《Choices》


 Chapter 1- Different screams

    A scream rose behind Aydin. For some reason, while he was running, he could tell what kind of scream it was.


    He didn¡¯t know why he knew that, or why that information was important to him now. He could tell the gender, approximately its age, or how distant it was to him.


    That was a scream of shock to be discovered by a beast, in this case a Gorf.


    What followed that scream was another scream, which was asking for help.


    How could anyone help that female¡ªbetween twenty and thirty years old, based on what Aydin guessed¡ª¡ªwhile all the capable men were massacred in the village below the castle.


    That scream of hope was produced while she was being mauled by that Gorf.


    Finally, what followed that scream was the scream of resignation. It wasn¡¯t as loud as the other two, it could be said much quieter than them, but it was loud enough to be heard.


    That was what awaited Aydin if he was captured by one of those Gorfs.


    Those bastard of Siaak Army weren¡¯t happy by just killing those peasants, royalties, and lords. No. they set free those trained Gorfs to seek whoever dared to escape their massacre.


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    Aydin, the eleventh child of lord Ashkin and the youngest, who was only ten years old, was running for his life with a heavy cloth that was braided with gold and silver pattern. From the knee below, the cloth was ruined by all those dirty water and mud.


    He didn¡¯t mind that. Actually, he welcomed it.


    It is because while he was catching his breath before resuming his running, he noticed that his cloth was glittering in moonlight. As if, the Gorfs needed more assistance to catch him.


    Another scream rose behind him. This time much closer to where he was running. That was voice of a much younger girl.


    The problem with Gorfs trained by Siaak Army was that they didn¡¯t hunt for eating. They hunt for the thrill of killing. And they hunt in pack. That¡¯s what Aydin knew.


    There were stories told by elders, or begrudged mothers, to young children about the viciousness of those creatures.


    Aydin liked those stories. It was full of excitement, thrill, and adventure.


    Now, not so much. Now that he was running for his life, it didn¡¯t seem fun for a bit at all.


    Aydin heard another victim of Gorfs. It was much closer to him now. Its victim was a younger boy than himself. That one¡¯s scream went straight to resignation scream. He could hear the tearing cloth by Gorf¡¯s teeth, or even worse, when it was shaking his head to get inside its victim faster. Aydin could tell that by the shaking voice of that young boy, or the breaking of twigs or such on the forest floor.


    Aydin was so scared that he didn¡¯t notice that he was running knee-deep in water, and to his horror, it wasn¡¯t even water. It was something between mud and water.


    Tears of fear were running down on his face. Behind him, he heard the noise of breaking twigs again.


    In an act of desperation and resignation, Aydin dove into it.

 Chapter 2-Primal Fear

    When Aydin plunged into the unknown swamp, he neglected to inhale deeply before diving. In his panic, he turned back.


    His heart raced.


    Had the Gorfs discovered him?


    Submerged, his hearing was null; he dared not open his eyes, fearing what might appear. He couldn''t even let out a whimper, afraid it would be too loud.


    All that remained was the trembling lip of a child who longed to cry but was paralyzed by fear.


    In that moment, the humiliation of being mocked by his siblings for wetting his pants became inconsequential, and he relieved himself without a second thought.


    The next thing Aydin realized after leaping into the frigid unknown was the sheer underestimation of its chill.


    He even denied his body the shiver that the biting cold warranted, all due to fear.


    Fear, fear, fear.


    He had been unaware of it until now.


    Certainly, he had experienced it before, whenever his father posed a random question to test if he had studied the politics of the regions for his homework. If he failed, his father would administer the punishment himself. Following the beating with those flexible branches, sometimes drawing blood, his father, panting and sweating from the exertion, would claim it was for his own good, and that one day he would understand.


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    Aydin would meet his father''s gaze with his own sorrowful eyes, aware that his father understood what Aydin was thinking. Yet, his father remained indifferent.


    This fear of punishment was different than this new fear.


