The shallow, blue, nearly transparent ,nine feet deep,thirty feet wide, seemingly sluggishly flowing Aldom River- as Mike arbitrarily named it- served as a natural boundary between the South Moe woodland and the Drant forest. . It's banks and river bed was characterized by white sands strewn by pebbles of weathered rock deposited by the currents of the river making it a naturally beautiful and unique location, the only one of it's calibre,- known to Mike - in this new harsh world.
Today, a certain Elt was painting it's pristinely white sand banks, the one on the side of the Drant forest, green with his own blood.
Mike, to put his situation lightly,was in a very rough shape; both of his eyelids were swollen and limited his vision courtesy of stings he received around his eye region at one time during his flight, his right arm hung limply at his side after having separated it in an uncontrolled fall when he catapulted himself across the Aldom tiver, his back and legs were filled with lacerations and cuts, both deep and shallow , sustained from the attacks of the creatures whose territories he ran past, the cocktail of many different substances injected into his body by various chemical warfare oriented creatures, both plant and animals alike,during the chase threatened his already slippery hold on his consciousness and hhis legs could simply no longer support his body weight due to the sheer stress they had endured. Thus, Mike simply dragged himself through the rocky shores of the Aldom banks using his only good arm, even though it added more damage and brought more pain to his already battered body, all while leaving a thick trail of dark green blood in the process.
Coming to rest at the root of an unknown tree, Mike propped himself up so he could face the Aldom river which was now churning with an unnatural force.
Two Titans were wrestling within it.
Mike looked at the lightless expanse before him , through the trees , in the direction of the clash that was stirring the Aldom river, at the pitch black sky , and at anything that caught his eyes just by moving, wincing grom the pain brought about by him still forcing his swollen eyelids to remain open.
" Ha ha!" He laughed softly , not from joy but from despair.
" Is this how i am going to die?" He asked himself.
Mike had come a long way since he first found himself in this strange world . In fact, one could say that with the preparations he made , his chances of dying should be at it's lowest. Yet, here he was , about to die for a random hunting mistake.
The Wild was ruthless, unpredictable, and unforgiving, ready to punish one's weakness.
" Roaaaarrrr!"
That roar brought his mind back to reality.
Mike, in a bid to gain more distance between himself and the Chromo, had employed the use of a make shift catapult consisting of the very stretchy vines of a particular climbing plant, tied to the bodies of some very flexible but sturdy trees situated along the banks of the Aldom river ,on the side towards the South Moe woodland, to project himself across the river . He had succeeded, though he had broken his arm in the process. The Chromo , in contrast had been forced to cross the Aldom river where it had attracted the attention of a hostile , powerful river creature it had to defeat before it could cross.
Standing there, closer to the Banks of the Aldom river than himself, the creature was not looking better either. It's rear limbs we're almost totally damaged, having totally lost the left and two -fifths of the right, it's skin was also was a graffiti of slashes and cuts that were far deeper than the ones Mike sustained, it had totally lost it's tail, and it's right calf was freshly carved out. Yet, there in it's eyes, flames of murder ,revenge and malice burnt more hotly than ever before.
"Roaaarrr!" Having made eye contact with Mike , it roared again , both in defiance to it's fortunes and it's present condition,and as a declaration to Mike, a declaration of his impending death.
That was Mike's clue to resume his painful crawl.