02

The beast lunged at San. He was paralyzed for a brief moment as the creature closed the distance between them. He saw his death coming, the glistening maw, and the cruel yellow eyes. For a moment, San sat there awaiting it, but that moment past by and he jerked himself out of the monster’s path.

Pain blossomed across his right shoulder as the creature missed him, but the bulk of the monster shoulder checked him and threw him even further. Hot water scaled his arms and he crashed into the two pots of of water; the revolver fell from his hands.

San cursed with the pain, but didn’t wallow in it. He scrambled to his feet and turned to face the monster.

It was an animal he had never seen before. Mary loved nature documentaries and was obsessed with dogs and wolves; the creature looked like a wolf, but just barely. It had a triangular snout, two deep set yellow eyes, narrow pointed ears, and the curved horns of a ram. The fur was thick and matted black, glistening in melting snow and its own oils; the legs were short and stout, but ended with sharp talons that could rend flesh.

San wrinkled his nose, there was a deep and thick stench that surrounded it. Like musky dirt and something rotting, a graveyard smell. Its massive shoulder hunched as it peered at San and then the fire.

The revolver was nowhere to be seen, so he fumbled for the bear mace at his belt loop. The can shook in his hands as he raised it at the monster. The creature wasn’t as big as a bear, but it looked just as dangerous. San had never had to use the mace before, but it was always something Mary had made them carry, just in case. The habit had stuck with him and now he was thankful for it.

“Get out of here!” San shouted, his voice a little shaky. He raised his arms wide and tried to look bigger than he was. Never approach it, don’t run away, make yourself look bigger, those were the suggestions that Mary had given him if he ever came face to face with a bear. They were more scared of you than you were of them.

The yellow eyes peered at him and the black gums around the creatures mouth curled back, revealing its yellow vicious teeth. It did not seemed to be scared of him or worried that it might be in danger.

San dropped his arms and raised the bear mace. He could see the creatures muscles beginning to tense as it prepared to leap for him. His index finger held the can upright and he depressed the trigger with his thumb. Nothing came out.

San cursed as he realized he hadn’t removed the piece of plastic that prevented the trigger from depressing. The monster leaped at him. San jumped out of the way, but his leg was swatted and it exploded with pain. He collapsed not far from the fire as the creature skidded across the snow and immediately turned toward him.

The monster roared in annoyance and then bunched up its shoulders once more. San pulled off the safety tab and leveled the bear mace at the creature. With his last attempt having done nothing, there was no fear in the monster, it didn’t jump this time, instead he pushed forward, crossing the distance between them slowly.

It opened its mouth once more and roared; San pulled the trigger. The reddish haze of the bear mace filled the air, right into the open mouth of the creature. The roar choked to a stop and the creature snapped its mouth close with an audible crack, San could almost see its eyes widen in shock and surprise. A moment later it began to gag and snarl, clawing at its face.

San didn’t stop, he sprayed more of the mace into the creature’s face as it forgot about him and writhed in distress. The second attack was too much as the monster wheezed and snarled, thick ropes of saliva and mucus running form its mouth. It gave San a bleary eyed look and let out a keening noise before scurrying off back through the brush.

He could hear it crashing through the woods, the snapping of branches as it rushed away. San sat down heavily, his hands shaking and breathing ragged. The bear mace still hung in the air and he moved away from it, taking a moment to shiver in the cold breeze that lay beyond his shelter.

What was that thing? It didn’t seem to be any animal he had ever seen, not that he know a lot about animals. Surely something that could turn invisible would have been on a documentary or something. San shivered. The creature hadn’t been afraid of fire, it hadn’t been afraid of him.

The air cleared and San went back to his fire, shivering and rubbing his arms. His leg ached and he looked down to see a shallow cut along his calf. It wasn’t deep, but he didn’t know what diseases the creature carried. He dug through his pack and opened the first aid kit he brought along.

He cleaned the wound, used a antibiotic cream on it, and then used the bundle of gauze to wrap it. The calf pained him, but he could still move around fairly well with it. San looked at the wound, if he hand’t been faster, it probably would have taken a bigger chunk out of him. He had a decently supplied first aid kit, including some sutures, but San didn’t think he could have patched himself up while fending off the monster.

