Jason had been trudging through the woods for longer than he had expected to, while the small mountain of a hill didn't appear to be that far away maybe about a ten minute walk at most, however by Jason's estimate it had been way longer than that.

The forest floor was far from flat, whether it was the thickets of plants too dense for him to bush through, moss covered rocks and wind felled trees too large to climb over, or just the uneven ground that made walking in a straight line next to impossible.

The biggest obstacle had been a smaller stream that fed in to the river which he had been following, while it was smaller it was sill too wide to jump and too deep to ford, without getting his boots flooded. And he had learned from experience that, while his work boots were sturdy and comfortable, they weren't really water proof, and walking trough a forest with wet socks didn't seem appealing to Jason,

so he had been forced to find a place where he could cross over while staying dry.

He did eventually find an old fallen tree that formed a convenient bridge over the stream allowing him to cross, with minimal concern for if the old tree actually would carry his weight.

He could not help but feel that there was something strange about this forest, by now his head was beginning to feel much better, and he could finally take in his surroundings properly.

He only now was beginning to realize just how large the trees actually were, on average he estimated that it would take around three to four people to wrap their arms around ones trunk.

How ever he couldn't put a finger on what exactly was strange to him, everything looked normal enough, just unfamiliar in a way he was unable to put in to words, then again the closet he had come to wandering in a forest in years, was going for a walk the local town park, so he opted to just ignore the feeling for now.

Despite everything he had made it, the ground had gotten a lot smoother with less obstacles he needed to go around, though he was now traveling up hill so walking hadn't gotten any easier for him.

However the trees were beginning to thin out as he kept climbing letting through more light, while the large oak looking trees being slowly be replaced by smaller birch trees, tough he was not sure if that what they actually were.

as he got higher it didn't take long for the birch trees to start thinning out too, in turn slowly being replaced by bushes and other smaller plants.

Eventually the trees had thinned out to the point he could see the top of the hill, and the white objects he had seen doting the hill from the river. "Of course it wouldn't have been this easy." Jason sight while looking at the large white stones outcroppings that covered the side of the hill, which he had earlier hoped to be buildings of some kind. "Well, I have come this far, might as well see what i can find from the top." Jason shrugged as he continued walking up the hill.

Unfortunately for him, about the third of the way up, when the trees and moss had been replaced by shrubs and grass, he came upon the a new obstacle.

as he kept going, having to walk around the large stones jutting out of the ground here and there, it took him a while of wondering through the ever thickening maze of rocky outcrops to realize that he had gotten lost. 'Wait, can i get lost if i already didn't know where i was to begin with...' Jason couldn't help but ponder, while he attempted to find his way forward.

It didn't take long for Jason to have had enough of trying to navigate the maze of paths that snaked between the white stone, with the path branching off in to dead ends or looping back on itself. Getting frustrated by the lack of progress, he took a deep breath looking one of the walls up and down, after a moment of studying he found a suitable spot and began to climbing the wall.

Not bothering to look for a way around the rough terrain, it had taken him climbing over several more similar rocks formations, when he found himself on the highest point of the small mountain. "Finally" Jason grunted leaning against a tall rock that stood at the peak of the hill, taking a moment to catch his breath.

when he finally looked up, what he saw was a breath taking sight, the hill abruptly ended in steep almost vertical cliff at the bottom was lake that stretcher off for miles, on the far shore he could see more trees.

However what caught his attention the most was the snow capped mountain range behind the treeline.

"where the hell am I?" Jason said absentmindedly with clear confusion in his voice, since as far as he was aware, there weren't any mountains near where he lived, let alone ones tall enough to be covered by snow.

shaking him self out of his confusion, Jason scanned around the rest of the vista for any signs of civilization, only finding more water and trees, looking pack to the direction he had come from, he was met by a wall of green.

To his disappointment the hill was not high enough to see over the massive trees of the forest, glancing down the hill, he could easily make out the fairly straight root that would have taken him to where he was now standing, with out needing to scale up the rock, "oh, god dammit." he muttered under his breath.

When the realization that he was lost in a middle of nowhere finally hit him, Jason could feel a knot anxiety starting to form in his stomach. Taking a deep breath to calm himself,

Remembering the other reason why he had climbed all the way up here Jason pulled out the phone from the pocket of his jacket, opening it and hoping his luck would change. But To his disappointment the signal was sill not there. the knot in his stomach returning, he pocketed the phone, and closed his eyes and taking several deep berths, "Calm down, I can just follow the river and i will eventually find someone." Jason attempted to reassure to himself.

when he felt like he had calmed down enough, he opened his eyes and stared up at the beautifully clear afternoon sky the anxiety subsiding, and letting him relax a little.

the only thing that broke the blue gradient above him, was the bright light of the sun to one side sky, and the pale forms of two moons the other side. Jason bilked a few times trying to refocus his eyes, only to realize that his eyes were fine, and that there were in fact two moons in the sky.

'What in the...' was the only thing he could think, when all of a sudden, he felt like he had been punched in the stomach. his legs begun to shake and feel weak making him have to sit down, he could hear his heart pounding in his ears, the knot of anxiety in his stomach now felt like boiling kettle, and his mind was racing too fast for him to focus on a single toughs for long.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Jason felt sick, unable to think straight and wanted to throw up, all he could do was to sit in the shadow of the tall rock and try to control his breathing, and wait for the feeling to pass.

