Chapter 14
Morning had barely settled over the village when Elifero stormed out of the house, his footsteps striking the ground with enough force to betray his irritation. His face was twisted into a scowl, and the expression made one thing abundantly clear: he wanted nothing to do with anyone that morning, especially the two voices chasing after him.
"You started it!"
"No, I didn't! You did!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
Behind him, his twin sisters, Bloom and Raim, were at it again. Their accusations overlapped so rapidly that it was becoming impossible to tell who had started the argument or what they were even arguing about anymore. Whatever the original disagreement had been, neither girl seemed particularly interested in remembering it. They were far too occupied with proving the other wrong.
Elifero, meanwhile, had no interest in hearing another word of it. He quickened his pace, hoping that if he walked far enough, the twins might finally give him some peace. Unfortunately, their mother was still standing near the doorway, watching the three children with the exhausted patience of someone who had witnessed this exact scene countless times before. After enduring several more seconds of their bickering, she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.
"Elifero."
He stopped, though the tension in his shoulders made it clear he had no intention of turning around willingly. He already knew what was coming, and a quiet sigh escaped him as his shoulders sank.
"Please," his mother said, her voice gentle but firm. "Let them come with you today."
Elifero turned around at once, his scowl deepening. "I said no."
Bloom and Raim immediately stopped arguing, both seizing the opportunity to protest.
"They'll just get in the way," Elifero added.
One twin puffed out her cheeks indignantly while the other folded her arms across her chest, each looking equally offended by the accusation.
"We won't!"
"You always say that," Elifero shot back.
"We can keep up!"
He narrowed his eyes at them. "No, you can't."
Their protests resumed almost immediately, with both girls insisting they were perfectly capable of accompanying him. Their mother sighed again, clearly aware that this argument was going nowhere. Elifero, however, had already made up his mind. Before she could try to persuade him further, he turned away and continued down the path.
"Elifero!"
He ignored her and kept walking.
"Don't come home late!"
He lifted one hand without looking back, giving the smallest acknowledgment that he had heard her before disappearing farther into the village.
Elifero knew exactly where he was going. Beyond the familiar homes and winding paths lay the forest, a place every child in the village had been warned to avoid. The adults had repeated the rule so often that most children could recite it in their sleep: Do not enter. No wandering among the trees, no playing in the undergrowth, no exploring out of curiosity, and absolutely no crossing into the forest without permission.
Naturally, some of the children had found their way inside anyway.
Elifero had never understood why the adults made such a fuss about it. As far as he was concerned, a forest was a forest. It had trees, bushes, animals, mud, and the occasional patch of ground that made walking inconvenient. None of those things struck him as particularly terrifying. Besides, the children had discovered something hidden among the trees that the adults knew nothing about: their own secret hideout.
It lay deep enough in the forest that anyone unfamiliar with the surrounding paths could easily pass by without noticing it. Thick vines wound around the nearby trunks, while enormous, twisted roots protruded from the earth like crooked fingers. Beyond that tangled natural barrier sat a small clearing the children had claimed as their own, a secluded little world where their imaginations could run wild without adults constantly telling them what they could or couldn't do.
Elifero pushed through the final curtain of leaves and stepped into the clearing.
"Guys! I'm here!"
His voice travelled through the hideout, echoing briefly among the trees before fading into silence. He waited, expecting someone to shout back or emerge from behind the roots, but nothing happened. Frowning, he glanced around the clearing.
"Guys?"
Still no answer.
Elifero shifted his gaze toward the hideout, wondering whether everyone had decided not to come that day. He was about to call out again when a voice suddenly rang from above.
"Look upwards, citizen, and be amazed!"
Elifero froze. Slowly, he raised his head.
Standing proudly atop the hideout was Keith, wearing a cape that fluttered weakly in the breeze. A pair of shades concealed his eyes, and one hand rested dramatically against his waist while the other pointed toward the distant horizon. At least, Elifero assumed Keith was looking dramatically into the distance. With those shades covering half his expression, it was difficult to tell whether he was attempting to look heroic or simply trying to avoid eye contact.
