The gentle rays of the rising sun on my face made for a much more pleasant awakening than the dark cave I had woken up in twice before. And as I listened to the gentle crashing of the waterfall I couldn’t help but stand up and grin in anticipation for what would hopefully be another exciting day.

A short walk brought me to the edge of the clearing and the start of the river. I knelt to take a drink as I thought of what I wanted to do today. Option one was to continue exploring the water and all the aquatic life therein. Option two was to explore the surrounding forest filled with the unknown.

Thinking back to when I was up on the ledge, I tried to remember what I could about the area. Three large valleys converged to create this central forested area and the waterfall behind me was located at the farthest edge from them. I had the cliff face behind me and there were valleys somewhere to the left and right of it along with one that the river runs through somewhere ahead.

The area created by these valleys coming together was vast, so it would take me quite some time if I wanted to reach one of them. Meaning the forest was large and I was sure to find lots of interesting things within it.

Mind set, I stood up to begin my exploration when an unknown sound brushed against my ears. I couldn’t make it out over the crash of the waterfall but I could tell it was coming from further down the river. Obviously, I immediately started off down the bank in search of its source.

After stumbling through some surprisingly soft ferns and a couple of bushes I was far enough away to make out the sound. It was a gentle tinkling that was both sharp and soothing. It cut through the air and other sounds only to softly come to rest in my ear.

It faded in and out as I approached the source and I soon came to a stop as that source came into view. Across the river was a bush unlike others I had seen. It was a light shade of green that seemed to sparkle in the morning light reflecting off it. Or was it passing through it? It was hard to tell from across the river.

The leaves hung down in bunches, looking like they were curled at the edges to create little half tubes. Scattered throughout the bush in small clumps were lighter blue-green orbs about the size of an eye. A gentle breeze blew through and shook the bush resulting in a cascade of quiet tinkling sounds as the leaves and berries brushed against each other.

It was then that I noticed more movement beneath the bush. A fluffy red tail with a white tip waved about over two small black paws. Soon a red snout with a tiny black nose poked out from the bush. It was followed by a pair of dark eyes and two big pointy ears that flicked about on its head.

A few words came to mind as I saw it, the first being ‘fox’ and the second being ‘cute’. I continued to watch as it ate its fill of berries before making its way down to the river for a drink. As it looked around, our eyes locked and we both froze.

Neither of us moved for a time, simply staring into each other's eyes until its rigid body softened and it canted its head adorably. That action practically screamed curiosity and I couldn’t help but smile as I tilted my head as well.

A flicker of understanding passed between us before the fox finished its drink and scampered off into the trees.

A quick swim later and I was standing in front of the beautiful bush. Up close I could see that its leaves were semi transparent and looked more like crystals than leaves. They were hard to the touch but still retained the flexibility of a leaf, and when they hit against each other they shook with sound.

Thinking of how the fox seemed to enjoy eating the berries I plucked one and popped it in my mouth. There was a crunch before the berry seemed to almost melt on my tongue. It was sweet and a bit tangy but what was even more interesting was the soothing wave that swept through my body.

I sat and watched the river while eating berries until I thought I might burst. They were just so good! But, not wanting to find out the limits of my stomach, I figured it was time to move on.

Keeping near enough to follow the river I wandered along through the trees. Ferns were abundant, covering much of the ground for as far as I could see in green. The ground was a soft dirt, but after stepping on sharp sticks and stones a few too many times I ensured I kept a closer eye on it.

I didn’t see much in the way of ground life, other than some signs of movement in my peripherals, but there was plenty of movement up in the canopy. Though it was hard to make out due to its height, I could spot the occasional creature flying or leaping about the many branches. This stayed true until I stumbled upon an eye opening confrontation.

