The cave's breath still clings to me when I step into the open air.
Behind me, the mountain looms like a living beast, Its mouth, the cave, watching in silence. For a heartbeat, I think I see a face carved in the stone, too deliberate to be random. I turn away quickly.
I try to keep my eyes open without blinking. After a while, my vision blurs until I can barely see.
"Hmm… is that a forest?"
Below, the forest waits, colossal trees, their crowns lost in mist. I walk past the first trunk and glance behind me, making sure nothing follows. The cave gapes in the rock behind me like a mouth, dark and waiting. The thought of something crawling out of it twists my stomach, but nothing comes.
"Wait… aren't these trees too big?" I wonder if they've always been like this.
I walk without direction, each step heavier than the last. Fear fades and hunger replaces it. My stomach burns, my throat is dry.
I wander for what feels like hours, until I find a bush full of red berries. Unable to contain myself, I devour them like an animal. They are tasteless but they calm the hunger just enough to keep me moving.
Now I need water. That becomes my only goal.
"Is that a cave? …No. It's the cave I just escaped from."
The realization hits hard. I've been walking in circles. Hours, maybe a full day, wasted. Still, maybe I can climb the mountain and see where I am.
Climbing is brutal. My arms ache, my legs tremble.
"Fuck… this is hard as hell."
When I stop to breathe, I notice something strange. The trees below, near the base of the mountaine are massive, far bigger than the ones up here.
Then I see him.
A man stands near the entrance of the cave, motionless. He smiles. I can not fell anything friendly or even human in his smile. My body tenses, warning me to run, but I force myself to take a few steps closer.
'Maybe he knows the way to a city.' 'Maybe he can help.'
I take three steps, close enough to see his eyes. They gleam faintly in the dark. My heart pounds. The air feels heavy. Then it happens, a pain stabbing into my chest, sharp and cold, as if a knife pierces my heart.
"What-?"
I touch my chest, but there's no wound. No blade. Only that crushing pressure. The man's gaze feels like it's cutting into me. For the first time in my life, I understand what killing intent means.
I blink, and he's gone.
The forest goes still. Every rustle feels like breath on my neck. I walk, hand resting on my sword's hilt I don't even remember learning to fight, but the gesture feels right, comforting.
Night falls fast. The world around me sinks into shadow. My fear grows heavier with each step.
A howl echoes deep, close, answered by others. Five, maybe more.
From the darkness, yellow eyes appear.
"Shit…"
I draw my sword in one swift motion. My hands move before I think, like my body remembers something I don't. The wolf lunges, steel meets fang, sparks scatter like fireflies.
The sound rings through the forest like a scream.
I stumble back, heart pounding.
"Goddammit"
Grrr.
The sword feels heavy in my hands. I swing clumsily, pointing the blade forward. The wolf lunges, I block it, twisting its attack aside. It crashes into a tree. I strike back.
Swash.
The blade slices deep. Blood splatters across the dirt. The wolf howls in pain, and fury.
It charges again, eyes wild, movements sharper.
This time, something inside me shifts. My body moves on its own faster and stronger. The world slows. I swing, clean and smooth, the sword an extension of my arm.
The steel cuts through the wolf midair. For a moment, it's still lunging toward me then half its body hits the ground, the rest sliding across the dirt.
Blood sprays, painting the trees red.
I stare at the mess, chest heaving, heart hammering like a drum. The air smells of iron and death.
Then the strength leaves me. My vision tilts, blurs.
The forest fades to black as I fall.