Deranged Writer's Afterword

Lydia’s POV :

Adam’s pretty confusing at times.

Sometimes he’s a normal human and my first friend and at other times he’s like a deranged beast, completely out of control. I still remember him burning Max to his death...it was so sudden...so random.

I had decided to keep my distance from him but that didn’t seem possible now. My lips curled upward seeing him sleep, leaning on my shoulder for support. He looked so defenseless now...

‘Step’

...........

‘Step’

..........

My eyes widen as I hear the unmistakable echoing of footsteps, someone or something was heading our way.

‘Step’

‘I was right..’

A pair of gray eyes observed me from outside the cave, I stared right back.

I would have attacked immediately if it was a monster but surprisingly enough it was a wolf if it was a wolf...it could only be one person.

My mother.

“Wake up...Adam.�, I say getting up.

Adam muttered something under his breath and continued to sleep making the frown on my face to become even more prominent,

“ ADAM “

“ I’m up...I’m up.�, He got up dusting off the snow that had gathered on his pile of clothes, he still seemed to be out of it but there’s no more time. I pointed towards the wolf that kept making its way towards us...it was still a little far away, but it had to be my mother...

Everyone else who entered this dungeon was probably dead.

“ Is that...?�Adam asked, scrunching up his eyes to get a better view.

“ It has to be her....let’s go outside....be alert.�, I say, already moving out of the cave, my heart threatening to burst from within my chest.

This was it.

....

I was finally going to meet my mother....my mother who abandoned me when I was a young child.

....

Why am I here for her?

For the first time since deciding to enter this dungeon, I was stumped...why did I come here?

To see the woman who abandoned me all those years ago?

To feel her warmth once again?

I don’t want any of those things.

I knew that already.

I came here to do something about this anger I felt, this pain that kept clawing at my heart...it was slowly eating away at me and I let it be for all of these years but no more...

No more forgiveness.

I want to show my mother that I grew up just fine even without her, that was also the reason why I wanted to be the chief...

To prove that I was better than her...

It’s always been about her, everything I did....I did with her in mind and now...I could finally show her...

I could show her that I’m perfectly ha-

All my thoughts stop as the wolf came into view, the wolf’s gray fur made it hard to distinguish him from the snow,

“ Hey.... is your mother a man by any chance ?�Adam quipped, staring at the wolf before us.

...

It wasn’t my mother after all.

~~~~

I stared blankly at the wolf before me, it stood there watching us for some time before deciding to come closer. Lydia and I tightened our grips on our weapons, ready to strike at a moment’s notice but as we saw the wolf clearly, both of us understood that we didn’t need to keep being that ‘careful’.

The wolf looked..feeble, as if a slight wind could just knock him out, most of his fur had grayed indicating that he was really...old. I couldn’t help but wonder what this old-timer was doing here...

“ I come in peace...�, the old man mumbled out slowly.

The both of us lower our weapons and stare as the old wolf made his way inside the cave, upon inspecting us even further, tears slowly start streaming down his wizened face,

“ You....you finally came for us.....you fina-�, the old man fell face first, and yet he didn’t stop mumbling,

Lydia bends down and checks on him,

“ Who are you ?� she asked, shaking him to his very core, refusing to let the dude rest.

Instead of answering her, the old wolf smiled widely and showcased the world’s worst smile ever, most of his teeth had decayed beyond recovery and the intact ones were dyed in a deep yellow shade.

“ Why were you so...late ?�, the old man asked before fainting.

Lydia and I stared at each other, we didn’t know what to do.

~~~~

“ Can’t we just kill him ?�I asked, feeling disgusted as I cleaned the old wolf using a cloth.

“ For the tenth time, we can’t kill him...he may have intel for us,� Lydia said, rolling her eyes at me.

Lydia couldn’t understand how a person could just think about murder so easily, it seems that she has yet to fully understand me. This old man is not going to amount to anything, it’s unfortunate but it’s the truth. I’m sure because I’m ninety percent sure that I know who he is...

But I suppose saving someone however useless they are is a good thing- nope I can’t even think of it. This is a complete waste of time.

I roughly scrubbed the old wolf’s fur, not to hurt him but to get all this dirt off him.

It’s not like I enjoy hurting others....yeah and from where exactly did all this dirt come from anyway...we’re surrounded by fucking snow on all sides?

Lydia paced around the cave, she probably has a lot on her mind.

“Cough�

The old wolf coughs startling me, I remove the piece of cloth and stand beside Lydia as the old wolf finally wakes up.

Lydia took a step forward and bent down to reach his eye level, she smiled warmly at him and asked in the sweetest voice possible,

“ Who are you ?�

Hearing her question, the old man had a quizzical look on his face, nonetheless, he answered the question dutifully,

“ My name is Greydor, I am- was part of the search team.�

....

“ What search team ?�, I wanted to speed things up.

“ It was a special team formed to find the chief.�, Greydor replied weakly.

By now, seeing that Lydia was slightly shaking I’m sure that she is starting to understand the true nature of this place. Before we came here, Augustus had informed us that he had sent in a search team 10 months ago and that they had yet to return. He showed us a list of the members who went in, I distinctly remember Greydor because-

“ But why did you take so long ?�Greydor asked, noticing our grim expressions.

-he was the youngest member.

Lydia turned around and looked at me, horrified...

That’s right.

This wasn’t a dungeon of ice, rather it was the dungeon of time.

~~~~