Light glinted off the tips of dark fur, while a distinctly intimidating growl echoed through the darkness.
Surrounded by untamed woods, completely swallowed by the night.
Icam stood rigid, his eyes fixed intently on the giant wolf, yet his entire body remained frozen.
Iyas was no different, holding his lantern out in front of him.
Iyas raised an eyebrow, baffled.
"This doesn't exactly look like a missing kid..."
Icam's expression went flat as he turned to Iyas. "You're only realizing that now?"
"I did ask earlier," Iyas answered nonchalantly.
"But I'm not asking anymore," he added, casually swinging his arm along with the lantern.
"Oi, you. Do you know anything about the chess pieces that disappeared in this forest?" Icam asked cockily, apparently under the impression that animals in this world could talk.
The wolf suddenly opened its jaws. "ROAAAGHHH!!" It unleashed a thunderous roar right in their faces.
"You don't wanna tell us, huh? Fine, whatever," Iyas muttered, sounding anything but sincere.
"Don't be mad, hehe," Iyas pleaded, slightly lowering his head with a nervous little chuckle.
The sound. The ground. Their feet pounding against the earth.
Run.
The two of them bolted at full speed the moment Iyas finished speaking.
They fled in another direction, taking a route completely different from the one Alif had gone down alone.
"WOAAAAAGHHHH!!!" cried Icam, the brave and manly warrior. He was already a fair distance ahead of Iyas.
"Aaaahhhh!" Iyas joined in with his own heroic scream.
They kept sprinting, doing everything they could to get away from the bizarre wolf on their tails.
"Oi! You got a plan or what?!" Iyas shouted while running.
"A plan!? This running wasn't even part of the plan!" Icam fired back.
They raced onward, deftly weaving through the trees and making use of the terrain.
"Check if that thing's still after us!" Icam yelled, never slowing down.
Iyas abruptly halted, his feet slipping a little from the sudden stop.
He carefully glanced over his shoulder.
"Oh, yeah. It's still coming after us," Iyas reported calmly.
Icam came to a screeching halt and spun around.
"If you're gonna check, don't stop too!" he complained. "What am I supposed to do if I end up running by myself?" he asked innocently.
Iyas turned toward him. "You shouldn't run while looking backward. You could get hurt," he explained.
The wolf came to a stop as well, silently watching them.
"Well, what can we do? We're already in trouble anyway," Icam said uneasily.
Grrrrr!!
A threatening growl rumbled nearby.
The wolf advanced one step at a time.
Slowly, but ominously.
"Okay! I have a plan!" Icam suddenly announced. "Come on, attack!" he commanded, pointing repeatedly at the strange beast.
Iyas swiftly pulled out the phone that had been sitting in his pocket.
FLASH! FLASH! FLASSSHH!
The phone's flashlight kept flickering rapidly.
The wolf recoiled from the brightness.
"How's that?" Iyas asked smugly, aiming his flashlight straight at it.
Through the chaotic bursts of light, the wolf could still make out Icam standing directly behind Iyas.
Flash. Flash. Flash.
The creature braced its legs, then launched itself forward with startling speed.
Icam: "Huh?"
The wolf pounced straight at Icam, knocking him onto the ground.
Luckily, its teeth caught only Icam's clothes, desperately trying to rip them apart.
Iyas moved closer with his phone flashlight, then added the lantern as well, hoping the double dose of light would make twice the difference.
"Cam, was this part of your plan too?" Iyas asked casually, illuminating the wolf as it continued shredding Icam's clothes.
Iyas flashed an enthusiastic grin.
"Well, actually, this works out pretty well. Thanks to you, it's leaving me alone!"
"Wahhh!! Wahhh!!" Icam screamed repeatedly as the wolf clamped down on his clothes and shook him around like a glow stick.
Iyas froze for a moment.
Then his face lit up.
"Great! Keep holding it, Cam! I'm gonna jump!" Iyas shouted.
Right after those words, the wolf flung Icam off to the left. Icam's clothes were already so wrecked they could barely be called clothes anymore.