    This fear led to absolution. It was profound, governing every bodily mechanism like a tyrant whose sole decree was survival by any means necessary. This could mean holding one''s breath for an unexpectedly long duration, as Aydin discovered he could, or breathing so subtly that the mist from his breath merged seamlessly with the swamp''s fog, not altering its pattern. Remarkably, his body grew warmer in the frigid water, defying the expectation of becoming colder.


    This tyrant fear also ordered if closing eyes mean surviving more, then damn with all that curiosity to see where Gorf was.


    Was it gone to find another prey? Was it sniffing the air to see where his prey disappeared? Or was it approaching to his location?


    Aydin wanted to open his eyes to answer those questions, but the tyrant fear overruled any stupid notion that could expose his location.


    Stay Still, and blend to the environment. That was all it was saying in repeat. Over and over again. Stay Still and blend.


    After a while, To Aydin surprise for not being discovered yet, he tried to open his eyes ever so slowly. Yet, his eyelid after accumulating so much dirt and mud, it refused to open like that. It took him a little bit more time to clean the area around his eyes by his dirty hand, and after that he opened his eyes.


    To his relief, there was no Gorfs in nearby area. So he raised head a bit to hear noises. He heard all sort of animals in forest were anxious as well.


    To his dismay, he saw the start of fire from where the castle and village was located. Those flame was fighting off the darkness of night.


    From where Aydin was located, he could see the pulsating orange light in the dark times of night was rising up and going down like a wave. He also heard the shrieks of animals close to that area.


    He didn''t know what to do about this, if he ran, there was no guaranty that he wouldn''t meet a Gorf or something worse than Gorfs, like Kerlis, or Plangor. And many more that even the bravest huntsmen didn''t dare to adventure around their territory.


    Aydin didn''t know what to do, but the tyrannical fear knew.


    Stay Put.

 Chapter 3-Temtor

    Chapter 3


    So he remained still.


    The initial warmth of his body was soon replaced by cold again.


    He dared not move from his spot.


    Now, his clothes were soaked through with mud, no longer reflecting the moonlight.


    Aydin looked at his clothes and the condition he was in.


    He was scared and exhausted, feeling his body could endure no more.


    One moment, he was wallowing in self-pity; the next, he was attacked from behind. Teeth sank into his flesh, sawing through his back muscles. The robe that had been on him, now caked with mud, dragged him towards the deeper parts of the swamp.


    Once again, Aydin lacked the luxury of devising a plan or even taking a deep breath. His mouth was inundated with a mix of mud and water. He was dragged into the mire with such ease that any semblance of resistance seemed nonexistent.


    In a fleeting moment of desperation, Aydin surfaced above the water, gasping for air, only to be choked by the sludge filling his mouth.


    He continued to struggle until part of his robe tore, offering him a brief respite before the pulling force intensified.


    He was aware that being dragged further into the depths of the swamp would spell the end of his struggles.


    While coughing and gasping for air, he attempted to unfasten the three buttons on his robe, his small hand trembling with fear. As he managed to undo one button, the creature that had ambushed him began violently shaking its head from side to side, intent on dragging Aydin deeper into the swamp and away from solid ground.


    Aydin had come to realize that any attempt at salvation was futile. As he fumbled with the second button, he understood that by the time he reached the third, it might as well have been in vain. Nevertheless, he persisted and managed to unfasten it.


    Amidst being tossed from side to side, and yanked backwards, his lungs clogged with mud and dirt, he succeeded in releasing the button. This act granted him a momentary respite before he was jerked back once more.


    He now accepted that it was too late to even try for the third button.


    Exhausted from the chase, his lungs screamed for air, and his body was battered.


    He awaited his fate, hand resting on the final button, not attempting to undo it. His thumb pressed beneath, hoping to tear it away.


    To his surprise, the button did give way. Perhaps it was the creature''s insistent tugging that applied excessive pressure, not Aydin''s own efforts.


    Aydin''s moment of relief was fleeting before he was submerged once more.


    The creature pulled, while Aydin struggled to maneuver his arms, aiming to extricate himself.


    Once free, he rose to find himself chest-deep in water.


    He looked back to see what just attacked him. He saw a creature with a long body of fish and long mouth with full of teeth. He saw that the creature was wriggling back to deeper part of water with his robe. It had no limbs.