He had been closed to death, twice in the same night. San looked at the fire and wondered why he had chosen to live. Why hadn’t he just let the monster kill him? His eyes moved back toward the black sky once more, he could barely see the stars through the tree foliage and the light of the fire, but those stars. They were so different from what he knew.

He had to be somewhere else. The monster proved that, there were no creatures like that on Earth. No creatures that could turn invisible. Was it magic? Was it evolution? San didn’t know, but a part of him wanted to find out. A part of him wanted to know what this place was.

Light reflecting off of metal caught his eyes. San crawled over to where his pack lay in the mud of the hot water and saw the revolver lying under it. He brushed off some of the mud and checked the weapon. The bear mace worked, but the odds were far better if he had another weapon on hand. From what he understood bear mace was more of a deterrent against an animal that wasn’t a threat. If a couple of hundred pounds of bear was going to attack, then the mace was not going to stop it.

Surprise and shock had been in his favor. The monster didn’t seem to have ever encountered anyone with bear mace before.

San shuddered as he looked into the deep dark woods. The monster was still out there, once it recovered, would it be back? Perhaps it wanted revenge. He had watched plenty of movies about killer animals in the woods, stalking their prey and jumping out when the protagonist thought they were safe.

He stared out into the darkness and it was a long night.

***

The sun was rising when San jerked awake. He had dozed off when this world’s version of false dawn began. That had oddly comforted him as it meant that there existed space and cosmic dust outside of this strange world.

He shivered as he saw the fire had dwindled in the hour he had fallen asleep. The sun was rising and San got to his feet. He grabbed the bear mace and the revolver, his boots crunching against the hardened snow.

The sight before him was similar to the one he had come to see. There was a dark valley below him, the land still shrouded in twilight. The sun rose above distant peaks far to the east, much larger than the ones he had seen the evening previous. This definitely was not a forest in Washington.

The sky was clear, no clouds at all. San surveyed the area, snow was a thin dusting on the ground everywhere, the trees were still massive and ancient looking, and if he looked hard enough he saw the snarling face of the monster in every shadow.

He couldn’t spend another night in this place. He had to find shelter, food, and maybe other people. There would be other people in this place right? He might be on a world where he was the only sentient life. That would suck.

The sun rose and began to illuminate the valley below. San was surprised to see how much land there truly was that had been shrouded in darkness. The trees were tall and ancient, the forest thick with old growth trees that swallowed up everything. For all he knew there could be an army down below and he would never even know.

He looked down at his wrist watch, an old gift from his grandfather, and saw that the time was almost nine in the morning. He knew he had arrived when the sun had set, with the time of the season, that meant about nearly seven in the evening. Were the days longer here?

It didn’t matter, he was cold and alone. He needed to find shelter and soon. The trek off this plateau wasn’t going to be easy. If he were in another world, that meant there were no trails to follow, no guide posts to show him the way. He took out a compass from his pocket and felt some relief to see that the rising sun was east and not some different direction.

He returned to his pack and found the binoculars. The cliff edge was now basking in full sunlight and even with the cold air, San felt warmer and more confident. There were no dark places for the monster to hide, although if it could turn invisible, it could hide anywhere.

The valley below was still shaded by the mountains to the east, but as San panned along it he spotted what looked like a river. He could see where the trees thinned a bit and an edge of a slow moving river amidst the snow.

He would need water and where there was water, there was usually people. He looked around the thick and primeval forest, hopefully there would be people.

Breaking camp was quick and easy, although San was going to regret not having a fire anymore. He hoped the trek through unbroken wilderness would keep him warm enough, if not, then he would freeze. He buried the fire pit and loaded up his pack, making sure to keep his revolver out and the bear mace on hand.

He managed to make another liter of water and mixed it with the water in his water bottle, then dumped it into the bladder in his pack. The water was warm and it soon bled through the fabric, keeping his back warm.

From his back, he pulled out the short camp knife he always carried. It was a six inch sheathed knife that was used for general chores around the campsite. He clipped it onto his belt.

The dark forest beckoned him and San entered it.

***

Going downhill was a dangerous prospect. In a normal well trod trail, it wasn’t too bad, but the rougher less traveled trails meant there were more debris, loose rock, and many other things that could catch the foot and send you tumbling down a steep slope.

San was careful, moving slowly as he descended down the plateau. Enough years camping and he could figure out the correct path to take so as not to entangle himself and potentially sprain, break, or shatter a bone. With that monster out there, any injury would mean a death sentence.