Yeah, obviously the poor wolf had lost its grip. No clothes left to bite means no momentum to work with.
With Icam out of the way, Iyas sprang toward the wolf, only for the creature to dodge him with lightning speed.
CRASH!!
Iyas slammed into the ground, landing face-first.
"Ahhh..." he groaned, still clutching both his phone and lantern.
Icam rubbed his head as he slowly got back on his feet, shifting his attention toward Iyas.
The wolf growled angrily and began stalking toward Iyas.
"Duuudududuuhhh, my head... stomach hurts!" Iyas continued whining, apparently either groaning in pain or completely mangling his own words.
Rolling onto his back, Iyas immediately thrust his right hand forward and aimed the phone's flashlight at the wolf.
FLASSSHH!!
"Aughh! Ughhh!" the wolf whined, instantly turning its head away.
Iyas sprang upright, twisted his body, and kicked the wolf straight in the head.
The wolf was knocked back a short distance. Its cry of pain was unmistakable—wolf-like, yet somehow much stranger.
Icam walked over to Iyas. "Well, now you're committing animal abuse. I'm reporting you, you know," he said quietly. "Wahh! That's absolutely brutal! Just like a demon king!" Icam proclaimed, throwing both hands into the air and looking upward dramatically.
Rrrrr!!!!
Another growl came from the wolf.
Icam immediately snapped his attention toward it.
"Huh? It's still alive?"
Iyas shifted his left foot backward, visibly uneasy.
"Why is it angry?"
"Did it get lost too?" he wondered.
"Maybe the wolf isn't covered by animal protection laws because it's still underage," Icam replied on a whim.
"If you're lost, then we're lost too!" Iyas offered, waving his hand forward.
"What are you doing?" Icam asked, watching the strange hand motion.
"AUGHHHH!!!!"
The wolf howled once more, its cry sounding distinctly unlike that of an ordinary wolf.
There had to be some reason it was howling.
"HELP!! HELPPP!! WE'RE OVER HERE!" Iyas called out, cupping a hand around his mouth, apparently assuming the wolf was asking for help too.
Icam kept his eyes on the wolf, wary.
"No, Yas! It's howling because of something!" Icam stated seriously, his gaze locked onto Iyas.
Iyas met his stare. "Like what?"
"Hell if I know," Icam shot back. "Do you think I speak wolf?" he asked sarcastically.
Then came hurried footsteps.
A lot of them.
From their left came a rhythmic series of steps, accompanied by the unmistakable movement of four-legged creatures.
Icam noticed another wolf emerging. "Hey, look!" he exclaimed, pointing.
"What?! Where?! Where!?" Iyas panicked, frantically scanning in every direction.
"Dunno. I told you, I can't speak wolf," Icam answered carelessly, shrugging.
Gggggrrr!!!
Gggrrrr!!
Two wolves now stood before them, slowly closing in while emitting threatening growls.
"Am I forgetting something, or what? Why are there fewer than three wolves?" Icam wondered, his expression oddly contemplative as he rubbed his chin.
Iyas responded in kind,
"Were there three earlier? Then I guess I counted wrong."
There had only been one wolf this whole time.
"What are we supposed to do?" Iyas asked, retreating a step while keeping his eyes on the creatures.
"Meh, there are just fewer than three. It's not fewer than two," Icam said dismissively.
Iyas stopped dead, confused.
"Huh?"
"Oh, right! More is better!" he suddenly realized.
"So what do we do now?" Iyas asked.
Icam spun around and immediately took off, leaving Iyas behind.
He sprinted smoothly and ridiculously fast, without even bothering to glance back.
Iyas could only watch as Icam became smaller in the distance.
Then he turned toward the wolves, looking increasingly nervous.
"Maybe more than three really is better, hehe..." he laughed uncertainly.
Iyas took off in the same direction as Icam.
Except his speed was considerably better.
The wolves gave chase.
Sure, four-legged animals are obviously faster than humans.
Except these two—especially Iyas—were freaking fast.
Every stride carried them farther across the forest floor, slipping between trees as they desperately tried to shake off the wolves.
Icam remained ahead, while Iyas rapidly closed the distance behind him.
