Savage Forest - Chapter 125.1

5. The Lives Before Us

Enya held him tightly for a long time.

Tarhan’s body, which she embraced after so long, was hot and feverish, like that of a newborn.

Suddenly, she realized the sound of rain had ceased.

Leaning against the wall, she looked down at the man resting with his face buried in her lap. He was curled up, his arms wrapped around her lower abdomen and waist, looking peaceful in sleep. She absently stroked his damp hair, as if she were touching the most precious thing in the world.

The light from the cave worms was gradually fading. It was a sign that dawn was approaching. She wondered if light was starting to filter in at the cave’s entrance, where the wolf stood guard.

“…Enya, let’s run away together.”

Tarhan’s murmurs pierced the silence.

Enya blinked several times in the lingering darkness. Still, he didn’t lift his head from her lap.

“The skull spider won’t acknowledge you as the Daughter of the Forest.”

Raising his body, he gripped Enya’s arm tightly as he spoke through clenched teeth.

“Give up on it. Let’s escape together. Just the two of us, anywhere. I’ll take you wherever you want to hide. This time…”

Even though he didn’t finish his sentence, she felt she knew what he was trying to say.

Enya shook her head.

In the darkness, she could see Tarhan biting his lips. She quickly moved closer, cupping his face with both hands to make him look at her.

“It’s not because I think you can’t protect me. You know that, Tarhan.”

She sensed him avoiding her gaze in the dark. Though she could feel his pain deep within her, Enya refused to give up. She slowly spoke again.

“I… I don’t really know. But the skull spider will probably accept me.”

It was a strange conviction, yet Tarhan didn’t seem to understand… No, it didn’t seem like a matter of understanding. His face was filled with fear, an overwhelming terror radiating from him, and in that instant, she realized once more what had kept him bound until now.

In that moment, she saw into the depths of his soul. It felt like staring into his darkest fears.

He was terrified of her death.

An indescribable tenderness and sorrow washed over her. She had witnessed how the fear of losing a loved one could consume him, how it had trampled his life with such brutality and solitude.

At the edge of that abyss lay the memory of his mother’s death.

This was why she had to speak. There was something only she could say, a story she had buried in her heart for a long time. She had promised to herself that, someday, she would share it with him.

“…You shone brightly in my eyes. Out in the abandoned fields.”

Slowly, Enya began to share her story.

Her voice trembled slightly, wavering between laughter and tears. In the dark cave, where no light penetrated, she sensed Tarhan blink. His lips parted slowly as if he were about to call her name.

But Enya continued speaking, pretending not to notice.

“In that place, where everything was decaying and falling apart, you were the only one who seemed to hold life. From the moment I first saw you, I couldn’t look away. You were so beautiful. I felt as though I shouldn’t even look at you. You were like a boy god from a myth.”

Tarhan still seemed bewildered, as if he couldn’t grasp the situation.

He looked confused about why she was suddenly sharing this story and why she was reminiscing about the past in the middle of such a conversation. With a sorrowful expression, he gazed down at her, still unable to make sense of it all.

Enya continued her story patiently.

“So when my grandfather pointed to you and told me to follow you, I was so surprised.”

Thinking of him, Enya felt a painful weight in her chest and her eyes growing misty.

Her grandfather, known as the Maggot Elder, had been her guardian when she first met Tarhan. He was the adult who had stayed by her side as she grew up in the barren fields after being abandoned as an infant, and he was also one of the patients Piache had cared for.

Thinking of him, Enya felt a painful weight settle in her chest, her eyes growing misty.

“Perhaps my grandfather felt the same way I did. He must have known right away that you were a good man.”

Tarhan raised his finger and gently wiped away the tears pooling in her eyes. He still looked bewildered, though it was a natural reaction as she cried.

Enya leaned her cheek against his hand and smiled softly.

“It’s okay. I’m okay, Tarhan.”

She caressed his cheek again and opened her lips to speak. The more she reflected on those days, the more they seemed to unfold before her eyes.

“On the day you first looked at me, you were always carrying something heavy and heading somewhere in the empty fields, so you only looked ahead and never noticed me. Every day, I told my grandfather about you. He had some hearing difficulties, but he loved listening to me. After his mouth started to stiffen, he made an extra effort to get me to talk. Looking back, I think he was worried I would forget how to speak.”

A few cave worms buzzed softly around them, fluttering their wings as they flew slowly.