The Sound of Bells

His fingers scraped the ground, moving aside the few leaves that covered the footprint.

"It's gone this way."

The words scattered in the fresh breeze, clinging to the branches of the pines to vanish in the clouds. He hadn't spoken to a human in months, years. Hands in the earth, he tugged to get back on his feet and glanced around. The sound of the bells spread all around him, making it impossible to track it through hearing. Trees as far as the eye could see, always the same landscape.

Diana sighed, kicking the branch that was tangled up between her legs.
— We've been walking for two days and we're still not out of this forest. Do you think that the dimension is entirely made up of this?
— I don't know. At least, it's comfortable for camping.
— It's getting me worried, we haven't got any visibility, fulminated Diana. Is it okay with you if we try climbing up the hill? It's not very high but it will be better than nothing.
He nodded, smiling, and stroked her back in a movement intended as reassuring. She ruffled her hair in response and strode out quickly in the direction she pointed out a few seconds earlier.

He took some steps backwards to get some perspective on the scene then spotted the next track. Meticulously, he counted the steps separating the two footprints in the soft soil : three and the third of another. A smile emerged on his face. He hurried back to his knapsack, rummaged through it and extracted his notebook from it.

With his foot, he removed some leaves to make a seat and installed himself in the hollow, cross-legged. His knife jumped in his hand with the swiftness of habit and made a notch in the root of the tree he was leaning against. The reddish sap escaped from the incision and flowed on the edge of the blade. Making sure to not dirty his fingers, he soaked the end of his reed pen in the purulent wound. These trees sure were coming in handy.

With his notebook open on his knees, he applied himself to trace letters with his makeshift tool. Since he arrived here, he had to change it several times as the piece of wood always wore down, making his notebook illegible. He cautiously noted down his observation, in the space he had freed to write the part on Grus tintinnabulum. Discreet as it was, it stood out through its inoffensive nature, which made it very enjoyable to discover. He had been following its tracks for a few weeks and only had come across it a few times, which he savored, his heart full of excitement.

He got up, dusted off his clothes and stretched. His thoughts drifted for a minute towards Diana ; he hesitated to go see her again, even if it meant losing the trail of the creature for a while. This idea died down quickly, he was too far away. He sighed and gathered his stuff scattered on the ground.

Cracks of branches and the sound of raised voices drew him out of his melancholy. He froze, like a deer in the lights of a car, and simply waited for the sound to come closer, unable to think about hypotheses of what it could be.
Silhouettes appeared between the trees, three people who talked making great use of shouts and gestures. Humans, three males even, young adults, or perhaps teenagers. He didn't know that, it had been too long since he last had seen a face.

They froze as soon as they spotted him, unsheathing weapons with the kind of skill that comes with experience. One of them came forward, probably the pack leader. He scrutinized him ; medium height, blonde hair reaching down to his shoulders and the confident walk of someone that knows what he steps into.

— Are you human? he snapped with a prying look.
The newcomer wondered if he was faced with a new creature, mischievous enough to take such a normal shape. He took some time to find his words, his name and his ability to interact with others.
— Yes, I… I am Eden. I-
— I didn't think there were other people in the Great Hunt, barked the leader, cutting him unceremoniously.
Eden kept quiet, on guard. He looked at them talking among each other as if he wasn't there, throwing suspicious glances at him from time to time. They probably concluded that he wasn't a threat as the one who talked to him earlier turned to him with a big smile, holding out his hand to him.
— Name's Dan. We belong to the Pack, glad to come across somebody.

We must look for the exit, I think we've explored all we could.
— There is the Spire behind this hill, there. We should go there, even if we marked it on the map, we don't know much more. I saw a big shadow on the left slope.
— It's yet another creature, we shouldn't get close to it… But if you want to, as long as we keep our distance. We'll go by the hill to pick up some berries and the kind of wild salad you found last time. For now, we stay here.
Diana took a few more steps and threw her backpack on the ground. He imitated her and stretched with a whine that made her burst into laughter. To take revenge on her, he grabbed the nearest pinecone and threw it in her back while she was turning back to rummage through her stuff.

They walked for a few hours side by side, sharing their knowledge on the forest. Dan spoke much of him and his friends, of the stories that bonded them together and of the adventures they had shared since their arrival here. The thought of asking him to lower his voice to be quieter burned his mind on several occasions, but he dared not speak his mind. Speech did not come naturally to him after so much silence. When he tried, he stumbled, so he quickly gave up on the idea. Terse answers were enough, so he took advantage of it, leaving his smiles and nods speak for him.

Between the tales, they sometimes asked him questions whose answers he didn't have. How did he arrive here? Where was he from? He brushed these off with evasive gestures and generalities that the group accepted with knowing nods.

