Chapter 18: Promise
After the meal, as conversations slowly died down, a tension settled in. It was time.
Time to go see Lucas.
There were six of us: Janna, Romain, Léonard, Jules, Marie, and me. My former group. The only family Lucas had in this world.
The other six stayed at the camp, silent, waiting for our return.
Romain took the lead and gave a directive in a sharp tone:
— We have a few hours ahead of us. Let's pick up the pace. Let's run a little.
Without a word, we nodded. The atmosphere weighed on us like a shroud. So we ran, the shadows of the trees stretching around us, twisted and threatening under the diffuse glow of a partially veiled moon.
The forest was dense, oppressive. Gnarled roots stretched at our feet as if they were trying to snatch us. Luminescent moss covered the ground, emitting a faint, unreal glow. Here and there, bioluminescent mushrooms pulsed faintly, seeming to breathe at the same rhythm as the night itself.
On our path, we saw distorted shapes in the darkness: decomposing human corpses, carcasses of indescribable creatures. Some bodies were frozen in strange contortions, their empty sockets fixed on us, as if silently watching our passage. The smell of death hung in the air, rancid and stubborn, but no one slowed down. We had a goal. We had to go see Lucas.
After what seemed like one, maybe two hours, we finally arrived.
And I saw it.