1.5

Returning to the cave Rey waited for the little guardian to wake up, but it didn't happen.

"Ummm? She doesn't open her eyes no matter how much I move her. She's not dead, as her chest still beats and inflates for air."

Sitting up and willing to wait, Rey watched the cave light up in different shades of gray. Nothing was black, or entirely white, but between those two shades even the cracks in the wood became distinguishable.

"If I'm able to see everything, it's daytime But why is she still sleeping?" the little boy wondered as he ran his hand over the feline's head. "My stomach rumbles a lot. Time keeps passing, it's even colder. I can see something white falling from above and coating the ground outside the cave. I have to get help! But first I must be able to get to where they are to ask for it" he said to himself as he walked out of the cave and into the forest.

This time, being able to see, he didn't have to be guided by his staff, and perhaps he could find what he was looking for. Still, no matter how far he walked, Rey could not find a course to follow.

"I've got it, I'll mark the trees on the path. That's a good idea. As long as I'm moving I can't fall asleep, although somehow my stomach seems to be rumbling more."

Rey set off. Though he couldn't feel his feet and was sinking on the white snow with the unicorn horn, he marked the trees around him.

"Exploring seems to be a good remedy against sleep. umm? Sleepy, I'm still sleepy even though it's daytime, shouldn't one's body rest only at night?"

Rey remembered, he had no choice but to talk to himself.

"Eternal night," said Heroclades. "Even if I don't know the meaning of eternal, maybe it's still night and I'm the only one awake. Does that mean I can see as clearly as if it were daytime?! Hmm. That's an interesting possibility. Come to think of it, I can smell things I couldn't before. A sweet smell, a scent that enters my nose and goes straight to my stomach. If so, maybe it's edible."

Directing his gaze to the ground, he continued.

"Whatever it is, it's coming from under the ground. I must make my way. My hands and fingernails are all I need."

The little one set to work. He scratched the ground again and again, kept digging until he pushed the dirt aside.

"The smell gets more intense. Come to think of it, even though the depth of this hole is already more than twice my size, I can still see as if it were daylight. Even if this hole becomes my own grave, I'm happy. Very happy to be able to see in the dark is all I wished for, as well as to be able to find food."

Tearing off the large tuber, the smile on the little boy's face cracked.

"I'm not so happy anymore. If I could have seen in the dark from the beginning, she wouldn't have had to end up so badly. Also if I had been stronger... strength means a lot when knowledge is little... How to get rid of this feeling that twists my throat, and this burden that crushes me? My happiness becomes a burden. I don't think it's fair, how far would I be able to go if I didn't have to carry this burden I'm carrying?"

Between thoughts, inside the hole, Rey bit into the big root as if it were a piece of smoked ham. Bite after bite, he grumpily sniffled over his failure like a cat eating while someone was touching its tail. Satisfied with the mashing, Rey took a mighty leap out of the hole. After turning around, he looked in the direction of the tree.

Satisfied with the peck, Rey took a mighty leap out of the hole. After turning around, he looked in the direction of the tree. Satisfied with the pile driver, Rey took a mighty leap and climbed out of the hole. After turning around, he looked in the direction of the tree.

"I have to be more careful, compensate for my lack of strength with intelligence. Just like before. The scenario doesn't change whether past, present or future. Look at everything. Pay attention, don't just see for the sake of seeing or listen for the sake of hearing. Discover what is hidden before the eyes of those you see. I will keep walking. I will start walking and I will walk more and more. If the burden grows heavier, I will drag it harder."

Like someone squeezing a wound with the intention of trying to soothe the pain with more pain, Rey continued.

"Oops? I've been through this place before. It looks very familiar, but the logs don't have my markings on them. "Hard to learn, very easy to forget," said the Great Wise Wizard... I feel like I should remember, I'm overlooking something. With a little more time, or a dozen steps, the answers will come... I have no choice. What better teachers are there in this place than the trees that make up the Ever-Changing Forest? They didn't get to that size or become what they are without first resisting the bites of time, fighting the wind, the rain, the earth, my teacher told me. umm? Come to think of it. My wounds have healed, maybe these trees have the same ability, if so I have to check it out."

Indeed, Rey with one thrust, cut the bark of a trunk with the blade of his horn. Then he sat down to wait. It was not instantaneous, but after a while the trunk returned to normal and rather than healing it seemed to move.

"The tree moved. So that's what this is all about."

Answers came to his mind.

"This place is called the Ever-Changing Forest, because of the trunks recovery and with this cold white stuff falling from above I have no way to go back the way I came if I just keep walking," the busy young man thought. "Hmm? My fingernails have hardened from digging for food, and if I climb one of these trees, what can I find at the top?"

With the thought in mind, the little boy stood up and lifted his head as high as he could.

The trees around him were immense and imposing. Those with less thick trunks were the smallest in height and measured around 22 meters, those with thicker trunks reached up to 3000 meters. The bark covering it looked smooth, bottle-shaped, the branches emerging at the tops with a diameter of 300 meters, but none of them had leaves at the end.

After taking a deep breath, Rey made his hand into a claw and dug his fingernails into the thick, sturdy bark of the widest tree he could find. Upright and without a rope, Rey climbed to exhaustion without paying attention to the two loads he carried from his neck and over his shoulders. When he was tired and thought he could take no more, at that moment when hunger took possession of his stomach again, Rey looked up and realized he hadn't even made it halfway up, though he could even see the ground he had left.