    Temtor.


    The splash of water in the wake of Temtor was enough warning for Aydin to get away from the water.


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    He couldn¡¯t swim into it, even if he could, so what he did was walking, and using his hands to open a path to dryland.


    He tried, but to his dismay, he understood that it wasn¡¯t fast enough. He knew, it was matter of time before Temtor leave the cloth behind and resume its attacking. Yet, he didn¡¯t give in.


    While he semi walking and swimming to dry land, he was also coughing out all the things that got into his mouth.


    Moments passed, and he was getting closer to the dryland. He didn¡¯t hear any splash anymore, and that was more ominous than that splashing.


    He was waist deep into the water, and his feet found more purchase on the ground. Yet, the threat from behind was getting more unbearable.


    He tried to speed up, yet he never gets that satisfaction.


    He looked back, which he wished he didn¡¯t. He saw a ripple, unhurriedly, was coming toward his location.


    With newfound vigor and fear, Aydin, tried again to escape Temtor.


    He tried and tried, and all that brough him was to get knee deep in water.


    He looked back to where Temtor was, and he knew that he wouldn¡¯t make it back to dry land.


    He looked around a precious moment to see what could help him, and he saw a branch of tree was hanging above the water.


    Without thinking the possibility even making it or not, he walked towards that branch.


    He had a goal, and he walked toward that goal. It was almost twenty walked away from him.


    He saw that he was getting closer with each trying step. He looked back while walking, and he saw the top part of Temtor broke the water. It was moments away to catch up to him.


    He put all his energy to his last two step and lunch himself at the branch. At least he thought he lunched because that murky water wouldn¡¯t allow such action with such a speed.


    However, it was enough for him. The moment his hand touched the branch, it gave him an exuberant feeling. The feeling he had was so good, that he forgot about his coughing fit for a moment.


    He pulled with all he energy he saved for the upper body.


    It was still not good enough effort.


    He saw that Temtor was just a moment away from capturing him again.


    In last effort before it becomes too late. He tried removing his feet from the water, at the same time, the Temtor opened his maw to get a purchase on his prey.


    The upper jaw of Temtor was just below Aydin feet that was raised together.


    Aydin that saw his life was a moment away to be dragged into the water, without even thinking or knowing why, he dropped both feet on top of the Temtor.


    That caused the Temtor to close its mouth. However, Temtor was powerful enough that by having that much weight on jaw, while it tried to open it again that, it truly lunched Aydin up.


    There was moment of weightlessness that Aydin felt while he was midair hands-on tree trunk. In that moment, he decided to loop his feet around the branch.


    Since Aydin looped his feet around the thinner side of the tree¡¯s branch, it made the branch bends toward the water.


    In that moment, the Temtor lunched itself toward Aydin again. This time, it was targeting his back.


    Aydin arched his back up and made parallel to the branch, which bought him another moment.


    To his horror, the branch couldn¡¯t handle that much stress and broke, yet again, casing unexpected landing on Temtor¡¯s mouth that was getting ready to lunch itself again.


    Aydin, by this point that every action of his was desperate attempt, he let go of the branch, and tried to grab the broken branch that was hanging limply.


    Meanwhile, the Temtor created splashes in the water by wiggling its entire body. Droplets scattered in all directions, and where the Temtor''s body had been, a temporary void in the water formed due to its movements, allowing Aydin a fleeting view of its entire form.


    Ignoring that, he grabbed the broken branch and put it between himself and Temtor.


    The Temtor lunched itself at Aydin again and didn¡¯t care about the branch coming to his mouth.


    It snapped its mouth, and the branch was cut in half. Yet, because of the momentum it had with whole body, its mouth smashed to Aydin and threw him a few walks away.


    He landed five steps away from Temtor, and any air left in him was knocked out.


    The water now reached to his ankle while he was sitting.


    Aydin didn¡¯t wait and ran towards the tree to get cover there.


    A maddening splash was happening right behind him, but he didn¡¯t look back. He ran the few steps and jumped behind the tree in angle.


