Ren's heart stopped, he grabbed Mei's hand again, tighter this time.
"We have to move!" He barely voiced.
But the body next to him didn't respond, her chest rose up and down, weak and ragged. She was conscious, but barely.
Stones cracked under the pressure, the beast seemed to be testing the edge.
Ren scrambled onto his knees, slipping on the wet rocks. He looked around frantically, dense trees filled the other side, if only they could cross ---
Another roar split the air.
Ren gritted his teeth, forcing himself upright, pulling Mei with him. She stirred with her eyes fluttering open.
"I've got you." He muttered to what seemed to her, but it was more so to himself.
They went into the river again, it was shallower here, the current was weaker, but the cold water was still there. The fire roared above, but fortunately for them and unfortunately for the beast, it couldn't see them from the smoke all over the forest and cliff.
For now at least.
Every second counted, every step was closer to their safety.
Ren pushed through the freezing water, dragging Mei just as he was dragging himself across.
And then--
*Crack*
The cliff had betrayed the beast just like it had betrayed them.
The beast leaped, not at them nor down, but scaling the side, digging it's claws into the stone while descending.
Once again it was coming for them, slowly.
Ren's vision blurred, from the cold, from the fear, from the lack of rest, but the far trees were now close, only a few more steps remained.
They reached the other side and collapsed again onto the mossy dirt, coughing, gasping with whatever energy they could muster.
But still, the beasts thudding descent continued.
Ren looked up through the thick trees and smoke, he couldn't see the beast, but he could feel it's approach, the threads were trembling around it.
He turned to Mei "We have to hide."
"No..." She rasped "We have to lose it at once."
"How?"
"She sat up with effort visible, looking deeper into the woods. "There's a place, an old grove, I passed it once with old Wu. The trees there were...wrong. But they were thick, it won't be able to follow us easily there."
Ren didn't ask what she meant by wrong, but that wasn't the time for questions, he didn't care to know now, safety was more important than his curiosity.
He nodded, rose to his legs again, and stared pulling her with him.
Behind them, the beasts presence loomed closer.
The deeper they went into the forest, the more unnatural everything became.
The air grew unnaturally still. The smoke thinned, not due to the distance, it was as if it didn't dare enter this place. The trees were twisted in strange shapes, their bark was etched with weird grooves that almost looked like faces, or more so screams frozen in time. Light barely reached through the densen trees, casting long shadows.
Wind was nonexistent there.
Just silence.
Even the beast's thudding steps had vanished, like it reached the end of it's journey at this place.
Ren noticed it, and his legs slowed instinctively. The threads here, didn't hum, they whispered, curling around him like a breath and wary, like animals sniffing a stranger.
"This place...?" Ren exclaimed.
"Told you, feels wrong." Mei whispered, leaning on him heavily.
They started stepping carefully now, afraid to make a sound to disturb this place. Any crunch of dead leaves beneath them sounded deafening in this eerie stillness. The grove seemed to be alive, in it's own way, not like a normal forest, this was older, forgotten.
Ren looked around.
Then stopped.
A figure was standing ahead, staring back at them, motionless.
His heart jumped to his throat, he was about to drag Mei behind him before the figure spoke.
"You took your time." The voice was clam, collected.
Old Wu.
He walked forward, his robe was still damp with water and blackened by smoke, but his posture remained untouched by exhaustion.
His eyes scanned the two children sharply, like a blade.
"Y-you....H-How?"
Ren stared, speechless, not knowing how to react or what to say.
Wu didn't reply, he just kept walking forward towards them with a slow pace. Staring at the two children with his usual calm gaze.