Three men kept watch over the dying embers of the last night's fire. They didn't bother to add wood; the sun was rising, and its golden rays found a way through the maze-like thicket.

  One of them stood and headed toward the thick bushes.

  “You shouldn’t leave without telling us, and you left your weapon here.”

  “Since when do I have to tell you when I go take a piss?”

  “I was kidding. Do you need help?”

  “Fuck off. I can still take a piss alone,” the man murmured as he went into the brush.

  “You should stop messing with the recruit.”

  “I’m just having some fun. This job’s monotone. We’ve been stuck here for weeks trying to find who knows what buried in that cave.”

  The third man yawned and stretched.

  “Looks like it’s our time to begin a new day of hard work.”

  “You talk as if you’re the one moving those rocks.”

  “I’m not, but it’s still hard to keep those villagers in check.” The man smirked.

  “Yeah, it’s tough to maim one of them to keep the others fearful. You might sprain your hand while cutting one down.”

  “See, you know what I’m talking about.”

  “Stop this bullshit. You’re just a lazy bum who wants to skip work, even though you do nothing most of the day.”

  “You got me.” He laughed joyfully.

  “I can’t believe I’m stuck with a lazy bum and a rookie.”

  “Talking about that recruit, where is he? He had enough time to piss and come back.”

  “Leave him be. He’ll come back when he feels like it.”

  “I’ll let him be this time, but next time I’ll crack his skull open.”

  “Do as you want. I’ll go wake up the workers.”

  “This time, don’t forget to give them food. We can’t lose more of them to hunger.”

  “I promise, I won’t.”

  He lied as easily as he breathed.

  “I know when you’re lying, Rok. Your lower lip trembles when you do that, which is why you always lose at cards. At least give them the bare minimum.”

  “Fine. You were always the boring one, San.”

  “I might be boring, but I still want to have a long life. Those higher-ups will end us if we come back empty-handed, and I don’t want to lose my head because you messed with the peasants' food.”

  “Ok, ok, I understand. I’ll be good.”

  “Your lip twitched again, you fucker.”

  Rok pretended not to pay him any mind and walked off, whistling.

  “Those two are gonna get me killed.”

  San poured water over the embers to extinguish their last dying breath, hung his sword over his hip, and went to make sure Rok would feed the workers. On his way, he heard a rustle in the bushes and moved to investigate, but a cry for help came from the workers' tents.

  “Fucking lunatic, I told him to let them be until they ate.”

  He hurried to try and salvage as many of them as he could before Rok did something more stupid.

  “And where did that bastard go to piss?”

  Another cry rang out.

  “Rok, stop hurting them!”

  But the unfortunate rookie was taking his last breath, drowning in his own blood just behind those same bushes San had heard rustling. A black tentacle pierced his neck; he didn't even have time to react. His body hit the ground, the sound muffled by the creature’s secreted ooze.

  “Breakfast is served!”

  Slime and drool flowed from its mouth. The man’s body was quickly engulfed in living slime; he disappeared.

  The creature looked satisfied for now with its catch. After finishing its snack, it let out a burp.

  “I’ve been starving, but I’m still not satisfied.”

  It began racking what used to be its host brain to plan its next move. Its decomposing face tried to smile, but half of it was gone; only a grotesque vestige of a smile remained.

  An idea sprouted in its maniacal mind.

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  “That will work. But before that, I should prepare the scene for the main actors.”

  It walked back into the shadows of the forest, waiting, planning.

  Time passed. The sun was setting; only a few patches of light were left. The sounds of the toiling men echoed around the trees. Rok leaned against a trunk while San oversaw the work.

  “Move faster if you want to eat dinner. The sun had…”

  A high-pitched snore from Rok interrupted him.

  “Goddamn it, can you even do something else?”

  San hit him with a rock.

  “Why did you do that?” Rok asked.

  “You dare ask me why? You haven’t done anything constructive all day.”

  “I stood out of your way, didn’t I?”

  “You did, but that doesn’t excuse slacking off.”

  “If that rookie could leave for who knows where and not return all day, you should find my behavior acceptable.”

  “Don’t remind me. I’ll kill him if he returns.” Rok laughed.

  “I haven’t seen you this angry in a long time. I hope he returns. I want to see what you’re gonna do. Remember what you did to the last one; that was an entertaining day.”

  He laughed harder; San wanted to shout, but a cry coming from deeper in the forest caught their attention.

  “Help! Help me!... Help! Help me!” The voice repeated like an echo.

  “Who’s there?”

  “It must be that rookie; he might try to scare us. Stop fucking around and get back here!” Rok shouted.

  “Help! Help me!... Help! Help me!”

  “You go there and see what he wants.”

  Rok pointed at one of the workers.

  The man was scared to venture into the forest, but he saw a glimpse of a sword and decided it was better to face whatever was in the trees than face the malicious men. After mustering what courage he could, he walked toward the repeating cries.

  “Help! Help me!... Help! Help me!”

  He went to investigate. The crying stopped, but he never returned.

  Too much time passed. Night fell; they had already started the campfires.

  “What are those two doing? They should’ve come back by now!” San raised his voice.

  “Just send another worker to look for them.” Rok shrugged.