— Let's stop here, guys.
Dan broke the silence and confirmed at the same time his role as the leader of the troop. His companions installed makeshift carpets on the ground and produced dried meat from their bags. Eden was still standing. He didn't want to sleep with them, so he just made an uneasy gesture of the hand and fled between the trees.

After a few hundred meters, he also sat down and prepared his nest for the night. He raised his face towards the sky, gazing at the grey clouds. The camp reminded him of the nights with Diana. When they had first trodden the forest, they spent too much time exploring and ended up setting up the camp at random hours, collapsing from exhaustion. The euphoria of discovery and the indistinct day-night cycle drove them to sleep in irregular phases.

The wind blew between the branches, chanting a melody that lulled him to sleep. His sleep was disturbed by dreams of eldritch creatures, but he woke up feeling rested when he heard the outbursts of voice of the group that camped nearby.

— Oh, you're back! shouted the teenager that Dan had called Mickael. We thought you'd just disappear in the forest.
— I like to sleep quietly… But I'm here! Do you know where you're going? answered Eden with a forced smile.
— We're tracking the Crane, are you coming with us?
Grus tintinnabulum? I'm also looking for it!
His heart raced and the excitement filled him to the fingertips. Their presence on its trail was not sheer happenstance, they were all tracking the same creature. His wish to travel for a while with them was confirmed and he started telling what he knew on this beast.

He froze and listened.
— Do you hear this bell sound?
— Yes, she whispered, stretching her neck to see through the bushes. It comes from here.
He moved forward for some steps before stopping again, his way blocked by the not so welcoming thorns of a bush.
— It's moving… I feel like it's a creature.
Diana nodded with a smile, then resumed moving on the path, motioning to follow her.

His first meeting with Grus tintinnabulum dated back to their first year in the forest. They didn't linger to follow her but he had scribbled a sketch that he slid in one of the notebooks the stored in his knapsack. It was when he found this drawing between the pages that he had decided to start a full-fledged bestiary.

— I have a question, snapped Dan, pushing back the flow of memories that pervaded Eden. You've been here for a while and you told us you came without a base to our world. How will you exit the Great Hunt if nobody waits for you on the other side?
The question hit him like a cannonball. She regularly fluttered around in his thoughts, but always far enough so that he could ignore it, push it to later. The answer was scaring him way too much.

"I will not go home".

The words echoed in his mind but did not find their way to his mouth.
— We'll see, he mumbled, turning his face away.
Diana slid into the "we" like a splinter would get into his finger. His heart hammered at his temples and his mouth filled with the taste of blood. He clutched the strap of his knapsack with all his might to hide the shaking of his hands.

I've had enough to run after all of the creatures living here. I don't see the point of remaining here whereas we did everything we had to do: we should go back and report the intel we collected.
Eden lowered his head. She came closer to him and set her hand on his shoulder.
— Sorry, I didn't mean to get angry.

— Why do you call this place the Great Hunt? he queried, short-winded.
Dan spread his arms wide like a conductor, showing everything around them. In a grandiose movement, he embraced the trees, the sky and everything in-between.
— It is a formidable hunting ground, that's what we're for. Our clean sent us here to prove our worth by bringing a prey each. This space is perfect for this, we can't cheat, ask for help or give up. We discover our Thirst and our talents by competing with each other, we must come back with a beautiful trophy. I chose the bell crane.

Eden furrowed his brow while connections were established between the pieces of information he had. Hunters, of course.
— You're here to kill it, is that it?
— What else would you want us to do with it? asked Dan with a sneer. It's a prey and we Thirst.

He lowered his eyes, a sour taste in his mouth. Of course. The Pack had made this place as hers and used it as a kindergarten for her hunter apprentices.
Without saying a word, he turned around and walked away between the trees. He hesitated for a second when he heard Dan call for him but he knew he had nothing to do with them. He missed Diana.

What I'm going to do, is that I'll stay here to wait for you. I'll make good use of that time to study the weather and flora. When you're done with your research and your bestiary is complete enough, come back for me, alright? I won't move from here.
He nodded like a lost child. Excitement won him over and he embraced her to thank her.

The days of walking passed by, gloomy and mournful. The information on Grus Tintinnabulum was complete and he managed to enjoy one last observation of the creature. Wishful to avoid the group of Hunters, he didn't linger and turned back.

Every path and every tree told a memory, a snippet of laughter still stuck in the branches. He fell in love with the creatures that inhabited the woods, their sweetness, their discretion and sometimes their danger. This grove had been the place where he first observed an Avis inebrea. It was on this tree that he found he could collect its sap that strangely looked like blood.

Diana waited for him. During these months of inventory, she stayed in this grove, leaving it only to look for food. She waited so much that she had taken root.
Arrived at his destination, he dropped his bag between the bushes and laid his hand on the trunk. He could still make out the features of her face in the bark and he drew the familiar lines with his fingertips. He leaned against her. He missed his voice.

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