Chapter 18: The Fear Of Nothing
Silence settled over the group after their encounter with Thar.
Thar shouldn't have acted like that.
Finally, Ryn broke the quiet from the driver's seat. "That was...strange." he said, voice tight with concern.
It took a moment for both Ian and Charlotte to register his words. They both nodded.
The carriage then continued rolling over the flat landscape, the wheels wiggling slightly as they crossed several small bridges.
"Do you think he's tracking us?" Charlotte asked suddenly, her eyes quickly darting behind them.
Both Ian and Ryn tensed.
"Let's hope not." Ryn sighed, trying to brush it off but the uncertainty was clear, judging by how tightly he was gripping the reins.
Ryn's shoulders slumped slightly as he leaned back against the backrest of the driver's seat.
Trees drifted by the moving carriage one by one. Eventually, the grasslands were nowhere to be seen as they were replaced by a green forest.
"A forest..." Ian muttered.
"Of course it's a forest, dumbass." Charlotte responded, though there was no real bite behind it.
Ian smirked faintly. It felt strange hearing her say that again.
The carriage jolted harder as roots thickened beneath the wheels.
One particular root was big enough to shake the whole carriage, waking up Fen with a violent thud as the wheels rolled off of it.
A snap followed before the carriage stopped.
The sound of Ryn jumping down from his seat echoed through the thick forest.
"Everything okay?" Ian called, peeking out the front.
It took Ryn a second to answer. "Unfortunately not. One of the front wheels has fallen off the carriage."
Ian blinked. "Fallen off?"
Ian got out from the back entrance, careful not to step on Fen.
"Quality wheels, huh." Ian muttered tiredly, rubbing one of his eyes.
He approached Ryn, already starting to speak. "Well, if it fell off that easily, it should be just as easy to put it back on..."
His words trailed off the moment he looked down at the wheel.
The wheel was snapped in half. Meaning it hadn't fallen off. It had broken off as it rolled off the root.
"Damn." Ian sighed. Eyes glued to the broken wheel on the ground. "Well this sucks." He put his hands on his hips.
Charlotte got out as well. Approaching them with quick steps.
"What's up-..." Charlotte's words trailed off as well, as she glanced down. "Oh."
No one spoke.
They were in the middle of nowhere with a broken carriage after all.
Ryn eventually turned and walked into the nearby treeline, sword already drawn.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Ian shouted after him.
Ryn glanced up at the sky through the dense leaves. The approaching red and pink hues warned that sunset was close.
"We need to set up camp here for the night," Ryn replied evenly. "There should be a spare wheel in the back, but it'll be dark soon."
"He really doesn't hesitate, does he..." Ian said, crossing his arms and shaking his head.
Charlotte let out a short laugh.
She started walking inside the forest as well, approaching the open spot Ryn had made by slashing his sword at the nearby bushes.
"That's Ryn for ya." She said, signaling for him to follow.
Ian walked back to the carriage and gently booped Fen's nose until the wolf stirred.
The soulbound looked slightly annoyed, but understood he had to get up.
The two approached the clearing Ryn had created, stepping through the dry grass that rustled under them.
'Man...it's quiet in these woods. Not even the birds are singing...' Ian thought, the silence was louder than any sound in the world.
Ryn had already prepared a place to sleep now that the grass was gone.
No rustling, no bird song and not even the wind made any noise.
Ian expected to see at least some sign of life. Whether it be a bird or a deer he didn't care.
But there was no evidence of anything ever living here.
It felt abandoned.
Like even life had decided not to stay here.
Or like something waiting. Patient. Unseen.
Ian felt his stomach tighten as he stared into the endless looking woods all around him.
The light was limited under the thick branches and leaves, hiding whatever could be laying there. Something that could pounce at them whenever and from any direction.
But nothing came.
He shot a glance at Charlotte and Ryn as they prepared the tent. 'Why aren't they saying anything?' He felt his heart beating faster in his chest.
Ian didn't move, even though his body told him to.
'Maybe I'm just overthinking it again…' Ian told himself.
But the feeling didn't leave.
It stayed there anyway, quiet but
stubborn, like something he couldn't quite stop noticing even when he tried.
It was the same feeling he had felt when he was in Thysera's realm.
"Ian, are you alright?" Charlotte called out.
Ian shook his head to clear his thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm fine. You?" He answered awkwardly.
Charlotte looked a little worried, but decided to let it go. "I'm good, now help us with the tent."
'They have tents in this world?' Ian glanced at the tent, trying to change his thoughts from the trench they had fallen into.
A chill went down his spine as the silence was interrupted by the grass crunching under him.
Ryn threw a big metal stake at him. "Put it in the ground and tie hard."
Ian nodded as he stomped the stake down into the ground, then he pulled the rope there and tied it around it.
When he looked up at Ryn, he didn't meet his gaze. Instead, the ex-knight was staring into the woods just like he had done a few moments ago.
The empty look in Ryn's eyes were like bottomless voids, a contrast to the darkness surrounding them now that the sun had gone down.
Their only light source was a lantern Charlotte had lit just now with magic.
The same spell Ian had tried but failed multiple times.
Ryn's eyes looked away from the woods and finally met Ian's.
He glanced down at the stake in the ground and nodded approvingly, before tossing another his way.
Just like before, Ian shoved the stake into the ground and tied a knot around it.
Now the tent was done.
Charlotte went in first, then Ryn and finally Fen.
Ian lagged behind, his eyes traveling the dark features of the surrounding trees.
He eventually went inside the tent as well.
Charlotte had turned off the lantern once Ian had sat down on the ground.
She then pulled forth three sleeping bags made of wool, the features were similar to that of the bison pulling their carriage.