  “Why not send all of them and let them have a party in the woods?”

  “That’s a good idea.” Rok snickered.

  “Get your ass up. We’re going to look for them.”

  “Can’t we go tomorrow? It’s already too late.”

  “We go now. End this charade. Take your sword, light a torch, and let’s go.”

  Rok would have preferred to laze by the fire, but he knew better than to anger San further. Each lit a torch, and they headed into the thicket. The torches made shadows that danced on the surrounding trunks.

  “I hate this forest. I heard we lost a lot of manpower because of its natural formations. They say it created monsters so real that touching them scrambles your mind and you go insane.” San's voice stuttered as he recalled the story.

  “Stop being a scaredy-cat, San. The formation was already dispersed, so there shouldn’t be any trouble.” Rok said, though his voice trembled too.

  “You’re right, but we should still be prepared for the unexpected.”

  The terrain was rough; the night slowed them down. They moved at a snail’s pace. Suddenly, there was the sound of a twig breaking. San stared into the darkening tree line; his heart hammered in his chest.

  “Rok, something’s strange.” He whispered.

  “I can’t believe you got scared by a twig snapping. Grow some balls.”

  “Not the twig, you idiot. Take a moment and listen. What do you hear?”

  Rok pricked up his ears.

  “I hear nothing.”

  “And you don’t find that strange?”

  “Why should I?”

  San face-palmed.

  “How have you managed to survive until now? How can there be no sound in a forest? There are no insects, no animals.”

  “They might have been scared by our presence and the light.”

  “It’s too much of a coincidence. Something shady is happening. We should get back to camp and resume tomorrow.”

  “You’re the leader. Let’s head back.”

  As they turned, the voice returned.

  “Help! Help me!... Help! Help me!”

  “Should we investigate?” Rok asked with half a mouth.

  “No! We’re getting back. We can’t risk it.”

  “Clever rats.” A voice murmured from the shadows.

  They carefully retraced their steps. San and Rok felt as if someone was watching them and quickened their pace, their hearts beating faster than ever did.

  “Let’s hurry. We’re almost there.” San said, hopeful.

  Then he realized the steps they followed led them deeper into the forest.

  “Stop!”

  He raised his hand.

  “What is it?”

  “These aren’t our steps. We’ve gone deeper in. Something’s toying with us.”

  San saw, out of the corner of his eye, the light behind him dim. He turned and saw only Rok’s unlit torch. Panic seized him; he drew his sword and frantically screamed for the missing man.

  “Rok! Answer me, you fucker! Where are you? It’s not the time to play games.”

  Branches fluttered as if something moved from bough to bough.

  “Show yourself! Whoever you are, if I find you, I’ll end you!” San tried to appear brave but was scared stiff.

  Another branch snapped. San didn’t look back; he chose a direction and bolted. In his panic, he dropped his torch. He ran as fast as he could, hearing something behind him keeping a fair distance, as if it didn’t want to catch him, yet.

  Without the torch, he didn’t see the steep slope ahead. He tripped and fell over sharp rocks; the jagged rocks tore into his body as he fell, and, worse, he dislocated his right hand as he hit the ground.

  “FUCK!” His scream echoed through the forest.

  He lay drained of energy and ideas. A flickering light caught his attention, and then a familiar voice.

  “San, over here. Come to me.” A human figure waved.

  It was too dark to see who it was, but the flickering light showed human features.

  “Rok, you son of a bitch! You survived!” San’s voice brimmed with hope.

  He pushed himself up with his good hand and crawled toward the light, imagining how he’d escape this hell and start a new, simple life.

  He barely climbed the hill from which the light came, but found only a campfire.

  “Rok, where are you?” He called desperately.

  The voice answered from further ahead:

  “San, over here. Come to me.”

  Without realizing anything was wrong, San followed the voice, which guided him away from the safety of the light and deeper into the shadows.

  “How long are you going to make me walk? Rok, answer me!”

  “San, come to me.” The voice’s tone was the same as before, flat, like a recording.

  “I’m not taking another step! You come to me!”

  “San…come to me.” The voice urged.

  It was getting closer now. San finally understood something was wrong, but it was too late. The voice grew ragged and guttural; it no longer resembled his friend.

  His good hand went for his sword, but he must have lost it in the fall; only a scrap of fabric remained at his waist. He grabbed the closest thing he could use as a weapon, which he thought was a withered branch. Up close, it wasn’t a branch at all; it was bone. Bones were scattered around: animals, and some that looked like human skulls.

  He wanted to run, but the voice surrounded him as if multiple people were speaking.

  A chorus repeated:

  “Come to me.”

  Then they stopped.

  San waited to be attacked, but nothing happened.

  “Stop playing with me!” He roared. “Kill me, but stop toying with me. Just end me, please.”

  Silence swallowed his plea. Then he heard footsteps approaching from right behind him. He turned quickly and saw nothing. Whatever had been there disappeared. He thought he’d escaped until he felt a viscous substance dripping over him. He started crying; the last thing he did was scream.

  His scream rang through the forest and beyond. The workers at the camp scrambled and scattered in different directions.

  Those who escaped never dared speak of that night in the forest again. Since that day, the place became a forbidden zone; no one would ever dare stay there overnight.