looking for help 5

Captain's POV

After deciding to take the child with us, another problem arose—what about the mission? We were sent to investigate the forbidden forest, but now we had a baby in tow. It was too dangerous to continue. As I pondered this, Mac spoke up.

"I think we should go back," he said, his tone thoughtful. Mac was the smartest in the group, so I knew he had more to say. Sure enough, he continued, "The disturbance the tower detected was definitely caused by those two deities we saw earlier. As you all noticed, their power isn't on the normal level. And with all my years of experience, I can assure you they've never been mentioned in any book I've read. So, either no one knows about them, or all information about them was lost after the global war."

"So you're saying they were hibernating?" Dean asked, suspicion in his voice.

"Yeah, and someone invaded their territory. That's why we got that reaction earlier," Mac added.

"So our mission is done?" Fill asked, his excitement barely contained.

"For now," Mac responded quickly, not letting Fill enjoy the idea of finishing the mission just yet. Well, we couldn't blame him—this mission was already tough. The forbidden forest, being on guard all the time, getting less than two hours of sleep each day, always on edge, afraid of facing something we couldn't defeat and losing our lives—it had worn on us all.

"For now, we just need to report what we found," I said.

"It's going to be a long report," Fill muttered. Just then, the cave trembled.

We looked at each other, instantly recognizing the meaning—danger. We hurried out, carrying the baby and his belongings, the only clues to his family. The signs of collapse were already evident. I held the baby close, pulling my coat over him to shield him from any falling rocks as we rushed to escape. Rocks kept falling, and the entrance—now finally in sight—was getting smaller and smaller.

"Is it just me, or is the entrance closing?" Fill shouted while running.

"Well, today's the day you said something correct, and I won't tell you you're wrong, so celebrate later," Dean shot back sarcastically.

As we neared the entrance, the cave's opening continued to shrink. After the last of us made it out, the entrance closed entirely. When the dust cleared and some of us finished coughing, what used to be the cave's entrance was now just a solid wall. Even the signs of the cave had disappeared, along with our footprints going in. If we hadn't been there ourselves, we wouldn't have believed it.

Well, it wasn't called the forbidden forest for nothing. The people who had gone missing after entering long ago had already given us the answer to how dangerous it was. When I looked down at the boy, he was sound asleep. I chuckled—how could he sleep in a situation like this? When I looked up, the group had gathered around me, watching the baby sleep, mesmerized by his beauty. I couldn't help but agree—he really was something special.

After a few moments of catching our breath, Fill, who was still panting heavily, gasped out, "God, I really need to exercise when I get back. I'll start running every morning. After that sprint just now, I feel like my chest is on fire. Am I getting old already?"

We all nodded in agreement, even though we were a strong group, it had been a long time since the world was truly dangerous. Our occasional missions weren't that hard, so maybe we had lost our edge.

"Speak for yourself, I'm still young," John boasted, trying to sound unaffected.

"Catch your breath first," Elly retorted without missing a beat, not giving him any face.

We all broke into laughter at John's expense.

"I'm hungry. I just remembered we didn't have lunch," Dean said, looking up at the sky, which was now glowing with the hues of sunset. "We should eat."

"We should start camping," Mac suggested. "It's dangerous at night." But before he could finish his sentence, Araan, the quietest member of our group—being twins with Dan made them similar in that way—spoke up in a trembling, scared voice, "We should leave this forest right now."

We were stunned for a second, but without much thought, we all started sprinting to get out of there. Why didn't we hesitate? Well, Araan's power is 'danger sense.' He's the reason all our missions have been completed without serious injuries. He always warns us just in time. Even earlier, when we faced those two monsters, we were ready to fight but deep down we knew that since Araan didn't say anything, we'd be okay. Even if their aura was terrifying, we trusted we'd be alright. But now, he spoke, and the terror in his voice told us that we were dead if we got caught.

We kept running, but it was almost nightfall, and it was becoming harder to distinguish the road. Suddenly, a white shadow darted ahead of us—it was the fox. With unspoken understanding, we followed it.

"Damn, I remember that tree. We passed by it three times when we first got here. Oh, and that rock too," Fill said, looking around as we ran.

We knew what he meant—it was his way of saying we could make it out of here. After a few more minutes, we could feel a trembling sound behind us, like the footsteps of something gigantic, something that screamed death. We ran even faster. With every passing minute, the danger seemed to get closer and closer, but none of us had the courage to turn around and face it. All we heard were the strong, loud footsteps and the sound of trees crashing down or being crushed. Since the trees here could tower as high as 20 meters, we could only imagine the size of the danger pursuing us. It felt like an eternity, and we had no idea how much time had passed.

Finally, we could see the edge of the forest. Just as we exited, we heard an enormous scream, like something was complaining about losing its prey. But when we finally stopped after a few more sprints and turned around, we saw nothing. The forest was as quiet and creepy as it always looked.

"I feel... ha... ha... like I aged a century just now," Fill gasped, his face still pale from fright.

"Are you still hungry? Do you want to camp and eat?" Dean asked, half-joking.

"Are you crazy? Let's go back home," Fill refused without a second thought.

"I agree," I said. "It's true that moving at night is dangerous, but we're only two hours from the village, and it's not that dark yet. Let's just go home."

Everyone agreed, and then we heard the fox's bark, as if it was agreeing too.

"Should we take him with us?" Mac asked, nodding toward the fox.

"Well, it can't be helped. He did help us get out, and he doesn't look dangerous. Besides, he's my son's pet," I said, not realizing the looks my group was giving me. They laughed among themselves, but I just shrugged it off.

"Yeah, we should hurry up and go home," John said, "my babies are waiting for me."

We all laughed and started moving again. As I walked, I glanced down at the baby, still sound asleep in my arms, and wondered how Sarah would react when she saw him.

Hello, sunshines! 🌞

Here's a new chapter for you! I'll be doing my best to update as quickly as I can. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for your support!