    When he was behind the tree, he was trying to do two things at the same time ¡ªCoughing and breathing.


    He took a deep breath, which caused him another coughing fit.


    While he was breathing and coughing, he looked behind the tree to see where the Temtor was.


    He only saw Temtor was wriggling to get back to the direction of water.


    Then, something big silently dropped from above on the back of Temtor and biting down.


    The clashing and wrestling were in frensy pitch. Water was splashing where those creatures were wrestling.


    Aydin didn¡¯t wait to see what attached Temtor. Whatever it was, it was way more dangerous than Temtor, because the Temtor was his prey.


    Putting his hand on his mouth to lower the noise that he was making by coughing, he ran to another direction.


    He ran where the fire was.

 Chapter 4- Running away or running to

    Chapter 4


    The danger behind him, and the danger in front of him.


    One was known, Gorfs and the shrieks of animals that were trapped in there.


    One was unknown, such as Temtor and the thing that attacked it.


    And a child that was still coughing his lungs out was running towards the comfort of knowing dangers.


    It didn¡¯t take long before Aydin encounter the first victim of Gorf.


    It was a child younger than himself. His innards were pulled out and were cut in many places, which by itself, it left a horrible stench. The skin around his neck and face were gone and torn off. Whatever skin that was left there, it showed the teeth mark of a Gorf. The distance between its teeth, which showed how close they were.


    The nauseating smell of innards, blood, and other organs that were exposed to elements now, forced Aydin to move on.


    He wanted to vomit, and the moment the thought was formed, he emptied his content in his stomach.


    It took him a while to empty his stomach, even when there was nothing left in his stomach, the body was insisted to empty itself.


    The mixture of coughing and retching brought Aydin to his knees.


    He was gasping for fresh air after throwing up, and what was entering his nostrils were that foul stench, and add to that, his body still was trying to get rid of whatever entered to his mouth during the battle he had with Temtor.


    His body was confused what the priority were anymore?


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    Get away from the danger area? But there was no air left in the boy,


    Then the encounter with corpse of that young child happened, which made the whole process more tasking and complex.


    It was only shear will of young boy and his desire to leave that area and leave behind the stench and danger that forced him to get up and do a mixture of walking, jogging, and stumbling.


    When he distanced himself enough from that smell, where he could breathe without being choked, he let the coughing continues its course.


    As he was walking towards the village, the coughing became less severe.


    Now, he could take a breath, for every two coughs.


    And when he could breathe, he could smell the burning wood that was catching fire.


    The plume of smoke mixed with fog; it was difficult to distinguish between the two.


    Aydin jogged for a bit and stopped a bit to catch his breath.


    It was then when he heard the crashing noise of something big that was running, away from the fire and towards him.


    Aydin that had nothing in him, except a hopeful wish and a trick, he laid down on the ground and covered himself with twigs and fallen leaves.


    He didn''t need to smear mud on his face and skin; he was already completely covered in it.


    The noise of crashing was getting closer to him.


    On the distance, Aydin saw, a creature that was many times bigger than adults¡¯ man, as big as a peasant house, was rushing towards him.


    Not exactly towards him, but on his direction.


    When he recognizes what it was, he took a breath of relief.


    It was a Loktale.


    A docile animal that farmers use for pulling the carts. Even though, it eats vegetation, it was far from being not dangerous.


    The back of Loktale was covered with honeycombs pattern of stones like, hard to break with hammer or sword. The sword wouldn¡¯t even leave a mark on it, let alone cut it. And, on each pattern, something like a lance like protruded out.


    A jerky move from Loktale was enough to impale anyone or anything who dared to annoy them, let alone try to kill it.


    So, now Aydin figured out why Siaak army set everything on fire. They wanted to put Loktale in panic and break any defence that his father and his older brothers set up to.


    The Loktale passed him by twenty walks away from him, but on its wake, with those spikes that left deep gash on the trees, and its heavy wight that rumbled the ground, it made Aydin happy that he was far enough from that animal.


    If there was one more reason to hate Siaak army, this could be one on top of the list.


    It was then he felt a more sever rumbling under his body.