Sun showed itself on the horizon. It was time to take our things and leave. We walked beside the mountain to find some kind of path. Luckily there was one. Wide enough for a car to casually drive but the ground wasn’t smooth… I can already feel how badly my feet will hurt. With every step, I could feel my wound. After two hours we were halfway to the top but the path changed direction from going to the top to going around the mountain. I don’t complain since I will no longer go up. We took a short break to drink the water. We had the water in the bucket and drank it with bowls made by me.

[ Eric ]

“You told me that we are another worlders. Have you met any others?” I asked Tae out of curiosity.

[ Tae ]

“I know only two. I didn’t meet them personally because they are clan leaders. Leader of the Blackwood clan, Severin The Headless. I don’t know who blessed him but no one ever cut him. There were attempts. Even execution. It looked like the ax hit his neck but there was no blood and when they removed the ax, there was no scratch on him.”

[ Eric ]

“Cool. Wait… Why would they execute him!?”

[ Tae ]

“About that… he is an ass hole. He thought he could conquer the whole island with his bare hands. Swords didn’t work on him. Some old lady smacked him with a pot and knocked him out.”

[ Eric ]

“Defeated by an old lady hahaha!”

[ Tae ]

“I wouldn’t do it in front of him if I were you… He also is called the headless because he did many executions on his own. He finally achieved his goal of becoming a chief.”

So he just would execute me without hesitation… I will keep my distance from that dude. Sounds like some kind of psycho. Probably this power hit his head too hard.

[ Eric ]

“Ehh… So the second person is?”

[ Tae ]

“Neva The Righteous. Leader of the Valkyrie clan. She is ruling over the only clan that is close to the earth with the laws. She is trying to avoid any war and helps the people in need.”

[ Eric ]

“And she is amazing.”

[ Tae ]

“But she doesn’t trust men.”

[ Eric ]

“Understandable.” No, I don’t understand but that’s her choice.

As we moved forward there was a hanging bridge made of wood and ropes. The bridge was in a “good” state but It didn’t look safe. Unfortunately, there was no other way. When I was on the bridge I noticed that Tae was still standing there.

[ Eric ]

“Scared of heights?”

[ Tae ]

“...Yes.”

[ Eric ]

“Just don’t look down and you’ll be fine. Probably.”

[ Tae ]

“Ok… Wait! What do you mean probably?!” He said okay but he was still looking down.

I don’t get this guy. I would smack his head and drag him when he is unconscious but it would be a pain in the ass… When I was going back to help him I saw the wolves slowly coming toward Tae. At first, I was happy because now he had a good reason to cross the bridge but then I imagined what would happen if he was still scared and froze in place.

[ Eric ]

“RUN!!!” It was the only word that I could shout. Nothing else came to mind.

The only thing that he needed to do was to step on the bridge. Even a few steps would be enough because wolves would be scared to walk on something else than solid ground. Luckily Tae took a few steps but he was still close to the edge. He looked up and grabbed the rope, he slowly walked forward. His legs were shaking but he didn’t stop.

[ Eric ]

“Little bit more! Hang in there!”

I was getting happy that he was crossing the bridge but then I saw that the wolves also got the courage to walk on this. I didn’t need to shout it for Tae to realize that the wolves were on the bridge. He definitely could feel it. I could see how stressed he is. Wolves were getting braver and moved faster.

[ Eric ]

“They’re getting closer! RUN! IF YOU WANT TO LIVE RUN!”

Tae stopped for a second, took a deep breath, and started to run. Wolves didn’t let him escape and also started to run. One of them was close to biting Tae but the wolf stepped between the planks and fell down. That didn’t scare the four wolves behind Tae. I couldn’t imagine fighting against four wolves. I took out my ax and screamed.

[ Eric ]

“JUMP TAE!!!”

With a slight hesitation, he jumped forward. At the same time, I cut one rope. The bridge titled itself. Wolves couldn’t grab anything with their paws so they fell down. Tae was able to grab the bridge close to the edge of the mountain. I helped him get up.

[ Eric ]

“You okay?”

[ Tae ]

“...Yeah… I’m... Fine.” He said he was fine but he looked like he was going to puke at any moment.

[ Eric ]

“C'mon… Don’t tell me you feel sick because of my tea.”

[ Tae ]

“That’s not… it…”

[ Eric ]

“Ok then! Let’s go!”

He said he is fine so I kept going. For some reason, he was so slow compared to earlier. When I looked back to check how he was doing… I saw him vomiting… Everything is fine he said… Finally, the path was going down. We were getting closer to the other side. I could even see the village from here but it was on the other side of the island. There were... maybe ten buildings? After the whole situation with the wolves, we stopped again.

It looked like it could rain at any second. Luckily we found a cave by the path we took. It looked like it was empty but the scent said something else. Maybe there was something deeper but we only wanted to rest for a bit. After a short break, Tae finally looked better so we were good to go! If not for the rain that just showed up…