Near the base of a tree stooped a small animal drinking from the river. It was black in color with a red stripe from the top of its head down to the tip of its large bushy tail. While I was watching it drink I saw movement behind it with my sorceries. But when I tried to see what it was there was nothing there. Looking closer, I might have been able to convince myself there was some sort of disturbance in the air but I wasn’t sure.

In my other senses it looked like one long thin body with a single large head at the end. Not sure what type of creature it was I continued to observe while it snuck up on the unsuspecting squirrel. Once it got close enough it bunched up its body in preparation before launching its wide open mouth at the squirrel’s back.

I was sure the fight was over before it had even started and I was right, but also very wrong. The squirrel turned around so fast it was nothing but a blur and before I knew what was happening a large jet of flame had burst from its mouth. I could feel the heat from where I was standing and had to blink my suddenly dry eyes. By the time I looked back all that remained was the burnt remains of what might have once been a snake.

Wide eyed and open mouthed I watched as the squirrel hopped over to the still smoking corpse and viciously tore into it. Its mouth could open farther than I thought possible and was filled with sharp flesh-rending teeth.

Inadvertently taking a step back, a loud snap rang out from the stick I had just broken. Glancing down at it angrily I looked back up only to be met with the soulless black eyes of the squirrel. It chittered at me angrily and I turned to run, desperately trying to swallow past my suddenly dry throat.

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I ran through the trees as fast as I could, not stopping even once to check if it was following. It was only when my legs grew weak and my breathing heavy that I chanced a look back. Not seeing anything following me I let out a sigh of relief while tripping over a branch. Crashing to the ground in a heap I could only groan as I rolled onto my back.

Wiping the dirt off my face and staring up at the distant treetops my racing heart and shallow breaths took the chance to finally calm down. As my brain finally caught up with me and what happened started to sink in I couldn’t help but laugh. The kind of laugh that starts with a chuckle and ends with a hysteric babble, tears running down your face.

It was a cathartic release of all the emotions that had built up and allowed me to start thinking rationally again. I felt a bit silly when I thought of how I freaked out over the, admittedly scary, fire breathing squirrel. I had my own magic! I’m sure I could have kicked its butt ten times over!

It just caught me off guard. Yeah, it was just because it caught me off guard. If I ran into it again I would definitely kick its butt.

That matter settled, I focused again on my surroundings and noticed that it was getting darker. If the sun was going to set soon I should probably head back to the waterfall.

Only... which way was the river?

---

The light continued to die as I wandered through the trees searching for any sign of the river or waterfall.

It was getting hard to see and I had to slow down to keep from falling on my face again. The sun hadn’t quite set yet but it was getting close. Along with the encroaching darkness I could hear howls and roars from unknown beasts echoing in the distance. Each time I heard them a chill raced down my spine and I had to repress the shivers from starting. It was like some primal instinct was trying to warn me of danger.

This only served to put me on edge as I jumped at every little noise I heard, eyes darting back and forth. I told myself I had magic, I could handle whatever came at me. But my imagination was running wild and the sounds echoing in the night only fueled it further.

It was when I’d stopped walking to try and catch my breath that my instincts screamed for me to move. Hesitating only slightly, I dove to the left and could feel the wind of something large moving through the spot I had just left. As I rolled to my feet I could feel a trickle run down my back. Judging by the pain, it seemed my slight hesitation had cost me.

Looking for my attacker I spied a large shadow already making its way through the trees. I could only catch glimpses of it as it circled around me. Two large piercing orange eyes atop a long face that rose above even my own. Four powerful legs kept it moving between the trees as it bided its time. The only reason I could make it out at all was because it was darker than the night itself.

Breathing fast, I kept the beast in my sight as I waited for its next attempt. I glanced towards a noise on my right before realizing my mistake and swiftly turning back. It was too late, as a mouth big enough to fit my entire head was approaching to do just that. I hardly had enough time to shift to the side before the teeth clamped down around my entire shoulder and the body behind it brought me to the ground. Hard.

