Before me lay an artificial clearing, the grass trampled-no, squashed down-by something heavy. And at the edge of that clearing stood a tall statue: the statue of a monster.
How did this get here? Was it turned into stone?
The statue was almost three times my size. Its form was bizarre-almost humanoid, but with long and twisted limbs, a face filled with emotion despite hardly looking human.
It expressed anger and, at the same time, fear. It looked certain, but also desperate.
The weirdest part, however, was the statue's chest:
It looked like it had collapsed, something colorful stuck inside the upper part.
My hand extended, rested on the colorful shine, then slowly dug into the crumbling gravel and pulled out a strange, disfigured metal object.
It was clearly made of metal, but it was also wet and hot, like a piece of flesh-like a living being.
Just now, I noticed the object pulsing slowly, almost like a heart.
I turned it in my hand, and a chain fell from it.
It looks... familiar.
Now I saw it. It was weirdly inflated, but it looked just like...like the necklace...my mom wore.
Could it be?
How did this thing end up inside the statue's chest?
My eyes wandered back to the statue's face, then to its hair.
It clicked in my mind-I had an idea.
It felt like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle had just fallen into place. Everything made sense.
My mother's body hadn't been on the lighting platform where she had...where she fell.
Also, whatever had followed me seemed to have some interest in me, but it didn't attack.
A tear rolled down my face as I glanced up at my mother's mutated, now fossilized face.
It felt unfair to see her like this.
The worst fate is reserved for the best people.
As if whoever weaves fate has a cruel and unjust sense of humor.
I tore my gaze away from my mother's face.
If my mother was here, turned into stone, then that meant that whatever had turned her into a statue was still alive.
The other monster must have moved on and might still be nearby.
If it was really nocturnal, that meant it couldn't pick up my trace until this evening. But until the mysterious beast could return, I wanted to be as far away as possible.
I turned around-but I could not leave.
I was unable to just walk away from my mother, standing there, turned into a monster, turned into stone.
She had protected me with her life.
She had protected me even after her death.
I turned to face her again.
The chain that was around her neck now hung from mine, still lightly pulsing.
"I... I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't able to protect myself. And I will make... I will…"
My voice broke.
What would I do?
She was dead-and there was no way to bring her back.
Or was there?
"I will bring you back! I will find a way, and I will do whatever it takes! I WILL FIND A WAY!"
My hand clutched the necklace.
To say goodbye, I wrapped my arms around the statue's twisted legs.
Tears were now rolling down my cheeks again.
After the long hug, I finally released her from the embrace and took a step back.
"I will get you back. No matter the cost."
And with that, I turned around and walked into the tall grass at the edge of the small clearing.
———
My march toward the tower continued.
The first day of marching brought no interesting encounters.
No monsters even got close to me-which was strange, considering the part of the forest I was in. The silence around me was disturbing. It felt as if even the birds were avoiding my path.
Even the night following that day brought no monsters with it.
Now I was almost certain: something was wrong. I couldn't figure out exactly what, but something was clearly off.
The second day of marching brought the first changes in the surroundings.
The terrain around me began to slope downward. It felt as if I were descending into a crater-a valley of considerable depth.
The ground kept falling away for hours. The sun had nearly reached the horizon again, but its light was already gone. The mist was still thick, yet the sun's light had previously managed to pierce it.
Now, however, a dark shadow lay over the landscape.
As if something of unimaginable proportions had blotted out the light.
'That must be the tower.'