When Nyx finally reached the carriage, his chest was heaving with exhaustion. Sweat clung to his dirt-streaked face, and every breath burned like fire in his lungs. He bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for air as the eerie silence of the forest pressed in around him like a suffocating blanket.
After a few moments, once his breathing had steadied, he circled around the carriage with hurried steps, scanning its sides for a door. The carriage, though finely crafted, was shut tight—its windows were latched, and no steps or handle revealed an obvious entrance.
Frowning with urgency, Nyx raised his hand and knocked firmly on the wooden frame.
Nyx was certain that the carriage wasn't hiding any bloodthirsty monsters or creatures that could scream straight into a person's mind. He knew—because Love had already told him.
And while he didn't fully trust everything she said, in matters like these—when it came to things that could kill him—he knew she never joked. Not once.
There had been a time, not long ago, when her voice had pierced his dreams with a single urgent cry. That warning had saved his life. He'd woken up just in time to avoid a blade aimed at his throat—an assassin's sword meant to end him in his sleep.
And then there was the way her voice had trembled when she spoke about the monsters that prowled these woods—those silent things with hollow eyes and sharp teeth, creatures that drank blood and left only echoes behind. The fear in her voice hadn't been theatrical or exaggerated. It had been real—raw. It sounded like someone who knew, with horrifying certainty, that if he were ever caught by them, he wouldn't stand a chance.
Nyx didn't want to take that kind of risk.
Still, there was a question that gnawed at the back of his mind like a persistent rat.
If Love could sense living beings nearby… why hadn't she warned him about the screaming creature earlier?
Why didn't she say anything if it was really there? he wondered. Was it not alive? But… how could something that isn't alive scream like that? And how could it be so loud?
The more he thought about it, the more it unnerved him. That thing—whatever it was—wasn't just a threat. It was a mystery. And the mystery made it even more terrifying.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Hey! I'm human," he called out, his voice urgent but not yet panicked. "Open up—if you want to live."
He waited, ears straining in the stillness. Nothing. Not even a whisper came from within.
He knocked again, louder this time, the pounding echoing faintly through the night.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"There are monsters out here!" he warned, voice rising. "They suck blood, they're fast—they're coming. Open up, now!"
Still no answer.
Nyx's heart thudded painfully. According to Love, he had only five minutes before the creatures caught up to him. His eyes darted toward the blackness behind him, as if expecting glowing eyes to appear at any second.
He didn't have time for their fear. He had to think. Fast.
If the truth didn't work, then—
He took a breath and hardened his voice with a confident tone, projecting authority he didn't feel.
"I'm from the royal Kingdom sent to scout in these areas," he lied, his voice ringing clear in the darkness. "We received a report about travelers caught on this road. I was sent to escort you out. The forest is crawling with monsters tonight—you need to open this door now!"
"Open up if anyone's inside, or I'm leaving! They're getting closer!" Nyx called out, his voice sharp and commanding.
There was a firm confidence in his tone—calculated, deliberate. He wasn't sure who was inside that carriage, or if they'd even believe him, but he had no choice. Time was slipping away like sand through a clenched fist, and according to Love, they had less than five minutes before death came crawling out of the trees.
So he lied.
Not out of malice, but desperation.
For a few tense moments, there was only silence—heavy and suffocating. The night stretched on, thick with dread. The carriage remained still, lifeless, as if no one was inside.
Then, faintly, there came the soft rustle of movement from within.
A moment later, a trembling voice called out, muffled by the wood and thick cloth lining the inside of the carriage.
"Don't leave us… we're still here!"
The voice was laced with fear, cracking under the weight of panic and cold. Someone was in there—alive, terrified, and finally willing to listen.
Nyx was certain that the people hiding inside the carriage understood just how dangerous this forest truly was.
From the moment he'd set foot in these woods, not a single living thing had crossed his path. No birds in the trees. No insects crawling through the underbrush. Not even the scuttling of rats or the hoot of an owl. Nothing.
It wasn't natural. Forests were never this quiet.
Something was wrong with this place—deeply, fundamentally wrong. And Nyx knew that whoever was inside the carriage had likely sensed it too.
So even if they feared he might be a monster in disguise, the thought of staying alone in this cursed forest was far worse. When death circled close and darkness pressed in from all sides, even the faintest hope of rescue became a lifeline.
If there was even the slimmest chance that he was who he claimed to be—a royal guard sent to help—they had to take it.
And Nyx already had a plan for what came next.
But before anything else, Nyx knew exactly what he had to ask.
He stepped closer to the carriage door, his voice low but firm, cutting through the cold silence of the forest.
"Do you have…"