Keith lifted his chin, holding the pose as though he were awaiting applause.
For several seconds, the boys stared at each other.
Then Elifero burst out laughing.
Keith's heroic expression collapsed almost instantly. "What's so funny?"
Elifero tried to answer, but another laugh escaped him before he could get the words out. He pointed toward his friend, struggling to speak through his amusement.
"You—you look ridiculous!"
Keith slowly lowered his outstretched arm, his pride visibly wounded. "You laugh now," he muttered, adjusting his shades, "but one day you'll regret it."
That only made Elifero laugh harder. Keith eventually climbed down from the hideout, grumbling under his breath about people who couldn't appreciate greatness. Once Elifero had recovered enough to speak properly, he wiped the corner of his eye and glanced around the empty clearing again.
"Where's everyone else?"
"Busy."
"All of them?"
Keith shrugged. "Apparently."
Elifero looked around once more, taking in the deserted hideout. It was disappointing, certainly, but not nearly enough to ruin his day.
"Oh."
With no one else to join them, the two boys decided to play anyway. They became warriors, explorers, villains, and kings, changing roles whenever one of them came up with a better idea. A fallen branch became a sword, while a raised root served as the wall of an imaginary fortress. One moment Keith was defending his kingdom from destruction; the next, Elifero had somehow become the villain responsible for bringing it to ruin.
"No! You can't do that!" Keith protested as Elifero charged at his imaginary fortress.
"I just did."
"That's cheating!"
"How?"
"Because I said so!"
Elifero laughed and charged again, refusing to accept Keith's increasingly questionable rules. Their game descended into another argument, followed by a burst of laughter, and before long, both boys were sprawled on the ground, exhausted from running around and laughing at things neither of them would probably find funny the following day.
Keith eventually turned his head toward Elifero, a familiar mischievous glint returning to his expression.
"So..."
Elifero recognized that tone immediately. "What?"
"Bloom and Raim."
His expression hardened. "No."
"I haven't even asked anything."
"You were going to."
Keith grinned, clearly pleased that he hadn't needed to finish the question for Elifero to understand him.
"Are they—"
"They're not for grabs."
Keith stared at him for a moment before shrugging. "Worth asking."
Elifero shoved him, and Keith burst out laughing. Their argument lasted only a few seconds before it dissolved into another bout of teasing. Eventually, however, even their enthusiasm began to run out. They picked themselves up and wandered farther through the forest until they reached another place they often visited: the forbidden garden.
Neither boy knew who had given it that name. Perhaps it had simply stuck because it sounded mysterious, or perhaps the name had something to do with the adults' insistence that the children stay away from the forest. Whatever the reason, the garden had become one of their favourite places, and its strange beauty never seemed to grow old.
Tall, pale flowers covered the clearing in clusters, their delicate petals swaying whenever a breeze passed through them. At the centre stood an enormous tree whose thick roots rose above the earth in twisting formations before disappearing beneath the soil again. Its trunk was so wide that several children standing together would have struggled to wrap their arms around it, while its sprawling branches stretched far enough to form a natural canopy over much of the garden. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting shifting patterns across the grass and pale blossoms below.
Elifero dropped beneath the tree's shade, and Keith followed suit. After spending most of the morning running around, neither boy had much interest in doing anything else. They settled against the exposed roots, allowing the warmth of the sunlight and the gentle breeze to wash over them.
"This is nice," Elifero murmured, folding his arms behind his head.
Keith responded with a lazy grunt of agreement.
For all the warnings the adults had given them about the forest, Elifero still couldn't understand what was supposed to be frightening about this place. If anything, the garden was beautiful—strangely, almost impossibly beautiful. The pale flowers swayed around them, their sweet fragrance mingling with the earthy scent of soil and bark, while birds called from somewhere beyond the clearing. The gentle sounds of the forest blended into a peaceful background that made it easy to forget the village and its rules.
