The wolf was chasing me through the woods, getting closer and closer as I tried my best to scramble through the woods towards the town. Surely someone will help me fend off the beast. I kept running towards the town, stumbling over obstacles and trying my best to see ahead of me with the fading daylight. The wolf seems to be growing bigger and bigger, I can almost hear its ragged breath. It seems like I’ve been running forever but in truth, it should have only be five minutes.
As I turn with the bend I see the town far in the distance, at least another four minutes of running if I were to sprint at full speed but, t this stage I can barely breath. There is no way I can make it close enough to grab someone’s attention. My mind starts racing, adrenaline surging through my body keeping it hurtling forward, I look desperately for something that can save me. I reach the two mile marker In the trail signifying i’m two miles away from town but at this point I cannot go on for much longer. Suddenly realised that I didn’t have to reach town to be safe, I just wanted to get to town due to the safety the town provided.
As I inevitably slowed down from exhaustion I scoured the surroundings for an easy to climb tree. I know it eems like an obvious thing to do but as far as I was concerned as long as I was far enough from the wolf I would be safe. Ahead I saw a stream cutting across the trail, I knew I wouldn’t make it across as there was only six feet between me and the wolf which seemed to be leisurely following, waiting for me to fall over tired and present it an easy meal. I looked left and right and spotted a suitable tree with two low hanging and sturdy branches that even I, in my exhausted state, wouldn’t have trouble climbing. I reached forward putting my hand on the trunk of a fallen tree propelling myself just barely over as eviated from the well beaten trail.
Trampling over ferns and plants I clumsily made my way to the tree. I peeked over my shoulder looking for my pursuer saw the wolf jump over the fallen tree trunk and disappear into the tall greenery behind me. I reached the base of the tree and mounted the lowest branch with some difficulty. I was almost safe, all I needed to do was hoist myself higher in the tree. I grabbed for a higher branch in a panic as the wolf was two feet away and about to pounce. I heaved on the branch frantically as it pounced, already higher than the lowest branch. I pulled my left leg up first and roceeded to drag my right leg up. The wolf reached the apex of its leap and was only centimeters from the branch I was on but I still hadn’t pulled my other leg up. The wolf bit down on my right leg and yanked me off of my safe haven.
I landed on the ground with a thud and immediately tried to claw myself away from the beast but it dragged me through the undergrowth, back to the path. As I struggled, grabbing every fern, root and tree I could, I finally saw the wolf in detail. It was almost like a normal wolf, shaggy grey coat with some missing patches of fur, obsidian like claws and that large bushy tail in he back. Its eyes however, were not the right color. They weren’t black, brown, red or even green, they were white with spots of grey. They looked like boiled eggs that went rotten as the bulged out of their sockets. Another thing that I noticed as I tried fruitlessly to get away was that its tongue, normally being a beautiful purple had splotches of green and grey on it.
Furthermore its teeth were like mini razor sharp bananas and there were more of them than a wolf should normally have. It had rows behind rows of teeth, all of which looked fragile. As it pulled me under the fallen tree back to the path my hand aught onto something solid, I cling to it desperately trying delay my doom even if it was for a few seconds. It tugged and shook my leg hard giving me waves of pain, almost making me want to get it over sooner but my fear of dieing is stronger so I desperately cling to the object. I could feel the object cutting into my hand as opened my eyes to look at it. It was just a rock jutting out of the muddy ground. It looks solid but every so slowly it was being uprooted. I looked back at the wolf and saw the countless teeth puncturing my right leg. At last the rock gave out and I was dragged back onto the path, rock in hand.
The beast released my leg and stared at me, or at least its face was pointed at mine. As a final attempt I yelled while lifting the rock and swinging at the beast. As the rock rose from the ground I lost my grip and it went flying towards the wolf. As I had released it too early it was low to the ground but sure enough the beast whose eyes were all white could really not see. The rock slowly made its way to the wolf, getting lower and lower as it got closer. The wolf seemingly oblivious to the rock just waited as if wanting to know why yelled or to build up suspense leading to its meal.
The rock just missed its snout nd landed on its front paw. Which paw it landed on I had no idea because I was already crawling my way back to the tree. The beast that cannot be called a wolf howled as I dragged myself forward. My only thoughts were to get to safety and hoping the the howl was one of pain. I painfully made my way back to the tree and with much effort pulled myself onto a branch about a meter from the ground. I relaxed my sore body and warily looked at my surroundings.
