A few minutes later, Red had barely left the cave's entrance. Holding some strange leaves between the fingers of his right hand, the boy curiously smelled the plant but didn't take a bite out of it, as he had been planning earlier. Even though he had heard the surface was nowhere near as dangerous as the underground, what if he just so happened to pick up something poisonous?

However, even his hunger was pushed to the back of his mind as he examined the plants curiously. They were unlike the moss and fungi that Red had seen before in the underground - they had roots, stems, leaves, and fragrant flowers.

But there was more further ahead. On the other side of the river Red could see towering vegetation, dozens of these thick trunks with countless branches and leaves, standing between 10 to over 20 meters tall.

'Trees.'

This was where the wood the slaves used came from. They looked much bigger than the boy could possibly imagine, and with so many of them clustered together, the already low nightly visibility dropped even further. Red could hardly distinguish one from the other. Not to mention, there was still a deep rushing river that he had to cross to make it there.

Curious, the youth crouched down by the main water body and submerged his hand in it. The cold liquid flowed around his fingers, indicating the direction the current was moving in. Although the surface of the water looked calm, what the boy felt told him a different story. He could only imagine how much might this river would muster against a person caught in its currents.

It was obviously not a good idea to try and cross it.

Only now did Red bother to look at the area more comprehensively. The mouth of the cave was almost completely covered by vines and other hanging plants. The opening was part of a rocky hill face, rising high above. Searching his surroundings, he was able to find the path he was following, curving around the contours of the large cliff, completely covered by shrubs.

The boy couldn't see where this route led to, but right now it was the only option he could immediately follow. With the natural light of the moon and in this wide-open environment, the moonstones provided little in the way of illumination, so he stored the object in his pouch as he began making his way forward.

The youth also kept an eye out for any creatures waiting in ambush. He heard the surface was not nearly as treacherous as the underground, but there were still things that could kill you if you weren't careful up here. Using the cleaver to push the bushes around, Red scouted the way forward. Thankfully, though, there didn't seem to be any kind of monsters hiding amidst the leaves.

Soon enough, the boy saw the cliff wall slope over and a way to climb up the hill began to appear near him. He started to ascend the path while using his weapon as a crutch, and eventually, he arrived on the ridge.

It seemed Red had underestimated the scope of this place. There were trees as far as the eye could see on both sides of him. His vision of the horizon was blocked off by a series of hills that were likewise populated by thick vegetation. Wherever the boy looked, he was only met by an endless sea of greenery.

It was not like the moonstone lights, though. These were darker in color, but even then Red could sense an abundance of life being emitted off of it. Looking down the way he had just come from, the youth was able to see how big the river really was. It extended for kilometers before he eventually lost sight of it as it snaked behind some large hills.

For a second, the boy simply closed his eyes. He could feel it in every breath, the taste of nature — of life — flooding into his lungs. It was so different from everything Red had ever felt before. Just by being here with no roof over his head, the boy knew he was more alive than at any other point in his life. The images, the smell, the noise-

'The noise?'

For a second he was startled, as he started to hear sounds all around him. However, after a few seconds, understanding came to him. These noises had always been there, beneath the sounds of the river. And there were many of them.

Some faint, others loud.

Some constant, others irregular.

All around him, Red could hear them. Animal life, surrounding him and present in every corner of this forest. So many different calls that the boy had never heard before, and more of them joining in at every second. It was almost deafening at first, but eventually, it started to feel relaxing.

He was baffled and excited at the same time.

When he looked around for the sources, though, he was unable to find any animals. They were there, but they were buried beneath the sea of trees. The youth could only imagine what was hiding within the thicket, what kind of animals lived on the surface.

The boy started to climb down the ridge, feeling the grass under his bare feet. It didn't take long for him to arrive at the foot of the hill, where a few isolated trees started to appear. Red slowly walked up to the closest one, touching its large trunk and examining the nooks that composed its bark.

It looked and felt old, its surface being coarse to the touch. Looking above, he saw the main body of the plant splitting into smaller branches, that in turn split into even smaller branches. A large assortment of green leaves grew around these arms of the tree, providing cover for the human who stood beneath it. At his feet, Red saw the same green blades laying all over the ground, some of them brownish and wrinkled. These were their dead counterparts.

All sorts of questions came to his mind and bewildered the youth, but as he looked ahead, he saw so many things to explore that he decided to not waste so much time on a single one.

Not farther than 20 meters, the number of trees grew exponentially, creating a dense forest. Surprisingly, there was more space to walk between them than he would have guessed in his previous position, but the canopy almost completely blocked the moonlight from getting into their midst. The way ahead looked much darker than it was on top of this hill, and Red hesitated for a second.

In the end, though, he decided to make his way in, using a moonstone to help with his vision. However, he hadn't walked farther than a few steps when he saw something dash in the corner of his vision. He froze and twisted around to face it.

At first glance, the boy wasn't able to see anything. However, as he kept looking through the grass, he could eventually recognize a shape.

'What is that?'