He didn't know how long he had sat, when he was suddenly ripped out from his thoughts by shout echoing from down the hill, the storm of thoughts and emotions in his head ceasing immediately, allowing him tho think clearer than he had been able to since waking up.

______________________________________

Matthai had been struggling to keep up with the strange creature, which seemed to always be just out of sight for him. Every time he believed that he was getting close, it would vanish behind thickets, rock formations, or any of the other obstructions the forest was littered with.

he would have lost it several times over by now, if it wasn't for all the obvious tracks i was leaving behind, and the noise it made stumbling through the undergrowth.

from the tracks Matthai had been able to determiner that the creature was a lot bigger than he had originally estimated, his current estimate put it at around twice his height, however not knowing what the thing was he could only guess.

as Matthai approached the edge of the treeline he was hoping the thinning woodland would let him finally get a look at the creature. However to his disappointment what he found was the tracks leading up a small mountain covered in large outcrops of white rock, and disappearing between the massive rocks formations.

Matthai knew he should report his findings back to the village, so they can come up with a proper plan for how to proceed, he knew following the creature in to the labyrinth of rock was terrible and dangerous idea, he knew this, and much more.

And yet, 'I have come this far, I'm too close to turn back now.' Matthai thought to himself, already hearing the others lecturing him about the "gambler's fallacy", and "his terrible decision making skills", as he started to make his way up the mountain.

As he had feared the stone outcrops of the mountain were like maze, jutting out of the ground creating almost perfectly vertical walls of grayish white stone, with spars plant life covering the tops of the formations in small patches. Mostly consisting of mosses, and dry grass, with the occasional dry looking small tree growing out of a crack in the stone.

it didn't take long for Matthai to begin regretting his decision, the hard ground made it difficult for him to find tracks, and the walls of rock were too high for him to see over, or to climb up safely to get a better view of his surroundings, the only thing that let him know that he was still on the things trail was the occupational sounds of movement coming from up ahead, tough occasionally the echos made it sound like the sound was coming from multiple directions .

as he followed the scant few of the strange looking footprints left on the stony ground, Matthai couldn't help but wonder what could leave foot prints like that, it was clearly wearing some sort of foot wear however the intricate pattern left behind was something he had never seen before.

'I'm sure I'll find out soon enough' Matthai thought, feeling that he was now finally getting closer.

As he rounded a bend in the path he found himself at a dead end, the tracks stopping at the several meter high stone wall, 'Damn it, it must've somehow scaled up the wall, ill need to head back to the village, if i can't find a way around this soon.' he thought while looking up at that top of the wall.

Matthai turned around and begin heading back the way he had come from. only to be freeze in his tracks by the sight of a monster at the mouth of the path, blocking his only way out out of the dead end.

He could tell this was a different creature from the one he had been following, this one was around eight feet tall covered in shaggy coal black coat, its tail was short and ragged, it hunched on all fours, its unnaturally long arms ending in large clawed hands, its face was long and triangular, its maw was was filled with sharp misaligned teeth, yet the most disturbing part of the thing was the five eyes one its face, with one of them swollen close with a large piece of what looked like glass jutting out of it, while the other four were a deep orange tinged with red, which were currently staring right at him.

Coming to his senses from the startle, Matthai carefully pulled out an arrow from his quiver, while never taking his eyes off the monster, as he notched his arrow the monster suddenly dashed forward, awkwardly galloping towards him, looking as if it was never meant to run in that manner it did. Matthai quickly pulled back the bow sting aiming at the monster head, he loosed the arrow, which flew straight only just gracing its head, the shaft burying itself deep in the creatures shoulder, the monster either not noticing, or caring about the arrow as it rapidly closed the distance to him.

Matthai quickly loosed another arrow at the monster, missing completely the arrow sailing harmlessly past its head. dropping his bow Matthai quickly grabbed his sword, he was unable to fully unsheathe the blade before he was sent flying by the creatures long arm, causing to let out an involuntary yelp of pain, throwing him several meters, making him tumble when he landed, his sword clattering on the ground several feet away from him.

With his remaining arrows scattered around him, Matthai came to a stop sprawled on his back. Trying to get back on his feet, the monster pined him back down with its clawed hands, its crooked fang filled jaws aiming for his throat. Matthai felt time slow as his free hand wrapped around something, moving his arm with all his strength, burring an arrow in to one of the monsters four functioning eyes, causing it to reel back with a howl of pain, releasing Matthai from its grasp.

He quickly scrambled to his feet and away from the monster, picking up his sword on the way. Knowing he wouldn't be able to out run the thing, Matthai turned around readied himself, shouted a challenge at the monster, "Come on then, if i am to die here then i am at least not going to make it easy for you."

as the monster regained its sense, it hatefully glared at Matthai now with one less eye.

time slowed as the monster charged at him again. 'I really hope the other wont be too upset at me if i don't make it back.' he quietly thought to himself, as he gripped his sword with both hands prepared to go down swinging.

As the monster leaped at him, Matthai didn't even register the yell that came from above when something massive fell from the sky, right on top the monster stopping it dead mid air a just a few feet way him, crushing the life out of it in an instant and showering Matthai with a spray of blood and gore that erupted from between the monsters jaws.

Matthai stood stunned silent, struggling to comprehend what had just happened, when the mass that flattened the monster groaned, and then sat up, revealing it self as the creature he had been following, even when sitting down it was much bigger than what he had estimated.

the giant looked down at the now very dead monster, then it looked up at Matthai, it raised up one of its hands, and spoke. <"Umm... Hi?"> at the revelation Matthai promptly fainted.