The beast was slowly hobbling over to the tree, frothing at its mouth. Although my body was worn out my mind was still working as the ordeal hadn’t lasted ore than fifteen minutes as far as I could tell. “How does it know where I am if it can’t see? ” I say aloud to myself. The beast isn’t even sniffing the surroundings for my scent, it’s like it has a compass pointing at me. As the wolf slowly made its way over to tree i’m on I started to feel insecure. I raised my head, looking for another branch slightly higher and hoisted myself onto the branch. My right foot throbbed in pain as tree bark rubbed against the multiple punctures wounds but I gritted my teeth and positioned it more comfortably.
As I watched the beast attack the tree, trying to get closer to me, ondered what happened to it. The beast was definitely a wolf but it seemed to have been infected with something. It reminded me of my neighbors bitch, she went crazy about a week ago, foaming from the mouth and attacking anything near her. When we called the town healer he said that she had eaten something that caused her to go mad and that there wasn’t much that he could do. Since this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence I didn’t pay much attention but in the end my neighbors had to take her down. They used some kind of magic, I forget what it was called, and gave her a painless death.
Of course my neighbors themselves couldn’t use magic, none of them have the aptitude, excluding their youngest who isn’t old enough to know, they bought a magic crystal from the general store containing basic magic. I sure wish I had invested in healing crystals, my right foot is likely to get infested the way things are going now. I glanced down at the wolf one more time to see it gnawing at the tree, its jaw seemed to be broken as it stretched its maw like a snake. Several of it’s teeth were bent at grotesque angles and what I assumed where rows upon rows of gums were tearing.
At this point I was convinced of two things, the wolf will not be able to get to me and that it might even die before sunrise tomorrow. I can only hope the bloody beast doesn’t draw in something even worse. I slowly twist my body, repositioning myself closer to the trunk of the tree and made myself comfortable. I don’t dare try to escape by foot while that thing is still alive and currently i’m in no shape to jump onto another tree and sneak away. Besides, that thing probably has a compass with my name for north, sneaking away will only lead to me being followed.
I unwind a coil of rope from my waist and unwind it. I struggle to twist my body and feed the working end of the rope around the tree trunk into my other hand and tie it around me. This way I can fall asleep without having to worry about falling off. After that I tore my shirt off and made crude strips of cloth and tie it around my right foot to staunch the bleeding. As the sun disappeared from the horizon I started to doze off with hopes that tomorrow morning the beast below would be either dead or gone. I gave the beast one last cursory glance and fell asleep.
I jerk awake due to the tree shaking and a sudden high pitched screech. It sounded like an animal being slaughtered in a painful manner. Almost like it knew what was happening as it died. In the town hearing such a sound wasn’t uncommon as game was often hauled back before it was restrained and sold alive. This was especially the case for smaller game as it was more convenient. The buyers of live game were often those with kids, the live game served as a way to desensitize the children to killing animals.
In the past many people were injured due to not having the conviction to kill their prey which lead to a town radition of the residents being exposed to killing animals at an early age. I myself experienced this just a year ago when my father, a local blacksmith, bought me a rabbit. I was told to care for it and I did so for six whole months. After which my father took me outside, pointed to the rabbit and told me, “if you want to continue to live under my roof, kill it with your hands. ” After much hesitation I took the rabbit by its neck and hugged it to my chest with my free hand. I adjusted my grip on its neck to the base of its head, it looked right into my eyes.
As I started the motion to break its neck it screamed for all its life was worth which stopped abruptly with the sick sound of its neck breaking. The rabbits scream was eerily similar to what woke me up. I checked my surroundings before remembering why I was in the tree. I hear sounds of ripping and growling from below. I stop moving, close my eyes and listen as soft growls and the sound of ripping continued. I was still and silent for the better part of an hour, praying that the nauseating sounds would end. The commotion ended anticlimactically with a loud growl and the sound of a large animal.
I slowly leaned to the side inspecting the ground underneath. At first all I saw with my bleary eyesight was some scattered objects and what looked like a depression but as my eyesight gradually focused I sucked in a cold breath of air. The scattered objects that I could barely make out before were the remains of the beast that chased me before, several chunks could be seen of what its limbs formerly were. The depression on closer inspection was also just as horrifying, it was a mutilated sack of flesh spurting dark purple blood out from a gaping hole in its center.
Leading away from the carcass was a trampled path through the greenery and a trail of blood that even an idiot can follow. At this point the sun had announced its presence and I could see the signs of the town over the tree canopy. I slowly lower myself down, using my left foot followed by my injured right foot. I survey my surroundings, almost vomiting in the process and made my way back to the path. It’s been taught from childhood that when you are in trouble always follow the path back home, and that’s exactly what I did. Only an idiot would follow the blood trail that inevitably led to a blood thirsty beast without any combat experience.
