after the night ends

Bam runs.

His legs are aching, burning up with fire raging in his muscles, and pulsing in pain along with his erratic heartbeat. His lungs are struggling to pump more oxygen and his mind goes light from the lack of air as he’s wheezing through his mouth. There’s another cramp in his stomach, one that brings him to his knees, and he closes his eyes, forcing back the bile that threatens to spill out of his parched throat.

Don’t stop.

Shut up, he wants to say, but grips the blades of grass beneath him instead, taking this moment to clear his mind.

He stands up again and picks up his pace despite the protests his body screams at him. He’s so tired and he just wants to drop dead on the ground, probably sleep for about a century, and maybe try to eat a feast before he passes out.

But as he glances behind him, he merely sprints faster and hopes he lives for another night.

A deafening screech echoes behind him, inhuman and so high-pitched that it grates on his ears like chalk scratching against a board, and Bam curses when a branch hits him on his torso, catching his already shredded shirt in the process. There’s not much left of it as he tears the snagged cloth away desperately, but it grazes along the surface of his skin, crimson trailing down his body in thin rivulets.

The scent of blood seems to excite the monsters and they’re chasing him more frantically now, all chilling giggles and hungry snarls. 

“Come here, foolish demigod. Don’t be scared, I don’t bite.” One of them purrs and it prompts the others to burst out in cackling shrieks. Bam swallows his growing horror, the lump in his throat, the burning in his eyes, and continues to run.

Bam can see the looming tree on top of the hill and at first glance, it doesn’t look any special. It looks normal with skeleton branches, spindly twigs, and dark green leaves but the more he stares at it, he can see a shimmer running along its surface. There’s a glimmer of gold wrapped around it and with the closing distance, he can almost taste the life coming out of it in powerful waves.

It gives him a boost, hope thrumming in his veins, and he forces his legs to go faster. Adrenaline is running within him, but he has been running for a good amount of time and he can already feel its hold weakening with every ticking second. 

He grits his teeth. Just a bit longer.

Bam spots a silhouette on the tree that vanishes when it catches sight of him. His eyes widen and he calls out, “Help me, please!”

The only response he gets is the ones from behind him and the monsters seem to have realized where he was about to go, chasing him with a frenzied fervor as they fly through the forest. “Catch the boy! He must never get inside that camp!”