Emotions Make Us Feel Alive

Mayton and the group of hunters were on their way to the village for quite some time already. They didn't take the route they came from. Without Old Mert, the forest was too dangerous for the youngsters. So instead of going through the forest, they decided to move along the edges of the forest until they reached the village.

If their group was in perfect condition, they would be at the village before noon. Unfortunately, two of them were injured and this slowed them down considerably. Zgar got his leg caught in a bear trap, and this impeded his walking. Thus even though the hunter who got his right arm ripped off had the graver injury, it was instead Zgar's injury which slowed them down. Because of that, it was already afternoon when the village became visible on the horizon.

'' Sigh. What a disappointment this trip was.''

''Wait until you see Old Mert return to the village with that damn beasts carcass. It would be worth it then. Just imagine how much money we..''

Two hunters were talking to alleviate their boredom while walking but after getting a hateful glare from the hunter who lost his right arm, they cut off their conversation abruptly as they felt shame. Unexpectedly, much to the surprise and ire of Mayton, he also got the same glare.

After failing to understand the reason for a moment, when he traced the eyes of the one armed hunter, it suddenly dawned on him. The hunter was looking at his medicine pouch. He was obviously resentful because Mayton didn't give him any of Renas' medicine.

Mayton shrugged his shoulders as he disregarded Gary's glare and continued to chat with Ghorzhang about this and that. He couldn't care less about such a small minded man.

When the hunters got closer to the village they saw that black dots were descending and flying up again continuously in the sky above the village. This immediately attracted everyone's attention.

'' Huh, aren't those things above the village look like ravens?''

''Why would it be.. It can't be...''

''Something is wrong! We must hurry to the village! ''

A sharp eyed hunter saw the ravens and as he pointed it out everyone looked carefully to ascertain. Soon panicked voices rose from the group of hunters as they left behind the youngsters and started running towards the village.

Mayton was also panicked after seeing the ravens. After all, ravens ate corpses. It was never a good sign to see ravens in a group, above a particular location. When Mayton thought about how his father, mother and sister, practically all of his family, was in the village, he also couldn't help but run as fast as he can. While he was running he thought to himself; ' Please be safe. Please be safe. Please be safe. ' all the way to the village.

''Wha- What happened here? How can such a thing is even possible?!''

''What kind of sorcery is this?''

Some of the hunters were shouting while others wept as they tried to find their relatives in this carnage.

''Go the f*** away, you damn birds. Leave my family alone! ''

One of the hunters couldn't hold himself together anymore as he had a mental breakdown. He was randomly swinging his dagger around towards the ravens. The ravens were eating his five years old child's and wife's corpses before his very eyes. This was simply unbearable.

After taking in this scenery Mayton's felt like his heart was going to leap out of his chest. He saw a crying hunter drag out a dead body from the bushes. There was a mother who embraced her two children protectively. Mother and children, they were all dead. Not even babies were spared.

Mayton thought about Old Mert's words and the terrified look on his face whenever he talked about devils, as he started to connect the dots. Mayton couldn't help but blame himself for all of this. The deaths were too unnatural to be doing of bandits or beasts. The culprit obviously held supernatural powers. It was most likely the doing of a powerful cultivator.

Mayton remembered his lofty sentiments in the Demonic Forest and thought how laughable it was. What was the point of being the last one standing if he was to stand alone? What did it matter if he slaughtered all his enemies if there wasn't anyone left to share his joy?

As he continued to move towards his home, tears began welling up in his eyes. The tiny bit of hope that his family may still be alive kept him from collapsing where he was. He refused to believe they were dead before seeing their corpses. What to do now? Getting revenge? All of that could wait until he reunited with his family.

In his previous life, he never felt anything like this. His parents passed away when he was a little kid. He didn't even remember their faces. In this life, his second chance, he was blessed by parents who loved him more than anything. But because he was mentally older than his parents, he always felt estranged from them. Only now did he realize how much he loved them. How much he depended on them emotionally.

''Please be alive. Please be alive. Please be alive. Please be alive.'' Mayton started to mutter faster and faster, louder and louder.

When he came near the place his father died, he was almost shouting. Then he saw his fathers corpse. Babrak still held his trusty bow in his hands. Even though a raven ate half of his face, his other eye had a defiant, unreconciled look in it. It looked like, if his enemies dared to come near, he would get up and continue fighting.

Mayton stood there dumbfounded as tears trickled down from his eyes. He knew that his family was probably dead, but he instinctively rejected such an outcome. Alas, the reality was in front of him. No amount of denial could change the reality. No amount of denial could bring his father back to life.

He stood there and cried for a long while, and when he finally got himself together, the sun was already going down. He still had to find his mother and sister before the sunset. He couldn't let the ravens desecrate his father's body any more than they already did. But he also didn't have time for a proper burial. So he gently took his father's corpse from the ground and placed it on a cloth he stripped from another villager's corpse. He wanted bring his father's body with him using the cloth.

After taking his father corpse with him, he made his way towards his home. The home he stayed together with his family for 12 years. Everywhere he passed by on his way were littered with corpses of villagers. Mayton was already numb after seeing all the death around him. His crying subsided too as he felt a strange calmness after crying for a while. Mayton felt like there was nothing left that can stir his emotions anymore.

As the sun descended, with the darkness of the night creeping towards the village from the horizon, the voices of hunters who came together with Mayton also began to quieten. A gloomy atmosphere covered the whole village when Mayton finally arrived at his home.

There she was. His mother stood next to the water well in their garden, leaning to its coarse stone wall. Her gray hemp dress was unsullied despite all the chaos and carnage around her. She looked peaceful in death. It was like she fulfilled her goals for this lifetime and was ready to embrace her end.

Mayton looked at his mother for a moment then placed his father next to her as he also proceeded to sit in front of them and got lost in his thoughts. Their corpses presented a strange contrast. One was peaceful and welcoming of death, the other looked unyielding and heroic.

Mayton found this odd. His father was always stubborn and always defied his fate. You could see that from his life after getting handicapped. He never pitied himself and always strived to do his best in all his endeavors. His father and Old Mert even argued a few times because his father felt like Old Mert pitied him. He could still remember his father roaring at Old Mert, the strongest and most unreasonable man in the surrounding area, to mind his own business. Thus his father's expression was just like how it should be.

On the other hand, his mother whose corpse indicated that she accepted her death without any scruples looked extremely suspicious. His mother was no less than his father in stubbornness or heroism. She, not only raised two children but also took care of the family's barn and fields after Babrak got injured. She was by no means a woman who would surrender to her fate.

This made Mayton think of a possibility. His sister, Angeza's body was still nowhere to be found! What if his mother somehow ensured Angeza's survival thus looked like she could go on peacefully? This possibility made Mayton's heartbeats become faster again. He didn't dare to hope for a miracle and then get disappointed again but what if Angeza was still alive?

With those thoughts in his mind, he got up and started searching around. He started from the house. It had three rooms so even with searching every nook and cranny, it still didn't take him too much time.

Unfortunately, it was getting darker and this made his search harder. When he got out of the house, his hopes about Angeza dashed quite a bit, he saw his father and mother staying next to each other under the moonlight. It looked poetic as Mayton felt profound sadness gush out from his heart. 'At least they can accompany each other in death, as they did in their lives.' thought Mayton as he sighed. He was finally coming to terms with the reality. He lost all his family. He was all alone in the world now.

While Mayton was in a daze, looking at his parents, suddenly a faint whimper interrupted his thoughts!