Elifero's eyelids gradually grew heavier. Keith had already fallen quiet, and neither boy seemed inclined to break the comfortable silence. The sunlight warmed the grass beneath them, the breeze whispered through the leaves overhead, and before long, both had drifted into sleep.
Time slipped by unnoticed.
When Keith finally stirred, the morning had nearly given way to noon. He sat up, stretched his arms above his head, and brushed the grass from his clothes.
"I'll be visiting relatives tomorrow."
Elifero opened one eye. "Okay."
Keith stood and dusted himself off. "Tell your sisters I said hi."
Elifero immediately closed his eye again. "I won't."
Keith grinned down at him. "You're a terrible friend."
"And you're annoying."
"Same thing."
Eventually, Elifero got to his feet as well. The two boys left the garden behind, crossed through the forest, and headed back toward the village. Neither paid much attention to the pale flowers, the enormous tree, or the question of why that particular part of the forest had been forbidden in the first place. To them, it was simply another place to play, rest, and escape the ordinary routines of village life.
The following day, Elifero returned to the hideout expecting to hear the other children long before he reached the clearing. Usually, their voices carried through the trees, giving away their presence before he even pushed through the surrounding foliage. This time, however, he heard nothing. When he stepped into the clearing, he found the hideout deserted.
No Keith. No other children. Just silence.
Elifero stared at the empty space, his disappointment settling into a frown.
"Seriously?"
He waited for several seconds, half expecting Keith to leap from behind a tree wearing another ridiculous costume. When nothing happened, he sighed. He could have turned around and gone home, but after walking all that way, he wasn't particularly interested in heading straight back.
Instead, he wandered deeper into the forest, following the familiar route toward the forbidden garden.
The enormous tree soon emerged between the surrounding trunks, its sprawling branches visible above the other vegetation. Elifero stepped into the clearing and paused, looking around. Without the other children chattering and running between the flowers, the garden seemed different. The silence made it feel larger, and the space beneath the tree's canopy appeared almost untouched by the world beyond it.
He approached the tree and lowered himself onto one of its exposed roots, letting his gaze wander across the pale flowers.
"This place really is amazing," he whispered.
As he studied the blossoms, he began imagining Bloom and Raim running between them, arguing over which flowers were prettier and who deserved to keep the best ones. A small pang of guilt tugged at him as he remembered how impatiently he had treated them that morning. He hadn't exactly been kind to his sisters, and perhaps bringing them somewhere beautiful would be a decent way to make up for it.
"I should bring Bloom and Raim tomorrow."
He glanced at the flowers again, and another thought occurred to him.
"Before I forget..."
Elifero pushed himself to his feet and wandered among the blossoms, carefully selecting several of the nicest ones he could find. Flowers weren't exactly the greatest apology in the world, but they were better than nothing. Besides, he could already imagine the twins fighting over who had received the prettier bouquet, and the thought brought a small smile to his face.
There was no particular hurry to return home yet. At least, that was what Elifero told himself as he settled against the tree once more, the flowers resting beside him. The afternoon warmth seeped into his limbs while sunlight flickered through the canopy overhead. He closed his eyes, intending to rest for only a little while.
Just a little while.
When he opened them again, something had changed.
The sunlight filtering through the branches had weakened considerably. Elifero blinked several times, still disoriented from his nap, before looking toward the gaps in the canopy. His stomach dropped as he realized how far the sun had descended toward the horizon.
"Oh, no."
He scrambled to his feet, suddenly remembering his mother's warning.
Don't come home late.
"I'm dead."
Elifero hurried toward the flowers, quickly gathering several of the nicest blossoms he could find and holding their delicate stems together in one hand. At least he would have something to give Bloom and Raim. Perhaps the gift might distract his mother from the fact that he had stayed out so long.
Probably not.
But he could hope.