Then Icam suddenly stopped.
A steep descent lay before him.
He realized he had reached the hilltop and crossed over to the opposite side. From here, the path went downhill.
Icam glanced behind him while keeping his body pointed forward.
Iyas was catching up, with two wolves right behind him.
"Crap! I forgot I was being chased," Icam complained, clutching his head in shock.
"Wait?!" he suddenly realized, lowering his hands as he turned toward Iyas and the wolves. "How could the future demon king possibly run away!?"
His expression became dead serious.
"I SHOULD'VE KEPT RUNNING!!"
The instant he finished, Iyas shoved Icam.
He went tumbling down the hill.
"Wahh?!"
Icam rolled downhill, though not particularly fast since the slope wasn't all that steep.
Iyas watched him tumble farther and farther.
BANG!
His descent ended when he slammed into a tree, apparently taking most of the impact across his back.
Icam stood upright again, rubbing his aching back.
"Oi! I was trying to get away!" he complained to Iyas, who was still standing above him.
Iyas crouched down, preparing to roll as well, while keeping half an eye on the wolves.
Then he pushed himself forward, throwing his body into motion and letting gravity take over.
He rolled.
And kept rolling.
Icam watched as Iyas came closer and closer.
Rather than choosing a safe spot to stop, Iyas simply continued following Icam down the slope.
Icam: "Huh?"
Icam realized that Iyas was about to crash straight into him.
His phone and lantern were still clutched tightly in his hands.
But it was too late.
Brrruuukk!!
Iyas landed right on top of Icam.
"Oww! I forgot which part was hurting again!" he complained, shoving Iyas aside.
"Hey! My clothes got torn too!" Iyas protested, sharing in the misery.
Iyas turned his attention toward the wolf standing near the boundary between the hilltop and the steep slope.
"Hey, guys! Did you make it?" Alif called out, peering down at his two friends, who had stopped beside a tree.
One of the wolves suddenly turned its head to the left.
There stood Alif, wearing an innocent, curious smile as he casually spoke beside the wolf.
Wolf 1 abruptly swiped at Alif with one of its front paws.
The blow sent Alif tumbling down the slope.
Instead of heading toward Icam and Iyas, he simply kept rolling.
Watching the speed of his descent,
Icam and Iyas exchanged glances.
Then they nodded at each other, as though they had just discovered the greatest solution known to mankind.
Yep.
Roll again.
This time, all the way until the ground flattened out.
THUD!
Alif reached the flat ground first.
But it felt like he had landed on something.
The rumbling sound of rolling was still audible, gradually fading into the distance.
As everything slowed down, Icam immediately got to his feet and looked toward Alif.
Iyas, meanwhile, simply remained sprawled on his back after coming to a stop.
Icam approached Alif, brushing dust from his already-torn and battered clothes.
"Did you guys find the missing kid?" Alif asked, still half-sitting and half-asleep as he looked up at Icam.
Once he finished dusting himself off, Icam spread his hands.
"No, but we found a wolf."
"Wonderful!" Alif answered with a smile.
But then he immediately reached behind himself and picked up whatever he had landed on earlier.
A small axe? A hatchet?
His smile disappeared in an instant.
He held the little axe in his right hand.
"No wonder my landing felt kinda weird," he muttered, staring at the tool before slowly turning his eyes toward Icam.
"What's that?" Icam asked.
"A small axe," Alif replied.
"Wonderful! Amazing! What are we supposed to do with it?" Icam asked.
Iyas rolled onto his stomach and pointed ahead.
"Look. There's a small hole over there."
Alif turned around and finally noticed what Iyas was pointing at.
Icam examined the opening. It was just about the right size for a human.
Especially a child.
Footsteps could now be heard as the two wolves drew closer to the three of them.
Realizing what was happening, Icam urged everyone to move.
"Come on, hurry!!" he ordered firmly.
TO BE CONTINUED?
Whoa, there's a little hole? Right underneath a tree.
It's dark, which means it's probably pretty deep.
I wonder what's inside?
Yeah, I dunno either. I can't read or write.