My body tensed when I heard the sudden thunder. The flash, too far, and too weak to penetrate through the thick roots of my current hideout and was unable to warn me of the sudden sound. It only served to remind me that my muscles were still very much burned out from the last narrow escape.

I am glad that even though the water that streamed through the roots didn’t reach my resting place and that the tree was thirsty enough to prevent it from accumulating in a nasty soup of water, leaves, and mud. Which meant that I luckily didn't have to move to stay dry.

I closed my eyes again, trying to keep my mind from wandering to the pain of my wounds. Yet they somehow seemed to constantly get at least part of my attention. So I tried focusing on the rhythmic ticking of the droplets leaking from the roots, which all made a very pleasant sound, soft enough so it wouldn't disturb me but loud enough that the muted storm outside was not overpowering. I was doing my best to focus on the sounds rather than the pain of my recent wounds and my still burning muscles. I had no trouble ignoring the burning of my muscles but all my other wounds were a different matter.

My pain tolerance helped to ignore most of it but some of the latest wounds are too fresh and too painful to fully ignore. The throbbing of my wounds are constant reminders of my carelessness and that although the close escape hadn’t been paid with my life, it was far too close for comfort. With every breath, I took a part of my skin stretched and made the wounds on my back scratch against the bark. But that wasn't the worst. The deep gashes on my chest and belly felt like they tore open with every minuscule movement of my lungs. Yeah… just focusing on the sound wasn't enough, I had to think of other thoughts.

I went back to the memory of when I first saw this place a couple of months back. A tower of wood that grew at such an angle that it seemed to be growing more horizontal than vertical. The tree, after further investigation, contained a hollowed-out area under its massive roots. The tree must have fallen to the rage of one of the more giant monsters decades or maybe even centuries back. As it seemed to have been ripped from the ground entirely. Its roots did manage to take hold in the ground once again, reconnecting the toppled ancient to the earth. The roots had to grow back stretching for meters before even being able to touch the soil. Which now enabled the tree to keep growing at the awkward angle. Defying the law of gravity only with the support of its siblings by pretty much growing through them.

The moonlight that shone through the massive opening in the canopy that its fall had created miraculously touched the ground that was hidden under the dozens of very thick roots. The soft light was just barely enough to see.

The air on the other hand seemed to have more trouble navigating through the thick maze that’s the roots of this tree, somehow unable to exchange its heat with the cold outside night. It gives a very nice and cozy air to the inside and the thick roots felt like ancient natural barriers to defend this place from any unwanted visitor.

Though I knew better, safety was but a dream I sometimes get lulled into that makes me forget that it’s only a matter of time before I wake in the same neverending nightmare. I knew better than to hope that this time things were different and to fall into the same trap because this dream is nothing but a curse that’s gnawing at my vigilance. It’s a test of my sanity and will. Where even though the feeling of safety is right there I can’t allow myself to embrace its warmth. Only trusting the cold will keep me from falling asleep. Properly sleeping; a mistake I once made and multiple scars to remind me not to repeat it, because that may be the time that the monsters won’t be sated with just a little of my blood.

The roots even as thick as they are, will only delay the inevitable. This tree is big but bigger green giants are toppled or literally torn to shreds on every run. Their ancient creaks and groans create a terrifying symphony with the roaring of the monsters. A nightmarish song conducted by their rage and madness, only drowned out by my own screams.

I still get chills of the sight I get when I inevitably return later, to get supplies. Where it almost always ends up with me finding the wall gone, replaced by what looks like a long stretch of a wooden graveyard. The trees that do somehow survive become broken and crippled pieces of wood only living because of their stubbornness and luck. The aftermath forces me to constantly change my escape routes.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The forest is so big that it’s almost impossible to find any place where the sun hasn’t been almost completely obscured. The only places where the sun has been allowed entrance are places like this. The destructiveness of one of the monsters is already terrifying. But two end up scarring the forest for hundreds of years. These old battle zones are the only places in the forest where I can see clearly during the day and enough at night so that with just my eyesight I won’t be fully blind in an escape. Yet sight is not enough and although very handy it’s not something reliable. Being almost completely useless at night. So everything I've come across that I deemed useful has at least three paths to and from thoroughly memorized until I can run them blindly.

