A walk through the mist

“Are you lost, traveler?” A voice reached out to me, cutting through the darkness. 

“I am just looking for a place of retreat for the night,” I replied.

“You won’t find much here at such a late hour,” the feminine voice reached back.

A figure approached me, holding a freshly lit lantern. Despite the burning flame, I couldn’t glance at their features as their faces remained hidden behind the fog that enveloped this town. This was the first person I had encountered since I stepped into ‘Kasumi’. 

Completely hidden among the forest and protected by a range of mountains, Kasumi was a small village that was forgotten by civilization. Explorers never even bothered displaying this place on their maps. Most people claimed the place to be a myth, disapproving of its existence.

“Follow me. It is not safe to be out here at night,” the stern voice commanded. 

I followed her through the dusted path that dissected the thick forest on one side and several dark, tiny cottages on the other. I had barely managed to escape the forest and reach the town by dusk, and it seemed like all the villagers had already gone hiding inside their unlit huts. The lack of any lights or any sound made the town feel soulless. The only voices now were the slight whispers of our footsteps on the wet ground as we walked through the dark and foggy night. 

Eventually, we approached a small old and rustic cottage made from cobblestones. As we entered inside, the old woman ignited a group of candles, which were enough to help me move around her living quarters. 

“Would you like some tea? I brewed it earlier today,” she suggested. 

“I would appreciate that,” I responded with a smile as I placed down all my equipment on the ground and found myself a seat on a rugged wooden chair.

After a few minutes of silence, the woman brought back two cups and handed one to me. My eyes had started to adjust to the dim room, and that was when I noticed the woman’s face. Oddly, she looked very similar to my own mother, who had died years ago. The woman in front of me, however, was much older with thinning gray hair and wrinkles surrounding her eyes and mouth. The short and stout woman passed me a comforting smile as the candlelight gracefully stroked her face. 

“You carry quite an amount of items with you. Are you a hunter?” The old woman observed, gazing at the equipment beside me. I was carrying with me a wooden bow and a quiver, as well as a collection of knives that rested beside my sack. 

“You can say that. I have some wolf fur stored in the sack as well that I hope to sell in the village market tomorrow.” I replied. 

“I wouldn’t suggest doing such a thing out here.” The woman quickly beamed back at me. 

“Why shall I not?”

“The villagers worship the wolves that reside in the neighboring forest. They wouldn’t appreciate a foreigner trotting along and dishonoring their beliefs.” 

“Worship?” I snorted when I heard such absurdity. “Now why would anybody worship such wild beasts?” 

“They help us.” She replied frankly. 

“Wolves are no helpers. They’re monsters that will tear through a little child if given the opportunity.” I responded, still unable to believe such an idea. 

“And is that wrong? Doesn’t a wolf need to survive and feed its cubs? Is it so different from a man biting through a fish to rid himself of his hunger?” The old woman said. 

One of the candles flickered and blew out, making the room a bit dimmer. I took a sip of the tea as I went in thought of the woman’s remarks. It tasted cold and bitter.

“I still do not understand why that prompts the villagers to worship such creatures.” I finally broke the silence.

“This is a town of villagers. Most of us farm and grow our crops. If it weren’t for the wolves, all our crops would be devoured by the tiny voles that also inhabit these forests. These ‘creatures’ obliquely help us protect our crops.” 

“You do not seem to have much land for yourself to farm. What do you do out here instead?” I asked curiously.

“I read people’s lives, and I guide them.”

“Like a fortune teller? The ones that deal with dark magic?” 

“No. I determine someone’s fate. Not fortune.” 

“Aren’t we all just fated to die eventually?” I ask. This old woman was starting to sound loopy.

“There’s a lot that happens in between birth and death. Knowing one’s fate is resourceful.” The old woman readjusts herself in her chair and focuses her vision on me, intimidating me. She starts staring deep into my eyes as if she’s reading my own life. 

“Your fate.” She responds after a moment of discomfort. “It's leading you on a path of darkness that is shrouded due to your past.” 

I take another sip of the cold and bitter tea, unsure how to respond to the claim. On the other end, I notice warm steam flowing through the woman’s cup. In that instant, another candle flickers off, dimming the lights even more. However, the woman’s stare remains unfazed.

“Tell me. Why do you hunt?” She asked abruptly.

“It is a very noble act in the city. We protect the townspeople from the beasts as well as provide them with a meal.” I replied. 

“But that's not the reason why you hunt, is it?” She asked back immediately without a change of expression. “You’re too young to be an apprentice, let alone a hunter. Yet here you are, all alone. What are you searching for out here in the wilderness that you had to stray so far away from civilization?”

Her questions catch me off guard, but her gaze remains locked in towards me. I question myself for a moment and think before I respond accordingly. 

“I’m on a personal quest. Kasumi just happened to appear on my route.” I replied. 

