Savage Forest - Chapter 122.3
Senu chuckled softly as he continued.
“But then, in that cave, I saw a woman with one arm throwing a fit, flailing her legs even without hands… and suddenly, I thought how well the anklet would look on her ankle. What a ridiculous thought, ugh.”
His voice trembled and cracked without mercy.
Enya realized that he truly had little time left.
She tightened her grip on Senu’s hand.
“Will you tell Silanda this too? That I’m sorry for making her so angry? Seeing her angry would, ugh… give me a strength I didn’t have, and I couldn’t help it.”
He paused for a moment before adding.
“I’ve always been grateful.”
Enya’s shoulders shook as she heard Senu’s final words.
“I’m grateful for not letting me regret not getting rid of the anklet.”
Enya knelt before Senu and wept. She nodded repeatedly, saying that she understood, and leaned her face against him.
His breathing was slowly fading.
Through her sobs, Enya murmured.
“Senu. No, no, Senu. Please, no. No…”
A long time passed.
Soon, an unbearable silence enveloped them.
The relentless sound of the rain felt unbearably loud, a noise she could hardly bear to hear. After some time passed, Enya looked up at Senu, who appeared eerily calm. It seemed as if he might get up at any moment and call her name.
She gently closed his eyes.
The moment she did, thunder roared like a lion, and lightning struck nearby.
Enya spent the night beside Senu’s lifeless body.
His decaying skin oozed fluids, and she couldn’t bear to let insects crawl over him, so she stayed awake, guarding him.
Her lips cracked and bled.
All night, Senu’s death gnawed at Enya’s mind, slowly breaking her down. The death of a comrade was a new experience for her, and her thoughts felt paralyzed. The cave, filled with the weight of his lifeless body, felt too dark and silent to endure.
‘…Why did this have to happen?’
She kept replaying Senu’s death in her mind. Why was his death so senseless? His life was too precious to end in such suffering.
He had been a great man.
It was such a waste for him to die like this.
But why?
The continuing questions ignited anger within her heart. Yet that futile anger only emphasized her own unfortunate situation, and this realization dragged Enya deeper into despair.
Upon reflection, it was familiar.
Death had always been close to her.
Enya was the infant that fell from Eireke’s lifeless body. She had witnessed the deaths of her stepmother and sister right beside her. She could vividly remember being with her grandfather at the moment of his death, who had cared for her in the empty fields.
The death of Tarhan’s mother was the same.
Death was far too close to her.
Always, far too much so.
‘The spear…’
Enya stared blankly at the tip of the spear that had been pulled from Senu’s chest. As the dim light from the cave bugs barely illuminated her surroundings, she felt as though she were crawling on the floor. Unconsciously, she reached out for the spear.
Though broken, the tip remained razor-sharp.
Enya grasped it, closed her eyes, and directed the point toward her neck, taking a deep breath.
Senu had failed.
The one who had given her the most solace was now gone. It seemed there was no longer a purpose to her journey. Enya shivered in the overwhelming emptiness she couldn’t escape as the familiar, crushing desire to give up washed over her.
She could no longer run from it. Hadn’t she done her best?
It was time to stop struggling.
That was exactly what she thought at that moment when the sound of a wolf’s howl echoed from somewhere nearby. It was clear and distinct.
Enya froze with the knife pressed against her throat as loud footsteps began to circle the cave she had hidden in.
They belonged to a beast.
Her mind sharpened instantly. Tensing up, she tightened her grip on the spear and slowly moved toward the entrance.
It sounded like a pack of wolves.
Leaving Senu’s body behind, she clenched her teeth and held her breath.
The rain continued to pour. Cold droplets splashed against her face as they crashed into the cave’s entrance, but she remained focused, preparing to face whatever was at the narrowing mouth of the cave. Beastly claws tore at the black moss that grew near the entrance.
The rough sounds of the creature echoed, signaling its presence. Thunder roared in the dark sky as if answering the call of the beasts.
Enya took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Blood began to flow from her fingertips as she gripped the spear tighter.
Why was life denying her a peaceful death, even now?
Fueled by her resentment, she bit down and steeled herself to resist until the end. Finally, the cave entrance gave way, revealing a massive wolf.
Tang—!
In the next moment, Enya dropped her spear. Her shoulders sagged, and her arms fell limply to the ground.
With a groan, she opened her mouth.
There he was.
It was as if she were seeing him for the first time.
A fellow warrior who had failed, all the fight drained from him, covered in dust and blood, kneeling before her.
Tarhan was there.
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