Every single one of those paths takes months of memorizing, practicing, cleaning, and maintaining. While I can multitask I can't speed the process up by a lot without the use of proper tools. The only reason I can manage this for the countless paths I’ve found and still use is that I have literally nothing else to do... also I’m sure that one wrong turn due to incompetent memory skills will be the last. Lest I end up as a late-night snack for one of the monsters roaming around…. Yeah, the threat of dying, if I can't recall perfectly, might be a considerable factor too. But it’s mostly time.

I gave up trying to find an exit to this forest long ago. Or even exploring, since I figured that that would be the best way to die. I knew that maybe I could find something, maybe even a reason as to why I’m here but the fear of death always stopped me. Living a nomadic existence by constantly moving between hideouts seemed like the best way. I would be able to maintain the different routes and scavenge along the way. Whilst practicing and rehearsing the different twists and turns I would have to keep track of.

This forest is rich enough that finding nonpoisonous berries, fruits and fish is rather easy. After the decade I’ve spent in this nightmare and getting lucky with eating only nonlethal poisonous plants. I’ve memorized what is what and I always double-check. By eating a very, very small piece. That doesn’t mean that I don’t make mistakes. This is the last place you want to be when you’re ill.

My lack of medical knowledge means that I’m almost clueless as to what when you get wounded or seriously ill. Which is why I consider myself very lucky. Although being here is already the worst luck you can end up with. I think dying from just being eaten can be considered a rather painless death, compared to the other well abundant options.

I would have properly died after my first run-in with my first monster. The only thing saving me from dying a slow painful death was finding a plant with medicinal properties. Which I only found after I just used it as an insulator. I still cringe at how foolish I was back then, considering that the plant could’ve been poisonous, and with me putting it so close to the open wounds, I probably would have died if it was even a little poisonous. So instead of dying from poison or an infection I stopped the bleeding, cleaned the wounds, and sped the healing process. Maybe even saving me from bleeding to death. It didn’t take me long to find the cause and considering that the plant is rather common, I was able to use it to save my life more times than I dare to count.

When I just wanted to be able to sleep without dying from the cold I probably just picked the very first big leaves I saw. Considering its look it must have been the first thing I noticed and thus without thinking picked them. The exotic leaves of the plant itself are low to the ground, rather big, and easy to spot between the hundreds of different plants. Standing out with their larger size at approximately 10 to 20 cm, compared to the max of 8 cm for plants in its vicinity. And that most plants’ leaves look very different from the bright, almost glowing, green from this medicinal plant. It seemed so pretty and innocent that I did not even think about picking a few dying leaves from the forest floor which were probably a far safer choice than some unknown glowing plant. I would just have made sure no insects were hiding in between them. In a way, I have been very lucky.

The sound of thunder once again shook me out of my musings, this time though I was prepared. I expected it and was able to keep my body from tensing. It would be a long night. Not because I wouldn’t sleep for safety reasons but because my normal way of resting wasn’t possible. Even in a meditative state, vigilance is necessary to be able to act appropriately in seconds. The thunder would mimic my normal alarm, and cause me to instinctively start running. Something which I would like to avoid in my current wounded state. Good rest is not worth it if it meant that it would be my last. And this tree allowed for far too many small animals to enter to be anything other than awake.

I looked to my right to check the pile of exotic leaves. I feel kind of guilty that I never thought of a name for my savior. The pile seemed to be enough to last four to five days but I knew they wouldn’t be useful after just two. Their glow dimmed a little and I could tell that just after two days their healing properties would have degraded enough that they stopped to have any effect.

I prevented myself from groaning, fearing the pain that it would bring. I closed my eyes again, knowing I would have to get out for the plants later. Food could wait, I was used to hunger, and knowing how long it normally rains at this time of the year I could still get water tomorrow. Then I’ll go back to my cave hideout and have my well overdue rest. Now that everything I had to do was successfully procrastinated, I peacefully went back to resting as much as I could, trying to continue ignoring the pain.