The fog had become his world.
Thick, silent, damp. Water droplets clung to Gabi's scales and hair, making him constantly shiver as the cold seeped into his muscles. Every step sank slightly into moss or soft dirt, and every breath tasted faintly of rot. For six long hours, he had wandered through this shifting maze of grey, keeping low, trying to stay quiet, every nerve stretched tight.
Fear kept him moving. Fear kept him alive.
His lizard tail dragged behind him, instinctively brushing the ground to sense vibrations. His yellow reptilian eyes darted everywhere, but vision here meant almost nothing. The fog swallowed distance and hid every threat that might come bounding out of the gloom.
Yet somehow, through sheer instinct and a primal spark of cunning, he had survived.
He had found edible insects beneath rotting logs, water dripping from thick leaves, and had avoided at least three predators. He clutched a sharpened bone in his trembling hand, harvested from a beast that had not been fast enough to escape his panicked survival flailing earlier. The bone was crude and ugly, but Gabi held it like a sacred weapon.
He kept repeating in his head the line that had kept him going:
If Bahamut can do it, I can do it. He is blind and survived. I am not blind. I must survive, too. I can survive.
He kept muttering it under his breath until his voice turned hoarse.
Eventually, he slowed. His breathing calmed for the first time in hours. The area felt still. Safer. He crouched beneath a gnarled tree root, resting his back against it while wrapping his arms around his body.
He needed to stop shaking. His legs burned with exhaustion. His shoulder throbbed from an earlier wound that hadn't fully closed. The mist felt heavier now, as if settling rather than swirling. He dared to allow his eyelids to droop.
Just a little rest. Just a moment.
A soft crunch sounded nearby.
Gabi froze. Muscles tightening. Breath locked.
Crunch.
His head snapped toward the sound. He tried to focus, but the fog remained thick and blinding. His tail twitched involuntarily.
There was a predator. Watching. Approaching.
A low rumble pulsed through the fog, so quiet that humans might mistake it for imagination. Gabi knew better. His instincts screamed danger.
A Shadow Leopard.
He had heard stories. Tier 1 beasts built for silent killing. Bodies lean and powerful, paws soft and padded to erase all noise, and claws sharp enough to slip through bone. They rarely missed a kill. Once the eyes found prey, escaping alive became a fantasy.
Gabi's mouth dried instantly. His heart hammered like it wanted to break through his ribs.
His instincts took control before fear swallowed him. He stood slowly, crouched low, teeth bared. His pupils narrowed into thin slits of sharpened alertness.
The fog shifted just enough to reveal two circles of faint silver light. Eyes. Watching him from the dark veil.
His legs trembled. His mind whispered, run.
But his body did something far stranger.
He growled.
A deep, guttural sound that surprised even him.
The leopard lunged. A blur of spotted fur erupted from the fog. Gabi barely leapt aside as claws sliced across his chest. Fabric tore. Blood sprayed into the air. The pain lit a bonfire inside his nerves.
His bone blade lashed out wildly, scraping fur but failing to pierce hide. The leopard vanished back into the fog immediately, its steps silent, its breathing nonexistent.
Gabi gasped, chest heaving. His wound stung fiercely. His head spun.
He was going to die here.
A hiss escaped his lips, unplanned and feral.
He heard the beast circle behind him. Felt the pressure shift through the ground. Reaction overtook reason. He spun, tail sweeping low. The tail struck something solid, but the leopard barely staggered. It snapped its jaws toward his face.
Gabi jerked back, too slow. Teeth grazed his cheek. Hot blood rolled down. The beast retreated again into that suffocating fog.
Fear tried to take hold. To freeze him. To choke him.
But he latched onto a single image in his mind.
Bahamut standing against impossible danger. A blind warrior refusing to die.
Why must I always be the one running? Why must I always be the one afraid? If I run… I die. If I freeze… I die.
If I fight… maybe I survive.
His breathing changed. Deeper. Rougher. A low snarl vibrated from his throat.
The leopard attacked again, a streak of silent death, but this time Gabi met it halfway. He ducked beneath the slash, teeth gritting through pain as he slammed his bone blade into the beast's shoulder. He felt the point sink through hide and muscle.
The beast roared and spun violently, hurling him aside. Gabi crashed into the damp earth and rolled, coughing and gagging, ribs burning from the impact.
His vision blurred. Blood poured from his cheek and chest.
The beast's eyes gleamed through the fog again. Angry now. More cautious.
Gabi rose on shaky legs, but something in him had changed. His hands shook no longer from fear, but from a growing, animal hunger. The scales on his arms spread wider, thicker. His nails lengthened into curved claws. His pupils blazed brighter.
Subtle. But enough.
He crouched low, mimicking the predator's stance without realizing.
The leopard growled and pounced.
Gabi did not dodge.
He charged.
They collided in a violent blur of claws and teeth. The leopard's jaws locked around Gabi's upper arm, biting down until bone creaked. Gabi screamed but did not recoil. His claws tore into the beast's throat, dragging down through fur and flesh, hot blood coating his arms.
The leopard thrashed wildly, ripping deeper into his arm. Gabi's blood sprayed across its muzzle like red mist.
The pain ignited something unstoppable inside him.
Pure survival instinct.
He roared with a bestial fury that drove the leopard backward. He slammed his forehead into its skull. Once. Twice. Three times. The beast stumbled, jaws finally releasing his arm.
He tackled it to the ground. He lost the bone blade in the chaos. It didn't matter anymore. His claws raked across its face and neck again and again, tearing deeper, ripping tissue apart.
The leopard tried to kick him off, but Gabi lunged forward and sank his teeth into its throat. Warm lifeblood filled his mouth. He tasted iron and heat and struggle. He refused to let go.
The beast's struggles weakened. Its paws slowed. Its body eventually fell still beneath him.
For several long breaths, Gabi continued to cling to the dead beast, panting and snarling like he was still in battle, his eyes wild with adrenaline.
Only after a minute did the fog finally begin to swirl calmly around them again.
His consciousness returned slowly. His claws shrank back. His breath steadied. The rush faded, leaving behind shaking limbs and a throbbing agony throughout his body.
He looked around, dazed, as if waking from a nightmare.
Then he looked at the corpse beneath him.
He had won.
His hands trembled again, but this time not from fear. From the impossible realization that he had survived something that should have killed him.
He whispered weakly.
Bahamut… did you see that… I did not give up… I did not… run…
He slumped onto his side, clutching his torn arm, chest heaving.
He was still alive. The fog did not swallow him. Death did not reach him.
His trial continued.
But now, there was a spark in his eyes.
Not just fear.
Determination.
...
A/N: This is my first time doing this. Probably my last...
I just need the support guys. I'm giving free 50 chapters before I lock them. Drop powerstones and golden tickets, many of them. Gifts will also be accepted.
I know it is possible, and I trust you.