They had covered nearly forty kilometers in just five hours.
And yet, the location that was marked on the map… was still a few hundred kilometers away.
Sam stumbled again, his knees giving up beneath him.
His legs shook violently, but he still tried to get up.
Ina turned back.
The lower part of her knees was scraped raw, bloodied by nature itself.
Her worn-out boots were caked with thick layers of mud.
Her arms hung heavy at her sides. Even her breathing was unstable.
Her lips were cracked and dry, streaked with dried blood that tinted them a rusty crimson—like trying to give her a lipstick.
"I… I can't go on, sis…" Sam's arms trembled as he tried to push himself up again.
Ina gritted her teeth. "We're close. Just a bit more."
It was a lie. They weren't close. The cabin was still far, maybe days even months away but she couldn't let him give up.
Not now.
She moved to his side, slipping one arm under his shoulders and lifting.
Sam looked up at her, his voice barely a whisper. "Sis… do you… hate me?"
It was the seventh time he fall.
His eyes searched her face, wide and watery.
He looked like he wanted to cry but he had no more tears to give. Their walk had taken them all out of him.
Ina froze.
She used to hate his parents. Hate the lies. Hate that they hadn't told her the truth, that she wasn't really their daughter.
But after she accidentally saw what his self-proclaimed father had done to that woman… when they were escaping she refused to accept him.
All she wanted after that was to keep her little brother safe.
That was why she kept going.
That was why she still followed the map, no matter how far it led them.
"No," she said at last "I don't hate you."
She sank to her knees and wrapped her arms around him.
Sam felt the dampness spreading across his shoulder.
He knew she was crying, even if she didn't make a sound.
Still he simply held her tighter, offering what little warmth he had left.
Ina didn't let go. Not for a long time.
Something inside her finally loosened just a little.Like a knot in her chest.
When she finally pulled back, she saw her little brother had fallen asleep in her arms, still holding onto her.
She let out a shaky breath.
Carefully, she laid him down on a patch of soft grass and let him rest.
Her own body screamed for sleep, every joint aching, every muscle numb.
But she couldn't let her guard down.
Not now.
She glanced at the map again.
Still a long way to go.
Her heart sank.
*snap*
Branches cracked somewhere to the left.
She froze.
Bushes rustled nearby, the sound far too heavy for any small animal.
In one fluid motion, she summoned her sword. It wasn't glowing.
It didn't hum. Without being used against the Demon King, it was just an ordinary sword.
But right now, it was all she had.
Suddenly, a wild boar burst through the bushes, charging straight at her.
Ina tried to shift into a proper battle stance, but her body was far too numb, battered, and barely holding together.
Her arms shook as she raised her sword.
The beast didn't care.
It didn't see a fighter. It saw prey.
Snorting, frothing at the mouth, it rushed with terrifying force.
Ina braced herself and managed to position the blade just in time.
Steel met flesh, the impact slowed but not enough.
The force of the boar's charge threw her backwards like a rag doll.
She slammed into a tree several meters away.
Crack.
Air fled her lungs. Pain flared through her spine.
Blood bubbled up her throat and spilled from her lips as she coughed, the metallic taste thick on her tongue.
She groaned, trying to move.
The wild boar wheeled around, snorting, and charged again.
She rolled to the side, barely dodging the tusks, but not the hooves.
*Crunch*
A scream tore from her throat as the boar's rear hooves crashed down on her lower leg.
Pain exploded she couldn't tell if it was broken.
She couldn't hold on as she slowly lost her consciousness.
The boar advanced, foam dripping from its mouth, ready to feast on its fallen prey.
But then it stopped.
Its hooves faltered. Its breath hitched.
Something was wrong.
Its instincts screamed danger. Not from the girl. Not from the sleeping boy. But from something monstrous.
The boar scanned the clearing, confused. There was nothing there.
And yet, it felt like prey.
Its beady eyes shifted to the boy, the one still asleep on the grass.
'Easier food'
It charged.
Just as it neared, the pendant around young Sam's neck flashed with an intense blue light.
Crack!
A burst of electric energy come from the pendant.
The first bolt missed. The second skimmed the boar's flank. The third slammed directly into its chest.
The beast squealed, stumbling backward, smoke rising from its body.
Without hesitation, it turned its tail and fled into the forest, crashing through the underbrush.
Hovering nearby, Ghost Sam watched.
He had been ready to tear the boar apart with his bare hands if only he could.
Seeing Ina crushed, bleeding, his anger had flared so violently, it had made even the air feel heavy.
But when the pendant activated.
His rage was replaced with curiosity. 'Isn't it the necklace mother gave him on his 10th birthday?'
He didn't have time to think further.
Two figures emerged from the trees.
A middle-aged man in armor rushed over the moment he saw the collapsed children.
He knelt beside them, checking their breathing, his movements were fast as if he trained to do that.
The second figure followed at a slower pace a woman in white, eyes covered by a strip of cloth, dressed in the robes of a nun.
She paused.
And then walked directly toward Ghost Sam.
She stopped inches from him.
Then, gently, her hand reached up her fingers passing through his jaw like mist, yet as if she was somehow touching him.
"You carry deep hatred within you, dear soul,"
Her voice was soft to the ears as a loving mother soothing his child.
Sam's thoughts stuttered. Her words struck deep.
His anger was still there but was going away by her being next to him.
The nun's hand hovered in the air, searching.
She frowned faintly, puzzled.
The armored man turned to her. "Sister, the children are alive but the girl's in terrible shape. Shall we help them?"
The nun blinked, startled from her thoughts.
She quickly pulled her hand back, embarrassed.
"Yes. Thank you, Paladin John. We'll take them to the church. Quickly."
John nodded, lifting young Sam gently in his arms and also grabbing Ina.
The nun looked back once, scanning the trees with her blindfolded gaze searching for the angry presence she had sensed.
But it was gone.
Disappointed, she sighed.
Ghost Sam remained quiet, walking behind them as they made their way toward the church nestled near the forest's edge watching his younger self and sister being carried to safety.
He didn't know who the nun was. But for now… he had no choice but to trust her.