"At this point, if I start wondering if I'm lost... I'll just add more doubt on my shoulders," he said to himself. "But will I have been too ambitious?" he wondered.

Rey's face was pale, his nails worn down, the cold and the air lashed him hard like a whip with the purpose of knocking him down. He had nowhere to shelter and no food to eat. The height was intimidating and the summit unreachable. His life depended only on the sharpness of his fingernails and toenails, but the trunk maintained its solidity while his claws were about to give way. If he released his right hand, took the unicorn's horn and used it as a support once it was wedged in, Rey could rest a little, but it was not an easy task. The panic took him by surprise making him get frizzled on the spot. The stone on his shoulders became heavier and the cart pulling at his throat even bigger. His mind became chaotic. It was impossible to remain calm when he knew that the next move could be a failure and represent death. His left hand was about to give way, his two feet as well. Without the grip of his right hand, would that be the end? What could he do? Had he wasted his time? Was his desire to live that much? Could he repent, go back in time and acknowledge that he was wrong?

"No! I don't want to live a life of regrets. I'm not going to live a life of regrets! If I made the decision, I'm going to try. To the end! Otherwise, I wouldn't even have started. To the end, even if I lose my hands, my feet, my eyes, or my mind. Still, to the end. So I can't keep climbing, huh? Who here has the authority to stop me from continuing?" he shouted as loudly as he could. The roar felt liberating, the large stone he carried on his shoulders fell away from him, just as it burst the rope that tied the wagon to his neck.

With his right hand, the little one took the horn and struck the bark. It wasn't deep enough, it could split so he had to do it again. Holding on with his left claw and his toenails, Rey continued to pound the log. Both his feet failed, but not his right hand or what he held in it. With the horn buried he had a chance to let the edge of his nails regenerate so he could position himself to stab at the tree again. The climbing process became less monotonous for the little guy. After that moment, whenever he could, he would put a piece of bark in his mouth, chew it and swallow it. He also drank the sap before it froze and rested on the spot and then continued to do so until he felt hungry and repeated the process. The air became more violent, and the temperature even colder as he ascended.

Suddenly a huge black shadow passed behind the little one.

Rey pressed his teeth together, at the same time pulling up the corners of his lips. He thought he was the only one awake, but he was happy to be wrong. Without a second thought he jumped into the void as fast as he could. This enemy was different: unlike the previous one, this one emitted bloodlust.

The black shadow passed again and ten cracks opened on the trunk, at the height where the little one was. A shriek ensued.

Rey opened his hands and turned his body in the air with the intention of looking his opponent in the eyes. And there it was, an immense being whose outstretched wings reached up to three meters long. The feathered beast had dark brown eyes, a black beak towards the tip, though pale yellow at the beginning, two legs covered with feathers from which ten pairs of nails as curved and sharp as those of ligers peeked out. It was the other end of the local food triangle. These birds were the perfect predators of the unicorns, with their claws they would grab him and lift him into the air and then drop him, while the ligers were the natural predators of these birds, who were careless when they had to eat.

"At this height if I fall against the ground, not even by passing your tongue through the earth will you be able to consume from me. You'd better catch me," Rey said to himself with a plan in mind.

The great feathered animal shrank its wings, increasing the speed of its descent. At just the right moment, Rey slowed his fall by opening his limbs and positioning himself vertically to crash into his attacker. Dodging the edge of the claws aimed at him, the little one managed to bury two of the knives he carried in his belt inside the beast's mouth. The remaining dagger was left in the chest of the bird, which fell uncontrollably and Rey jumped back to the tree from which he had jumped.

The feathered beast could not open its wings in time, falling into the void with a crash. Rey could hear him thrashing against the branches of the small trees until he was out of sight.

"It was a good trade, my daggers for your heart" said the young man who had no sooner finished tasting his opponent's blood than he continued climbing as if nothing had happened.

The cry of some featherless chicks caught the attention of the little one. The one who had already forgotten to look up and just kept moving forward realized that he was already at the top of the tree. When he turned his head, he saw that he had not climbed the biggest tree, and even so, although there were fewer trunks, the blizzard was so thick and white that it even prevented him from seeing the tip of his own nose.

"So, this is the top," he said to himself. "It's much colder. I can hardly see anything. Oooh, by focusing on the ground I was not able to see the grandeur of the trees, by insisting on climbing I was not able to notice the top, by wanting to get to the top I tore another life from this world, and now that I am at the top, I still can't find my way. I am lost, making mistake after mistake, but I am still alive. I can't let the weight of doubt return. Amended as many times as I can a product of bad decisions made; I will keep moving forward regardless of the consequences.

He could hear the desperate shrieks just above, as if guiding him to keep climbing.

"They are not to blame; they are going to die without their mother's warmth. I must take responsibility. As much as it pains me..."

The little one, guided by the sound of the hungry chicks, reached their nest and after preparing his right claw, with one thrust he extinguished the life of those who cried and then devoured them without wasting a single piece of meat. The nest was warm, the structure offered good cover from the blizzard and a pleasant smell of new life. It was a house on high that had been built with a lot of hard work and dedication, Rey noted.

"I said I didn't want to live a life of regrets, so I can't regret it," he said to himself. "It's nice to have a family to protect you,"

Rey remembered how on the other side of a lake of light he could see a whole family of felines playing, family which made him feel sad at the time.

"I can't think about that, not now. I must keep moving forward, I have someone waiting for me and it depends on me... someone I will learn to take care of so I won't live alone anymore."