Clutching the flowers, he hurried out of the garden and made his way through the forest. Their pale petals bounced gently with each hurried step, and for a while, everything seemed perfectly ordinary. The familiar trees stood along the path, the undergrowth brushed against his legs, and the fading daylight still provided enough illumination for him to find his way.
Then he noticed a faint light between his fingers.
Elifero slowed and looked down.
The flowers were glowing.
He stopped walking, raising his hand closer to his face as the pale petals emitted a strange, delicate radiance. At first, the light was so faint that it was almost indistinguishable from the remaining daylight, but as he watched, it became easier to see. The glow carried a peculiar hue he couldn't quite describe—not white, not blue, and not anything he could immediately compare with another colour.
"Huh..."
He turned the flowers slightly, studying the light as it shimmered across the petals.
"Weird."
Elifero stared for another moment before shrugging. The blossoms had come from the forbidden garden, and the place was already strange enough without him questioning every unusual thing he encountered there. Perhaps the flowers simply glowed sometimes. He had no explanation for it, but he wasn't particularly interested in standing around until he found one.
"Whatever."
He lowered his hand and continued walking.
A few minutes later, however, another peculiar change caught his attention. The air felt different. Elifero slowed, frowning as he drew a breath. The atmosphere seemed heavier than before, and the warmth that had followed him through the forest was gradually giving way to an uncomfortable chill. It crept across his skin, raising goosebumps along his arms.
He rubbed one arm and glanced around.
"Why did it get so cold?"
The forest offered no answer. Elifero continued along the path, but the uneasy feeling refused to leave him. Something else was wrong, too, though it took him a moment to identify it.
The forest had gone quiet.
The birds that had called from the branches earlier were nowhere to be heard. There was no chirping, no fluttering of wings, and no movement among the leaves beyond the occasional rustle caused by his own passage. Even the insects seemed to have vanished. With the familiar sounds gone, his footsteps rang unnaturally loudly against the forest floor.
It's getting late. That's all.
He tightened his grip on the flowers and tried to convince himself that the silence was nothing to worry about. The forest would naturally become quieter as evening approached, wouldn't it? Perhaps the animals were retreating to their nests, just as he was supposed to be returning home. There was no reason to become frightened over something so ordinary.
Then a strange smell reached him.
Elifero stopped, wrinkling his nose as he drew a cautious breath. The scent was metallic and heavy, with a wet, unpleasant quality that made his stomach tighten. He couldn't immediately identify it, but it was strong enough to make him hesitate before taking another breath.
"What is that?"
He tried again, and this time the smell seemed even more pronounced. It clung to the air like something rotten, though there was something unmistakably metallic beneath it.
Blood.
Elifero's expression changed. His steps slowed as he moved forward, following the path while the smell grew stronger around him.
Did something die here?
It was a reasonable explanation. Animals died in forests all the time, and there was nothing unusual about that. Still, the thought offered little comfort. The air felt colder with every step, the silence pressed against his ears, and the flowers in his hand seemed to shine more brightly than before.
Elifero suddenly wanted to be home.
A faint rustling came from the bushes ahead.
He stopped.
The flowers brightened in his grasp, their glow intensifying until the pale petals seemed almost to pulse with light. Elifero looked down at them, his fingers tightening around the stems as he watched the strange radiance flicker.
Once.
Then again.
He swallowed.
"That's... creepy."
A nervous laugh escaped him, sounding feeble even to his own ears. He waited for something to emerge from the bushes, but nothing moved. Perhaps it was simply an animal—a rabbit, maybe, or another deer passing through the undergrowth. He had no reason to assume otherwise.
Elifero took another step.
The bushes rustled again, but this time the sound was accompanied by something heavier, something that seemed to drag through the undergrowth with a damp, unpleasant scrape. His nervous smile disappeared. He stood still, listening, while every instinct urged him to walk around the bushes and continue home.
Instead, curiosity drew him closer.
He approached slowly and reached out, his fingers trembling slightly as he pushed the leaves aside. Something wet smeared across his palm.
Elifero jerked his hand backward.