A small creature was hiding within a shrub. It had pristine white fur resembling the one Viran used in his bed, at least in material. Oversized ears grew upright from the sides of its head, and it held something within its small paw, nibbling at it with large incisor teeth. And then there were the eyes - blood-red, unblinking and, unlike any other animal the boy had ever seen before, pupilled.

The creature didn’t seem dangerous, but its appearance was so bizarre that he couldn’t help but be taken by surprise. Curiosity started to plague him and Red tried to retreat unnoticed to observe from a safer place. However, in his astonishment, he didn't notice where he was walking.

A twig snapped under his feet with a crack.

The creature looked over at the human, and for a split second, he felt his breath being caught in his throat. Then, the small beast abruptly turned around and shot off with a bolt in the other direction.

The youth could only watch helplessly as the monster fled, but suddenly something swooped from the sky. A winged beast almost the size of Red dove down and grabbed the smaller creature within its sharp talons. He heard a small shriek from the prey before it was promptly silenced.

The boy barely had enough time to examine the predator as it flew off into the air carrying the white animal within its talons. He tried to follow it, but it suddenly dove into the tree canopy and the youth lost track of it.

Red didn't know for how long he stood frozen in place. Eventually, he snapped out of his daze and walked towards the spot where the smaller creature had been caught. After brushing past some grass, he saw a viscous dark fluid had dropped onto the surrounding plants.

Rubbing the liquid between his fingers, Red brought it closer to his face to examine it with the help of the moonlight.

'Crimson.'

He put it under his nose. A familiar scent.

'Blood.'

Not the insect kind, but one that had a similar color and smell to human blood.

For some reason, the revelation made the boy incredibly excited. With no further hesitation, he looked into the sea of trees waiting for him ahead and started to walk in its direction.

...

In less than an hour, Red saw more diversity in life than he had seen in two years in the underground. Birds, of all sizes and feathers, were hopping on the tree canopy above his head. Small critters, similar to the ones he had seen before, made their burrows along the side feet of the trees. Even bigger animals, with large tails and human-sized bodies, could be seen roaming around the forest.

None of them seemed too keen on bothering the boy though, and it made sense. Although some of them still looked dangerous with vicious claws and teeth, Red simply didn't feel the same sense of danger from them as he felt from the giant insects on the underground. To his luck, it seemed he had emerged in a rather safe area to wander, but he didn't lower his guard.

He was also able to find a few clearings within the thicket. Those weren't apparent when he looked at the forest from above, but they were more numerous than he was expecting at first. It made it possible for the boy to look at the sky.

And it was there that he saw it.

At first, Red couldn't tell what it was, so he moved closer. In the next clearing, he finally got his answer.

It was a smoke trail, rising straight into the sky.

He had seen this kind of thing before in the underground. The slaves sometimes made bonfires that emitted heavy smoke in the caves too.

'That means...'

People.

The boy hesitated. This wasn't necessarily good news. In fact, during most of his life in the underground, he had actively avoided any human contact for his own safety. He was told people weren't as vicious on the surface. That might be true for all he knew, but it was hard for Red to let go of his caution.

Still, he was aware that eventually, he would need to get out of the forest and find civilization. He had no idea where he was, and, for all he knew, this could be the only opportunity to come across anyone that he might find in days. He couldn't let it pass by.

However, first he took his precautions. Finding a spot he could easily remember in his mind, the youth buried all his belongings in the dirt. The crystal, the map, the cleaver, the moonstones, everything. If he was carrying nothing on his body, then these people might not feel compelled to attack him and would maybe actually help him instead. Not to mention, he was not aware of the situation on the surface and it would be dangerous to let them learn any clues about his status as a slave in the moonstone mines.

After that was done, he began to move in the direction of the trail of smoke. It was farther than he expected, but eventually Red saw something from afar.

The bright orange glow of a bonfire in the middle of a clearing. Three figures were standing around it, but from this distance, the boy wasn't able to see many details about them.

Slowly, he started to approach their location from heavy cover, intent on scouting them first before making contact.

However, when he was within 50 meters, one of the figures suddenly turned in his direction and raised something in their hands. Red felt a premonition of danger and dove behind a tree.

With a thunk, something pierced deeply into the trunk, wood splinters flying everywhere. The boy started to breathe heavily and didn't dare to move out of cover.

"Who's there?" An angry female voice called from the bonfire's direction.

"I'm... I mean no harm." Red replied, shivering with the effort.

The response didn't come immediately, but he could hear whispers of hushed conversation.

"... a child?"

"...doing here..."

Even these quiet voices started to sound far away, and the boy looked down at his bleeding shoulder as if he suddenly remembered something important. His pain, his fever, his exhaustion. Did he suddenly get healed? No, that wasn't it.

His injuries were still there.

'That's right, I'm dying...'

"...are you doing here?!"

Red couldn't hear the voice clearly anymore.

"I'm... I'm..." He tried to get his words out, but the world around him slowly started to dissolve into black.

"What... say?!"

He couldn't gather the strength to reply anymore.

His body fell sideways with a thud, and Red collapsed into unconsciousness.