The world was dark.

Not like night. Dark from the inside.

My body ached. Air came in roughly. As if it didn’t want to be in me.

I opened my eyes.

The hut was half collapsed. The wood creaked.

And there, in front of me, the monster… was still there.

Lying. Motionless.

Red liquid all over the floor.

Spilling from its chest, its mouth, from the tip of the broken spear still stuck in it.

The smell was strong.

Not like rotten fruit. Not like old meat.

Something new. Something foul.

I touched my chest.

My heart still beat. Slower. Deeper.

That’s when I noticed.

The slime was gone.

Nowhere to be seen.

“Slime…?” I whispered.

Nothing.

But my chest… vibrated.

A soft, familiar vibration.

From inside.

It was there.

I didn’t understand how. I didn’t understand anything.

But there was no time.

The creatures were still shouting outside. Footsteps were getting closer.

I dragged myself to the hole.

The baskets were gone. Just the open space, like the earth’s mouth.

The three little ones were still there.

Still. Alive.

The smallest didn’t move. Asleep.

The others had red eyes. About to do that thing…

That thing little ones do when they can’t take it anymore.

I got close. I hugged them.

“Shhh… we’re okay. I’m here,” I whispered, like loud words could break them. “Don’t make a sound. We’re almost out. Trust me.”

One nodded. The other curled up against me.

I held the smallest against my chest, wrapping him in a piece of cloth from the hut.

Firm. Like I glued him to me with my heart.

“Let’s go,” I whispered.

We approached the broken side of the hut. A cloth hung like a curtain.

I crouched. So did the others.

We slipped underneath.

Outside, the fire still burned. Fallen leaves were aflame. Smoke blocked parts of the sky.

We moved crouched. Silent. Through the bushes.

The creatures kept shouting.

“Move in teams! Scan the huts!” “Something killed one of ours!” “Be careful!”

I didn’t understand their words. But I felt the rage in their voices.

One of the children tripped. Another was gasping. They were close to breaking.

I stopped.

I hugged them again.

“Almost there… we’ll be fine. But you have to trust me. Don’t make a sound. I’ve got you,” I whispered.

Their eyes dimmed. Not the fear, but the shaking.

I stood up. And lifted the other two.

One in each arm.

I didn’t know where the strength came from. Maybe from fear. Maybe from pain. Maybe… from love.

I ran.

I didn’t know where. I just ran.

Branches hit me. Thorns tore me.

But I didn’t stop.

I ran until my body screamed.

And still… I ran.

Then I remembered.

The cave. The one from the stories.

A place not part of the tribe.

A safe place.

And that’s where I went. With all three.

To the guarding stone. To the darkness that doesn’t kill.

To the silence that holds you.