“And what is this quest of yours, traveler?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“There are many things that one won’t believe until they are led to understand them.” She graciously moved her brows as she responded. 

“I’m searching for a beast,” I said after a moment of silence. “Hunting to find a monster hiding within the forest. A certain wolf that is much larger and more fearsome than the rest. The king of the wolves, if you may.

“I first saw it when I was a mere child. It was the middle of the night when I was woken up by some ruckus. Upon awakening, I hear screams echoing through the chambers of my house. I was petrified as I recognized them to be my mother’s screams. After gathering some courage, I managed to move and peek through the door into the chamber. There stood this creature, a giant beast who took up almost all the space in the opposing room, while my mother kneeled beside it, begging for mercy. The monster's sharp eyes gleamed with wickedness and rage. Its growl was as loud as the town bell itself. Its hair was as coarse as a boulder. Its arms were as strong as a tree. And it drunkenly and effortlessly struck my mother. Her screams rang in my ears, and the sight of her blood pooling swirled in my eyes. I was frozen in fear, hoping this was just a dream. All I could do was cower in my room and hide helplessly as I saw my mother get eaten alive right in front of my eyes.” 

Complete silence encased the tiny room. The old woman’s stare remained determined. 

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” I said again to break the discomfort. “Nobody ever does. Many think I’ve gone cuckoo, just reciting an old children’s story. But they haven’t seen the horrors that I have seen. They’ve never seen the monster that caused the ruination. Ever since then, I’ve been on a journey to seek revenge.” 

“Revenge? Do you think it’s revenge you’re after?” My skin chilled as the woman asked. 

Another candle flickered off, making it much darker and turning the room and the woman barely visible. 

“What else would you consider it to be?” I asked confusedly as I sipped the rest of my cold tea. 

“I do not doubt that you witnessed a monster that night.” She said it with conviction as I listened attentively. “But a monster in a child’s mind appears much differently than someone who has experienced the world. The imagination of a child fades the memory that they once lived through at a young age. 

“You have walked a lonely road ever since your mother’s fateful night. And you have been stuck on that path ever since, misguided by your past as it has been fogged by the memories and the imagination of your childhood. Such an innocent imagination led you to believe that monsters are supposed to be vile creatures. 

“The monster you remember doesn’t hide in the wilderness but rather walks freely among the public. I believe your fate is not to seek revenge but justice.”

The last candle flickered off, wrapping the room in complete darkness and silence.

- - - 

  I woke up the next morning with the sun shining above my head. To my surprise, I was lying down at the corner of the forest on barren soil, next to a quiet blue lake that reflected the clear sky up above. I felt well-rested but confused as to where I was and how I got here. 

I got up, still confused as to how I got here. Far ahead, I saw a man walking by the edge of the lake in my direction. 

“Sire!” I yelled as I ran towards him, and I noticed it was a much older man than me carrying a fishing rod with him as I approached him. “Can you help guide me as to how to get to Kasumi?”

“Kasumi?” He replied irritatingly. “O young one, that is just a myth. It is just a town that is described in fairy tales as a place to help guide lost travelers. I have lived half a century now, and I can tell you that such a foolish place doesn’t exist." 

The man annoyingly walked past me without saying anything else. I was left in a confused state of mind, wondering what happened to the town and the old lady who I saw last night. It all felt too true to be a dream.

I continued walking through the path the old man came from, hoping it would lead somewhere. Suddenly, I heard some ruckus coming from within the forest. Curiosity struck me as I hiked towards the noise. 

I made my way through some thick vegetation and shrubbery as I got closer and closer to the noise. I approached an opening, and there I saw a doe lying on the ground, a spear through its body. On top of it, a man was holding a knife, carving through the deer's body. I heard another whimpering noise from the opposite direction where I saw a fawn hiding as it watched its mother get slaughtered. 

In that instant, my memories of that one fateful night reappear as I envision myself helplessly hiding inside my room, just like this fawn. The screams, the growls, the blood, all slowly coming back to recollection. I can envision my mother on the ground and the monster above her. However, now I can see the monster with much more clarity.

A child always imagines a monster as something extraordinary and distant. Some hideous creature that is isolated from the rest of the world and symbolizes pure evil. So that night when I saw the monster in my house, I wasn’t able to comprehend what was occurring, which blurred my memory. 

Now I remember that night clearly. I’ve realized that I was on the wrong path all along. I’ve understood it is not revenge that I need to hunt, but rather justice that I need to seek. I remember that that night the monster that was responsible for my fate was not a creature but rather a human. 

Now I understand the events of the previous night and what the old lady was trying to teach me. Nature thrives as intended. And within nature, only one true monster exists. One that is evil due to its greed, lust, or envy, causing it to bring ruination in the world as well as among its kind. I could never understand it when I was young and inexperienced, and it left my memory disorganized. But now I’ve understood how evil mankind could be and that the real monsters are among us.