As Ian crawled into the sleeping bag he felt his whole body itch.
Not from the wool, but from something else entirely.
Where he came from, there was always something making sounds at night. A car passing by on the road, the clock in the kitchen or the soft hum of a lamp somewhere.
But here? Nothing. Not a single sound came from outside the tent.
Something in him shut down. Only instinct remained.
There was no space for anything else.
The fear wasn't of something outside. It was of not knowing.
Ian stared up into the tent. He was too scared to close his eyes.
He didn't blink.
He looked down at Fen who was resting by his feet.
Fen was sleeping peacefully.
Ian's head turned to his right, then left.
Charlotte looked to be asleep.
Ryn however...
Ian gazed up again. His eyes instinctively avoiding the entrance.
The entrance felt like it shouldn't be looked at.
Ian's eyes quickly fell to the entrance, expecting something.
Nothing was there.
18.1 Daylight
Ian opened his eyes.
He had fallen asleep.
He looked around, only Fen remained.
Charlotte and Ryn could be heard from outside.
Ian crawled out the entrance, dusting himself off before looking at the carriage by the road.
'Good...it's still there.' He sighed in relief.
Charlotte and Ryn were by the carriage as well.
Ian walked up to where the previously broken wheel had been.
"Looks whole again." Ian glanced at Ryn, looking for any uncertainty.
Instead, he was met by the usual brick wall of formality.
"Yes, we will be leaving soon."
Ian just nodded.
"Great, can't wait to leave this forest..." he muttered, Ryn nodded slightly in unison to his words.
'I knew something wasn't right...' Ian wiped imaginary sweat of his forehead.
The forest wasn't the same as before.
The only similarity was the silence.
Still no life.
Ian gazed into the forest. It wasn't dark and scary anymore.
It looked like a forest now.
An almost normal forest.
But still to quiet to be normal.
He the turned to Ryn. "Hey. What's up with this forest anyway?"
Ryn looked almost relieved as Ian asked. "I'm not sure. But, I must say it was rather unnerving last night.
Ian nodded. Charlotte kicked rocks impatiently. Her eyes glanced towards the previously broken wheel every now and then.
Fen crawled out through the tent. Shaking his body slightly as if he were wet or dirty.
A subtle smile appeared on Charlotte's face at the sight of the wolf.
"No wonder Fen chose you. You Two both get out of bed late as hell." Charlotte.
Ryn also cracked slightly, a subtle chuckle echoing through the forest.
"Alright, what do you think? Are you ready to leave this cemetery or what?" Ian began walking towards the back of the carriage.
The other two sent a glance at eachother before following. Ryn hopped up in front again, as Ian and Charlotte sat in the back.
Fen jumped up into the back effortlessly, swiftly stepping over bags before laying on one.
Before long, the gravel started crunching under the wheels of the carriage.
The roots seemed to have passed for now. Hopefully, they would stay gone.
Ian's eyes drifted out the back to where they had just camped. The tent wasn't there anymore. Ryn had somehow gotten it in without either of the others noticing.
'That's Ryn in a nutshell' Ian thought with an amused expression.
His head then turned the other way. Towards the front.
The bison's massive shoulders stuck up behind the backrest.
Ian stood up and carefully climbed over the backrest, plopping down beside Ryn.
"You really got the view of the road from up here." Ian peeked over the edge of the seat, noticing it was pretty high up.
Ryn nodded. "Indeed I do. Though, the summitstrider takes up a lot of it." Ryn looked down at the bison in front of them.
'Summitstrider?' Ian followed Ryn's gaze, before realizing its the name of the bison creature.
"Well, luckily it's not a peakstrider." Ian joked slightly. "Since it'd be taller."
"You get it? Sorry."
Ryn's eyes returned to the road. "A peakstrider would be efficient. They are very fast after all."
Ian was a little stumped. It had turned out his "peakstrider" joke was actually a real species as well.
'The more you know...' He as well gazed up at the road.
Charlotte stuck her head out from the back. "When does this damn forest end? It feels like we've been rolling for ages."
Ian's eyes lifted a few degrees, the forest didn't look like it was ending. "Never, apparently."
"At least the road isn't bumpy." Ryn gazed down at the ground, as if inspecting it.
Charlotte sighed and fell back into the carriage making it bounce slightly from the suspension.
The woods were still quiet. But not as ominous as before. At least there was wind now.
"Hey." Ian said out of nowhere.
Ryn looked at him from the corner of his eyes. "What is it?"
"Where are we going?" Ian asked. The question he should have asked much earlier.
The previously lifted weight was dropped back on the group.
Finally, Ryn answered. "There's an adventurers inn ahead. I hope we will spend the night there. After that? I do not know."
"I see." Ian spoke quickly.
"Why didn't you tell me you had no plan?"
Ryn frowned slightly at Ian's follow up, like he had been dreading those words. "Because."
"Because you have been worrying enough."
It took a moment for Ian to process his words.
'Do I...worry a lot?' He asked himself Internally, as if searching for times he had been worrier previously.
As if on queue a sign stood in front of them.
"Inn two kilometers..." Charlotte read aloud as she stood up once again. "We're getting close."
The summitstrider continued forward over the forest road.
The tension was still there, but now it didn't have words.
The sound of a bird bled through the previously quiet forest.
Ian looked up slightly. His gaze had dipped without him noticing.
The bird that made the chirp landed on a nearby branch. It was red almost all over. Except for its yellow beak and black chin.
'Maybe there is life here after all.' Ian inspected the bird.
The inn got into view and before they knew it, they were parking the carriage.
Right as Ryn was about to open the door, a loud crash was heard from inside.