The Green Forest was right there. I could practically smell the dew and the life clinging to the leaves. After the nightmare of the crimson wastes, the sight of actual greenery felt like a hallucination. I was so lost in the relief of it that I didn't notice the change in the air until it was too late.
GRRR.
The sound didn't just hit my ears; it vibrated in my chest. I spun around, my heart leaping into my throat.
Why? Why now?
Standing at the top of the slope was a wolf...or at least, the nightmare version of one. Its fur was the color of dried blood and charcoal, and its eyes were two glowing pits of crimson. It was massive, with claws that looked like obsidian daggers.
But it wasn't just its size that froze me.
It was its aura.
The air around the beast seemed to thicken, heavy with a murderous intent that felt suffocating. This wasn't a predator looking for a snack; this was a monster that wanted to erase me from existence.
The wolf didn't wait. Its aura flared, and it launched itself toward me.
Move, move, move, DAMN IT!
I threw myself down the hilly slope, sliding on my backside. Branches tore at my new clothes, and sharp rocks carved lines into my skin, but I didn't care. Behind me, the wolf was a blur of red and black, its claws digging into the earth to maintain a terrifying speed.
I hit the flat ground at the bottom, every muscle screaming. The Green Forest was so close, but the landscape changed. The lush trees were guarded by a wall of thick, spiked thorn bushes.
"Shit!"
Caught between a wall of thorns and a blood-crazed wolf, I chose the thorns as one should in this case.
I dove into the brush, hissing as the spikes shredded my arms and face and clothes. Behind me, I heard the wolf let out a pained whimper as the thorns caught its hide, but it kept coming.
The pain was unbearable, a thousand tiny needles stabbing me at once, but the fear of that red aura was stronger. I burst through the final layer of thorns and stumbled into the Green Forest feeling a tingling sensation.
I kept running for another minute, my vision blurring, until I realized the sounds of the chase had stopped. I slowed to a crawl, then turned around, gasping for air.
The wolf was gone.
It stood at the edge of the thorn bushes, pacing back and forth, its eyes locked on the green canopy. It looked desperate to cross, but something held it back—a fear of this place that outweighed its hunger for me.
"It's... it's gone," I wheezed, my voice barely a rasp.
I didn't care why.
I collapsed against the trunk of a massive tree, my legs finally giving out. The adrenaline was fading, replaced by a wave of pain so intense I could barely see. I reached into my bag, fumbling for the water bottle. I drained it in seconds feeling a bit better, but as I smacked my dry lips, a realization hit me.
I'm still thirsty.
In fact, I was thirstier than I had been before I drank. And then came the hunger. It wasn't a normal stomachache; it felt like I was being sucked out of everything I had in my stomach. I tore into the leftover raw meat, devouring it like an animal, but the more I ate, the hungrier I became. My throat felt like it was turning into stone.
Did that feeling... that aura... do something to me?
My mind began to haze over. The green leaves above me blurred into a single smear of color. Without a word, without a cry for help, my body gave up. I slumped against the roots, slipping into a dark, empty unconsciousness.
Hours passed. The shadows grew long.
The sound of soft padding footsteps echoed through the clearing. A pack of grey wolves, smaller and more natural than the monster from before, circled my body. Their leader, a scarred male with strange blue pupils, approached me cautiously. He sniffed the air, sensing the "human" scent, and bared his teeth.
The pack waited for the signal to feast. The scarred wolf turned to his kindred, ready to bark the order—but he stopped.
The rest of the pack wasn't looking at him. They were trembling, their ears pinned back, whimpering as they stared up into the branches above.
The scarred wolf didn't have time to look up.
BOOM.
A massive weight slammed into the earth where the wolf had been standing. A cloud of dust exploded into the air, obscuring everything. The pack scattered instantly, leaving their leader alone.
As the dust settled, four eyes—glowing with a sharp, golden light—pierced through the haze.
The scarred wolf growled, its own aura flickering as it charged the intruder. It was a fast, desperate strike.
SWOOSH.
It was over in less than a second. The "intruder" moved with a speed that defied logic. There was a sickening thud, and the wolf's body went limp.
The figure stepped out of the dust, casually tossing the wolf's head aside.
He was a man with long, dark hair, a stiff beard, and a scar that mirrored the wolf's. But most importantly, he had two pairs of eyes—four golden orbs that hummed with power.
He looked down at me, his thoughts a mask of confusion but didn't show outwardly.
"What is a human boy doing all the way out here?"
He glanced back toward the crimson land I had escaped from, and for a split second, a flash of genuine shock crossed his face. He knelt down, watching me groan as I clutched my stomach even in my sleep.
The man let out a laugh—a deep, booming sound that made the very trees seem to shiver in fear.
"Ugh..." I muttered, unaware of the giant standing over me.
The man stopped laughing and slung me over his shoulder like a sack of grain. He picked up my bag but left the branch spear lying in the dirt.
"Consider yourself lucky, kid," he grunted, a small, dangerous smile playing on his lips. "If it were the 'normal' me, I would've just looted your corpse and left you for the birds."
With a sudden, explosive burst of strength, the man leaped into the sky, carrying me far above the green canopy and away into the unknown.