Fateful Meeting
Strengthened with the essentials for the moment, I continued my journey, moving away from the direction where the wolf was. With long strides, I followed the course of the river, hoping to come across a path or even a settlement.
I swore to hold my friends accountable for betraying me. I would never forgive them for abandoning me in this forest. Yet, as I mentioned their names, a darkness overcame me, and I saw us sitting together at a table, laughing and celebrating.
There was an exuberant atmosphere as we drank from mugs, laughed, and enjoyed the festivities. A friend disappeared with a maid behind a corner, likely Arthur, who always had luck with ladies.
With his silver tongue, he could charm his way under many skirts, never considering whether the woman whose skirt he lifted might be married to another man. That's why we often ended up in fights in villages, moving from one place to another. We were like a family, which made their betrayal hurt so much.
The woman on my lap was petite, standing at about 150 cm. She wasn't the most beautiful or the first, but in this world, one had to take what was available.
Only now did I realize that this memory was not my own. I knew the faces of all the women I had slept with, but this one was unfamiliar. The woman looked into my eyes with brown eyes, and I thought I saw a tear before I found myself back in the forest, leaning against a tree to maintain balance.
"What was that?" I murmured. It wasn't one of my memories; perhaps it was a premonition. I often heard stories of people gifted with the ability to see fragments of the future, be it through riddles, poems, or sacrifices. However, such tales were often dismissed as superstition.
But why would I celebrate with them? How could they forget my anger that consumed my heart? How did they manage to keep me unconscious for so long and bring me here? Did a poor alchemist help them with a potion, or did they poison me?
With countless unanswered questions, I continued my journey. The river, which I could jump across four hours ago, was now as wide as a carriage with horses. I could see more and more fish. Yet, I didn't want to rest and eat just yet; I wanted to put as much distance as possible between me and the beast.
As I followed the river, I gathered items that would likely help me start the next fire more quickly. I quickly used a stone shaped by the water to carve a spear, even though it wasn't particularly sharp, and the wood was frayed in some places.
I transformed my top into a bag to carry dry branches and leaves with which I hoped to kindle a fire later. A rustling in the right bush made me jump. In fear that the wolf had followed me and would truly kill me this time, I threw my very poor spear in the direction of the sound in desperation.
When I heard no further noise, I sighed in relief and fell to the ground. My breath was heavy, and my hands were sweaty. When I felt better, I stood up and searched for my spear in the bush. To my surprise, I found not only my spear but also a rabbit that was still slowly twitching its paws.
I ended the suffering of the animal and apologized to it. "Die in the knowledge that your death ensures the survival of a lost one in the forest," I said in homage to the gods. After cutting out the meat, I buried the rabbit in the soft riverbank soil and washed the blood in the river, always careful to be quick and as clean as possible so as not to leave a scent of blood that might attract something wanting to see my blood.
Driven by fear, I hastened my pace, always with the image of the wolf fighting its way through the roots in my mind. The thought that the next people I encountered might be bandits or even my former friends wanting to kill me haunted me. But as I began to curse their names, the image of my mother suddenly appeared, and the scent of her baked goods filled my nose.
I saw her before me, and tears broke out of me, just like on the day I found her on the riverbank as a little child. Her sad eyes looked at me, and she pointed with her swollen fingers to the right. Fear overwhelmed me as my deceased mother stood about fifty meters in front of me, her dress still wet and torn, just like back then, as if nothing had changed since that fateful day.
Tears ran down my face as I tried to wipe them away to hide my weakness, just as I had sworn to her all those years ago. But when my hand left my eyes, she was gone. Confused, I went to the spot where she had stood, but everything was dry, no trace of her wet figure.
"Don't leave me, not again," I whispered before forcing myself to continue, this time in the direction my mother had shown me.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone