pain from the damage his body sustained that he didn't even have the time to register his surroundings. It was only at this moment that he noticed that the forest was surrounded with a deep fog.

The voice sounded again, this time more audible than the last with malevolence in its tone.

"Your parents are dead, your pack members have been eradicated completely from the face of this world and finally... You, the last of your pack, a weak, pathetic, fragile child with no speciality of your race, it's hard to believe you're not a human but a mixed abomination of two cursed races. So tell me... Nox of the crescent moon pack, what do you intend to do.."

Nox couldn't believe his ears, at first he thought it was just his imagination but hearing the voice for the second time had indeed confirmed it to be true.

"Ah... Did I phrase it wrong? No... Instead of what you intend to do, ...WHAT CAN YOU DO?"

The voice lingered for a split second before speaking once again.

"Shall I tell you?... There's nothing you can do. So just give up right here and die."

"Give... Up?, and die?..." Nox repeated, with a tone laced with malice.

He paused, gritting his teeth until blood began to drip from his mouth.

" Cut the bullshit.. what made you think... that I would give up? I have nothing to lose... Nothing to live for, my parents sacrificed their lives just so I could escape, since they did then I won't die until I kill every single person involved in their murder, no matter what they are, no matter how long it takes I will get rid of them all in the most dreadful way possible."

"Is that so?... That's an interesting logic, but do you think you could even make it to them, do you even think you could get past me? You sure talk big for someone who's about to die."

"I said... It doesn't matter what or who they are, if you're one of them, then I will kill you too."

For a few seconds there was an eerie silence following Nox's proclamation, then a loud vile laughter sounded from nowhere and everywhere at the same time, it felt like a chorus of cacophonous laughs, slightly damaging his soul as an after effect.

At that moment, Nox's face paled slightly as he felt the immediate change in the atmosphere. The air became colder and the winds seemed to slow down while the rustle of the leaves had fallen silent.

Nox couldn't suppress the shivers that followed, somewhere in front of him, the mist swirled, coalescing together and forming a humanoid figure within it.

Frightened, Nox's body went cold, he trembled and a chill spread through him, making his already pale skin, paler.

Before him stood a boy with porcelain-like skin and windswept, messy silver hair crudely tied into a ponytail, a small braid framed the left side of his face, accentuating his long bangs, while his rosy lips and slightly arched eyebrow added a touch of delicate charm to his striking androgynous appearance.

He had a small dotted birthmark far underneath his right eye slightly below his lips but a notable distance from them, as well as another identical birthmark located somewhere within his neck, looking effeminate, overall.

The wraith looked like an exact replica of Nox who was staring from the ground in visible shock. The only difference between them was the fact that Nox had bright green eyes with cat-like slits instead of pupils, which seemed to exclude a feline grace, while the wraith had deep pools of darkness situated where his eyes were supposed to be.

The moment their eyes met, nox flinched and hurriedly shut his eyes, he didn't know why, but his instincts were warning him against gazing into those pools of darkness within the wraith's eyes.

The wraith chuckled, seeing Nox's reaction, then with a voice filled with mockery, he asked.

"What's this?.. scared now aren't you? What's the matter, you can't afford to look me in the eyes?"

Nox couldn't reply or rather his body wasn't able to do anything, it felt like his nerves were shut down, paralyzed by fear.

The voice of the wraith sounded again, this time much more commanding and dreadful.

"Open your eyes..."

"Look at me" it sneered.

Still, Nox refused to do as it said, somehow, he knew that if he were to gaze within those sinister eyes of the wraith, then he was going to perish, and that was something he couldn't afford to happen, not at this moment.. not till he's killed every one of those bastards who took his entire life away from him.

Now he was painfully aware, why the forest had no monsters around this location, why would it? It was already housing a dreadful creature, so what beast would be foolish enough to reside around an apex predator and a nasty one at that?.

The soft whispers soon turned into fierce shouts, growing louder and louder, while alternating between voices that Nox was familiar with.

"OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN THEM, LOOK AT ME! OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES, OPEN YOUR EYES!"

Nox could only let out a weak groan, he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold on to his sanity, his body remained paralyzed, unable to move, yet for some unknown reasons the wraith didn't touch him or attempt anything besides trying to get the effeminate boy to open his eyes.

This went on for several more minutes, with the inhumane shrieks growing louder the more time went by, Nox didn't think he could hold on, in fact it was the desire for his revenge that kept him up till this moment, else he would have already given up .

The continuous shriek of the mist wraith abruptly came to an end as the sounds of approaching footsteps interrupted his hunt.

The wraith stared at the paralyzed Nox before licking its lips.

"You got lucky today, however you're too rare of a prey to just let go... I'll be watching you." It said, before dissolving into the mist.

As soon as the wraith left, the unsettling feeling that lingered, disappeared as well indicating that the wraith was no longer around.

The footsteps became more audible and strangely enough, Nox felt compelled to open his eyes, which he did or at least tried to, but his body refused to listen to him. At best he could only open them slightly enough for him to see a blurry silhouette of a human figure before he finally passed out.