The sharp pain brought a strangled yell to my lips and before I could even think about reacting I was being shaken around like a leaf in the wind. I could feel the teeth digging deeper into my body and I swore my neck was about to snap from the whiplash. Suddenly I was sent flying through the air, ricocheting off a tree and skipping across the ground before tumbling to a stop as a broken heap in the dirt.

I weakly tried to push myself up only to realize my left arm wasn’t responding properly and was in fact bent the wrong way. Ignoring it the best I could I pushed with my right to lift my face off the ground and attempted to breath only to be met with a sharp pain and coughed up blood. Finally realizing I had to act or I would soon die, I spent what attention I could on healing my presumably pierced lung while looking up to search for the beast.

The answer was worse than I thought as it was only a few steps away and closing fast. Rolling onto my back to face the beast I stretched my right arm out towards it. As it lunged forward I sent a burst of air into the side of its head, deviating it enough to send it flying past me.

Putting as much focus as I could on fixing my lung, I scrambled around to face the beast again. My last move had worked better than I thought as the beast's momentum took it into a tumble it was only now recovering from. Those few extra moments allowed me to finish the patch job on my lung and banish the blood flooding it.

Wheezing for some much needed air I stood up on shaky legs and directed some mana towards general healing before focusing fully on the threat in front of me. It approached slower this time, likely wary of falling for the same trick. This suited me fine as it gave me a moment to think.

Conjuring a chunk of stone the size of my fist I launched it at the beast as hard as I could. But a quick twist of its body turned the potentially deadly attack into a glancing blow. Only the loud crack and pained yelp let me know it wasn’t for nothing, but judging by the menacing growl that shook the air I didn’t think it was going to be enough.

It charged at me in a blur of motion so fast I barely had the time to knock it aside with a blast of air. But it had learned from the last charge and a large paw struck out at me as it flew past. Tumbling through the dirt again my vision went white at the renewed pain tearing through my body.

Gasping for air and hardly able to see, I pulled up a wall of dirt to intercept the pounding feet approaching. Pulling up another as I blinked the spots out of my eyes I could see that it was tearing through them with hardly a pause.

I continued to throw up wall after wall as it got closer and closer not knowing what else to do. I couldn’t outrun it in peak condition, let alone as broken as I was now. My attack just seemed to make it angry while its performance was hardly impacted. It was tearing through all my defenses and my darkening vision told me I was running out of time.

Desperately crawling towards the nearest tree I continued to throw walls up behind me as fast as I could. A blood-freezing howl told me the beast was tired of my games but I was almost to the tree.

I looked back to see it leaping over the last few walls and in a desperate bid to buy enough time I gathered all the air I could. Waiting until it was close enough to see each bloody fang I released the air in one large blast, sending it soaring past both me and the tree.

Slapping my hand on the tree, I found shaping it to be harder than anything I had done before. Not only was it a complex living being, but it also felt like it was resisting me every step of the way.

Driven by desperation and with the full force of my will behind it I slowly used my flesh sorcery to mold a small tunnel and hollow into the tree, barely large enough for me to squeeze into. It took most of my remaining energy to make but it was my only hope.

Dragging myself in as fast as I could with only one arm, I could feel the vibrations of the fast approaching beast. Struggling not to wound myself further I was a hand's length away from safety when a gaping maw clamped down around my foot.

No, no, no.

I could feel the rending flesh and breaking bones as it gave a sharp tug to drag me out of my hole. Resisting with everything I had I hurriedly started to shape the hole closed while it chewed through my foot. And with a final desperate tug my foot was torn free and the entrance sealed up, leaving me bleeding all over the floor.

Everything I had went towards stemming the blood pouring out of my many wounds, but I had lost so much already and what little mana I had left wouldn’t be enough. Heedless of my chances of survival I continued sealing up what I could as my eyelids grew heavy and my head fuzzy.

As my eyes lost the struggle to stay open, my final thought was if they’d ever open again.