I had been running for a few minutes, doing my best not to trip and faceplant into a tree. Myrra hung limply over my shoulder like a potato sack, still unconscious.
She owed me for all these free rides, I swear.
"ROOOOAR."
The roaring continued, each guttural note vibrating through the forest.
It’s not after us, right? I questioned myself. Surely it’s not after us.
It sounded like a lion or some huge predator. Definitely not like the zombie roars I’d heard before.
"BOOM."
A dull, loud impact echoed through the forest, distant but heavy enough to rattle the branches above me.
Not my problem, not my problem, not my problem. Keep moving, I told myself.
Maybe 01 was the better choice after all…This forest— No, at least there weren’t creepy, evil shapeshifters here.
Another roar echoed, closer this time. My breath caught.
What was I even running toward? There was no safe haven ahead. Just endless darkness and trees that seemed to lean closer the further I went.
There was a quote here... uhhh, “May your decisions reflect your hopes, not your fears.”
Yeah, not happening anytime soon.
Our best hope was to find a cave or something like that.
Damn it, I’d been so focused on getting away from 01 that I didn’t stop to consider the possibility of this forest being infested with other things besides zombies.
Another lesson learned.
Well, not learned—I was pretty sure you had to survive your mistake for it to count as a lesson.
I kept running, feeling a slight slope in the terrain. Myrra’s weight shifted, her arm swinging loosely as I adjusted my grip. She was lighter than I remembered—or maybe I was just pumped full of adrenaline to care.
Or maybe that magic gimmick with the core had changed her weight. No reason to expect things to work normally in this Lalaland fantasy bullshit place, right?.
As I dodged roots and rocks, the canopy above us swayed unnaturally. Leaves rustling, even though there was no wind.
Something was moving there. Probably one of those massive spiders.
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Let’s hope it’s too busy to deal with—
"ROOOOOOAR."
The roar came again, loud enough to make my ribs vibrate.
I ducked behind a massive tree trunk, pressing Myrra against it as I strained my ears. Damn it. Whatever was making that noise wasn’t far now.
My heart beat fast; blood rose to my face.
Then, silence.
Just like the hills, this place was eerily quiet. No insects chirping, no wind howling, no buzzing of flies. Just straight silence, occasionally broken by a roar. This ecosystem made no sense.
I tensed, doing my best not to make a sound. I’d been in too many situations like this not to master the art of staying absolutely still.
Another rustle above caught my attention. It wasn’t coming closer, so I decided to keep hiding. Those spiders had awful perception for some reason.
The roaring beast worried me more. It was closing in too fast, and we had no idea what it was. Thankfully, it was stupid enough to roar and let us know of its location.
To calm myself, I started making a mental checklist of the items we had available. Only one thing seemed useful: the two pouches Myrra said were full of explosive powder. One was in the bag, and the other hung around her neck like a necklace, the string working as a makeshift chain. I carefully took hers off and put it on my neck.
The treetops moved more now, my heart pounding with every sway. Had I made a mistake staying instead of running?
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, I guess.
Suddenly, all rustling stopped, and the silence returned in full force.
I craned my neck just enough to see.
There, at the edge of my vision, were two yellow eyes—like twin suns—floating in the dark. They seemed to emerge from the shadows themselves.
The thing advanced, and part of its outline became visible. A panther. A massive panther, judging by the size of its paws. It was completely black, blending into the shadows so perfectly that if it closed its eyes, it would vanish into the night.
I held my breath. The creature was sleek, its body like ebony painted in vanta black. Each step was silent, a display of predatory elegance.
It walked around a bit, closed its eyes, and started sniffing the ground. Oh no. It hunts by scent.
Out of nowhere, the panther roared again, the sound shaking my chest. Myrra stirred, groggily opening her eyes. I clamped a hand over her mouth, praying she wouldn’t make a sound.
Before I could react further, the panther let out a sharp whimper, and all hell broke loose.
A massive spider leapt from the canopy, latching onto the panther’s back. In the dark, their black forms melded into one horrific creature. The panther thrashed, trying to bite the spider, but the insect's fangs were sunk deep.
The feline snapped at one of the spider’s legs, ripping it off as easily as a child yanks a straw.
Smaller spiders swarmed from the trees, crawling over the panther. It snarled, bit another leg off, and finally threw the large spider off its back.
It was time to go.
I grabbed Myrra’s hand, but she stumbled, falling to the ground. She still wasn't fine.
"Crunch."
We both froze, looking back.
The panther stood over the spider, its jaws locked around the insect’s head. With a final jerk, it tore a piece of the spider’s head off and roared. The smaller spiders fell from its body, as if they had been electrocuted.
What the hell was that?
The four-legged beast kept tearing pieces off the insect until it got to the center of its corpse. As it lifted its head, something familiar was in its mouth. A grey, rugged stone. A core, I recognized.
Almost at the same time, another big spider fell from another tree above, aiming to land on the panther's back again, but the feline was expecting it now. It turned into a blur, dropping the core and moving impossibly fast. I couldn't even follow its movements.
Things were getting out of control. Trees were shaking all around us, and now there were even more of those dull impacts resounding in the woods. This was starting to draw too much attention.
As we went to escape, to my surprise, something lightly touched my feet, causing me to look down.
The gray core the panther dropped.
I looked at Myrra, and she nodded, weakly. I put it inside the supply bag and we ran.