Chapter 3; People of the Earth

A twig cracks beneath her foot and she looks down, silently cursing herself. The forest is alive at night. It’s a living entity, the trees move without the wind, and the shadows sneak around. In the woods, you are always being watched. Her skin crawls as that feeling that she’s not alone comes along. “Calm down, Su Min. Be strong.” she whispers, her fists clenching.

No one knows of her secret fear. That is, being alone in the dark. It was a fear she developed as a child when her parents were killed and she had to spend countless nights alone with shadows nearly consuming her. A soft breeze causes the branches to move and Su Min stops in her tracks. Glancing around, she realizes that the area is less rugged but still shaded from view.

The thought of crawling around this forest any longer doesn’t seem appealing, so she decides to get some rest, although she has absolutely no desire to do so. The sooner she can complete this mission, the better, which means a lot of late nights. A howl sounds distantly and Su Min shuts her eyes and places her hand over her heart. “I’ll be OK.”

You can’t do this, a voice whispers. Maybe it was inside her head, but most likely, it was something else. “Shut up.” she growls as she shuts her eyes tighter. But the voice keeps going. You’ll fail, and die, just like your predecessors. Her eyes flick open and she glances around. The medallion around her neck feels heavy suddenly and she frowns. “I hate this.” she groans as she lies her head against the trunk of a tree. Then, quit.

“No.”

Su Min closes her eyes once again and lets her eyelids become heavy. After lying there for awhile, listening to the shrill shrieks of the birds, she drifts to sleep.

- - -

The distant tweet of birds and crunching of leaves causes Su Min to awake. The sun is still low and the sky is still tinted a light coral color, but she has no time to waste. Lifting herself up, she glances around. The landscape seems to be untouched, however, a small mark catches her eye. Footprints. Leaning down, she brushes her fingers over them and narrows her eyes. “They’re not that old.”

Grabbing her things, she begins to follow the footprints. Of course, this course of action may be foolish. Shape shifters are tricky beings, and hard to kill as well, this might just be a ploy. However, the footprints might also lead to a village. Honestly, Su Min knows little to nothing about what life is like outside of the clan. Meaning, she has little to no knowledge about where things are.

In town, she could buy a map. Sadly, there is one other problem, she has no idea as to how she can find these so called Divine Beings. Sighing, she glances around and gasps at the sight before her. A beast, of sorts, stands just 10 feet in front of her. Ghastly horns poke out of its head and its fur is a dark blue color. Nostrils the size of her hand and beady red eyes. “.” she breathes.

Slowly, but surely, she begins to back up. Her back meets the trunk of a tree and she wraps herself around it, making sure to be as quiet as possible while climbing it. The bark is slippery, and a sticky substance of sorts lies in patches around it. Finally, she reaches a sturdy branch and positions herself on it. Her legs hang off the side and she quickly pulls herself up into a crouching position.

The beast looks around and sniffs the air, its beady eyes seem to bulge slightly. There’s a shift in the air and Su Min watches, as if in slow motion, as an arrows streams through the air. Her eyes widen slightly as it impales the beasts chest, and crimson liquid leaks out of the wound. It staggers slightly as a volley of arrows come after the first, and finally, it falls. Dead. She twists around in her spot and watches as a group of men emerge from the woodworks. They bare bows and crossbows, and in each of their satchels are stone headed arrows that have been sharpened to a point.

She watches in disdain as they butcher the beast and place the meat on a small carriage of sorts. One of them watches from the sidelines, his face full of disgust. Another man who’s larger and burlier comes up to him and cuffs him roughly on the back. “Now, you see, this is what men do. Kill things. From now on, Kyungsoo, you should spend more time out here instead of making pottery.” the man bellows. The last word comes out thick and slimy, as if it were evil.

“Yes, I see.”

After a good hour, they finish and walk off, their spoils in tow. A wicked smile appears on her face as she hops down from her perch. She lands on the ground with a soft thud, her eyes scan the area quickly before she stands up and pads towards where those people came from. They’re loud, almost obnoxiously so, which makes following them very easy. Whenever one of them turns around, Su Min simply ducks into the brush. Luckily, it seems they aren’t very bright either.

After over an hour of walking, they reach the outskirts of a small village. The houses are built of light clay and stone, materials that aren’t always easy to work with. T is done with wood, and the roofs consist of hundreds of slate shingles. While the style is similar to that of the ones back at the camp, the look is different. For some reason, the houses seem warmer.

Realizing that she’s fallen behind, she runs to catch up, but is careful to stay in the shadows. The group descends a small hill that leads into the town. No walls surround the town, obviously, they have no threats of attack. Su Min slides down the hill and presses herself against the shaded half of a house. Once she has ensured that no one is around, she escapes into the bustle of the town. Luckily, no one seems to notice her appearance.

People sell fine pottery on the sides of the street. Craftsman work on their spinning tables, making intricate vases. Others work with large slabs of rock and stone. These people really like the ground, don’t they? Su Min can’t help but laugh at their slight obsession. But a sudden thought comes to mind. Earth. She spins around, finding it hard to take in everything, especially with her new discovery on mind. One of them, the Force of Earth, is here. In this town. Now it’s just a matter of finding him.

She walks along an alley, being careful to act inconspicuous. In a small town like this, the appearance of an outsider wouldn’t go unnoticed for long. As a set of two men walk past, she slips into a little alcove. Once they’ve gone, she turns the corner, only to find herself face to face with that boy. His eyes are wide and full of curiosity. His lips are full and heart-shaped, the sight is almost humorous. He takes a step closer to Su Min, and narrows his eyes.

“Why did you follow us?”