It was an hour before afternoon, and Zion was busy taking the weeds out. Today, he was more immersed in his work than on any other day.
Even the tiniest of the weeds didn't escape him, and he made sure to pull them all out.
Wiping the sweat with his robe's sleeves, his gaze briefly paused in a particular direction.
Sounds of drums and music could be heard from a distance. It was an afternoon feast precursor to tonight's engagement.
Dressed up in new clothes, many villagers were walking towards the source in the northern direction to celebrate the occasion.
The fields beside Zion were all empty. He was the only one who was attending to his crops as the rest of the villagers were all busy in the celebration.
He had been trying to deny it all this while, but his heart still ached.
His childhood friend, Fana, was getting engaged to someone else tonight. If nothing had gone wrong, then it would be him whom she would be getting engaged to tonight.
Zion took a deep sigh and focused back on his work.
Half an hour passed just like that. A commotion suddenly attracted Zion's attention.
"What's all this noise for? The main event is at night," Zion frowned and looked towards the village's northern gates.
Shouts and screams of villagers, which he had earlier mistaken for cheers, finally made him realise that something wasn't right.
Zion rushed in the direction to check the situation. Soon, he saw a large group of villagers running towards him.
Behind them, several wolves were chasing them.
'Wolves?! How did they even manage to enter so deep? Where are the guards?!' Several questions rang in Zion's mind as his body froze the next moment.
A suppressed memory of a wolf tearing away his left leg and his father rescuing him from it flashed in his mind.
Fear and anxiety prevented his body from acting rationally as he just stood there with horror imprinted on his face.
"Help!" A young woman, seeing Zion standing in the front, shouted for help. Zion was immediately brought out of stupor.
However, before he could do anything, a wolf lying in wait pounced at her from the side. Blood splattered on the ground as the wolf bit into the woman's neck and started devouring, tearing away her flesh.
Seeing the gruesome scene, Zion's expression became pale. The face of the villagers rushing after the young woman turned paler.
The wolves had completely surrounded them, and they had nowhere to escape.
"No!" They cried in horror.
Their path ahead was blocked by a wolf, and behind them, several wolves were rushing after them.
"Help us!" Seeing Zion, who was standing behind the wolf, they pleaded. A part of them hoped that he would act as a bait and distract the wolf so that they could escape.
Zion couldn't care less about their cries. He knew that if he didn't escape now, he would surely die.
As if sensing Zion's intention, they tried to change his mind.
"We have women and children! Help us!"
"Distract the wolf for just a few seconds!"
"I don't want to die…please!"
After being subjected to their collective shunning for so long, such pleas for help brought no trace of sympathy in Zion's heart.
Turning around, he rushed towards the eastern direction, leaving the villagers to deal with their own despair.
"You spineless man!"
"You cripple bastard, I hope you die terribly!"
The curses that were being directed towards him soon became blood-curdling screams as the wolves finally caught up from behind.
Zion was on the move right now.
Thinking of the wolf who had pounced at the woman from the side earlier, he had realised something.
Along with the north, the western side of the village was also compromised, and his only hope for escape was in the eastern direction.
Since most villagers were gathered on the northern side, Zion was able to get enough time.
Soon, he reached the eastern end of the village.
With a spear which he had picked up on the way from a courtyard, he soon entered the forest.
'Just why did such an attack happen?' Zion thought to himself, pushed aside the thick vegetation and walked deeper and deeper into the forest.
As if to answer his question, Zion was suddenly reminded of the conversation he had heard the old men having in the morning.
"Did the hunt fail?" Zion muttered incredulously. This has never happened before.
While hunting a wolf king, it was a given to use the best hunters and completely crush it.
To fail in doing so would invite the wrath of the wolves, whose numbers amounted to several hundreds if not thousands, in this vast forest.
Zion further increased his pace after figuring things out
An hour passed, and he had traversed about ten kilometres deep into the forest. His pace had decreased now, and he was always on alert.
He had encountered several snakes, insects and little animals by now. Luckily, not a single wolf or a similar predator was sighted by him.
Zion still didn't keep his guard down and slowly ventured deeper and deeper into the unknown.
He looked at a cross mark in several nearby trees. It was a mark left by the hunters and served as an indication. An indication that one was about to cross the fifteen kilometres mark.
Zion's heart started beating rapidly, but he kept moving. Going back meant certain death, so he might as well test his fate.
With this mentality, he trudged on.
The chirping of birds and the creaking of the insects reminded him that he wasn't alone in this vast forest and provided a bit of solace.
In the late afternoon, he rested near a tree and ate some fruits and berries he had collected on the way to replenish his energy.
After resting for a few minutes, he got up and continued with his journey.
The thick canopy allowed little light to pass through it, and as time passed, the visibility dipped.
"I'll spend the night here," Zion muttered after finding a suitable spot. He began with his preparations.