"What...?"
Red coated his skin.
For several seconds, he could only stare at his palm, unable to make sense of what he was seeing. The metallic smell suddenly seemed much stronger, and his stomach twisted as the realization began to take shape.
Blood.
He turned his hand over, searching for a cut. Perhaps he had scratched himself while picking the flowers, or one of the stems had sliced his skin without him noticing.
"Did I get scratched earlier?"
He examined his palm more closely.
"Yeah..."
Elifero wiped the blood against his shirt, trying to dismiss the unease rising in his chest.
"Probably."
But when he looked again, he couldn't find a wound. There was no cut, no torn skin, nothing that could explain the blood covering his hand. His breathing grew shallow as he stared at his palm, the silence around him becoming increasingly oppressive.
It's fine.
There had to be an explanation. There always was.
Slowly, he reached toward the bushes again. His fingers trembled as he parted the leaves, revealing what lay beyond them.
And then he saw it.
A deer lay sprawled across the forest floor, its body horribly torn open. The wounds were too large and ragged to have come from a simple fall, and blood had soaked into the earth beneath it, staining the soil a dark, unnatural red. The metallic stench overwhelmed him as he took in the scene, and the deer's open eyes stared blankly into nothingness.
Elifero stumbled backward, his heel catching against a root.
"What... did that?"
Before he could make sense of what he was seeing, a faint movement caught his attention. It hadn't come from the deer.
It had come from beside it.
Elifero slowly raised his eyes.
Something stood partially concealed beyond the dead animal. At first, his mind struggled to comprehend the shape before him. It was tall—far taller than anything he expected to find standing in the forest—and its body seemed bent at an unnatural angle, as though its bones had been assembled incorrectly beneath its flesh.
Elifero couldn't move.
The flowers in his hand glowed more intensely, their strange light spilling across his trembling fingers and illuminating the ground around him. The creature shifted, and the movement was enough to make his heart slam against his ribs.
Then it turned toward him.
Elifero's breath stopped.
For one terrible moment, neither moved. He couldn't understand what he was looking at, and nothing in his young life had prepared him for the sight. It wasn't anything Pedro had ever described in his stories, nor anything from the tales told around the village. It wasn't something Elifero believed should exist at all.
His mind struggled to find an explanation, but his body had already reached its own conclusion.
Run.
Elifero stumbled backward, his foot slipping beneath him. He crashed to the ground and threw out one hand to break his fall, scraping his palm violently against a jagged rock. Pain shot up his arm.
"Agh!"
The flowers nearly slipped from his other hand, but he barely noticed. He scrambled upright, forcing his legs to move despite the terror threatening to overwhelm him.
Then he ran.
Branches whipped across his face and arms as he plunged through the undergrowth. Roots rose beneath his feet, threatening to trip him whenever he stumbled, and his knees scraped against bark and stone, but he refused to stop. He didn't look back. He couldn't bring himself to find out whether the creature was following him, because the possibility alone was enough to drive him faster.
His lungs burned with every breath, and his heart hammered so violently that it seemed ready to burst through his chest. Each sound behind him became another set of footsteps; every snapping branch sounded like the creature closing in. The forest that had seemed so familiar only moments earlier had transformed into a maze of shadows and obstacles, and Elifero could think of only one thing.
Faster.
He ran harder. Faster. He didn't know whether the creature was chasing him. He didn't know what it was or why it had killed the deer. He didn't even know whether he was running in the right direction anymore.
He only knew that he wanted to get home. His mother, Bloom, Raim and the village. Anything familiar. Anything safe. Then, between the trees, he saw light.
Elifero's eyes widened as the distant lights of the village shimmered through the darkness. Relief surged through him, giving his exhausted legs a final burst of strength. He raced toward them without slowing, desperate to put as much distance as possible between himself and the thing he had seen in the forest.
Behind him, the forbidden woods disappeared into shadow.
And for the first time in his life, Elifero understood why some places were forbidden.