He traveled north as the entire east side of the plateau were steep cliffs. He could have tried going south, but north felt like the right direction to go. The sun was out and shining bright, although most of the time he was under the canopy of the massive trees, where the air was cold and dry. Snow crunched under his boots and although he kept an eye out, he saw no signs of other animals.

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It was eerie, as if the entire forest was holding its breath, waiting to see what he would do. Or waiting to pounce on him. San felt an itch in his back as if something were watching him. It wasn’t too hard to figure that the monster had recovered from being maced and was now tracking him.

San came to a steep slope, the ground was sparse, with thin trees and scree covering the slope. It was a definite hazard, the loose stones could cause him to tumble down the slope and to his death. Yet he could see into the valley below, the slope lead to a large open pasture that lay covered in snow, but also was dotted with what looked to be grazing deer of some kind. It was the first animals that San had seen besides the monster. If the deer were there, that would mean there were no predators about.

He could continue north, but it turned into more cliff and steep sides once more. This appeared to be his only chance to go down into the valley. He scouted the slope and found an area that was mostly small loose stones, toward the bottom of the slope there were bigger rocks and boulders.

The forest gave up a long five foot heavy branch. It was fairly straight and San spent some time cleaning it up, as he took a break for lunch. He hadn’t eaten breakfast, until he found some food or caught something, he would have to save his trail food. They were the only non perishable foods he had.

Three days no water, three weeks no food. San wasn’t afraid of starving to death, he carried a small collapsible fishing rod that he had used two days before at a campsite. He hadn’t caught anything, but he also hadn’t been really trying. In addition, at six feet and nearly two hundred and fifty pounds, he had a fair bit of mass on him to survive with.

Going down scree slopes was one of the things Mary took great pleasure in doing. San was always scared about wiping out and tumbling down the slope, but Mary had nerves of steel and a wild streak. The best way down the slope was using a trekking pole, but San didn’t use one. Instead he cleaned up the branch and walked to the edge of the slope, feeling a bit of vertigo as he looked down into the snow covered valley.

The danger was falling forward. If he fell forward he would go tumbling, he needed to keep his weight leaning backward so if he lost his footing he would fall on his ass and not down the slope. The branch he dug into the loose rocks and leaned against it, keeping his booted feet parallel to the slope.

Slowly he took a slight hop downward, the loose stones beginning to move under his weight. Going down scree was simply a matter of controlling the slide downward. San had freaked out the first time he had ever tried it, the sudden moving of the stones under his feet and the feeling that he was falling had unnerve him enough that he had nearly tumbled down a slope. It had been a good thing Mary had been there to coax him down, like some scared child he had barely managed and profanely announced he would never do it again.

The rocks slid and scattered under his boots, he leaned back as much as he could on the branch as it dug into the scree behind him. The third leg kept him balance, more secure, and prevented him from falling on his ass.

The air was dry and cold as he sucked wind, a faint breeze began blowing and he could feel it on his cheeks. Despite himself he grinned as the rocks slid under his feet. He grunted as a larger piece of rock stopped his descent. He slowly moved out of its way and then felt the scattering of rocks coming down the slope behind him.

San looked back up the slope and froze.

He could not see what had shifted the rocks above him, but he could see that something was coming down the slope after him. There were four noticeable depressions in the loose stones, as if a heavy weight was in that area. The rocks moved and San cursed, the damn monster was after him again.

It didn’t make sense, animals were either nocturnal hunters or not. The beast had tried attacking him during the night, so it had to be nocturnal, yet there it was once again. Invisible to his sight, but completely real regardless of what his eyes told him.

He couldn’t rush down the slope, unless he wanted to injure himself. He couldn’t reach for his gun as he held onto the branch, so he kept moving as fast as he could without endangering himself.

The monster seemed to have the same problem, as it slid down the slope a few feet, scrabbled for purchase and kick more rocks down onto San. It didn’t seem to know how to navigate the loose rock and was taking its time. San made use of its caution and widen the distance between them. If he could get into a secure spot, he could take the creature out before it got to him.

He was near the bottom of the slope, where the large boulders began, when he heard a loud screech and snarl. San barely managed to turn his head back up the slope when a small avalanche of rock, debris, and a snarling matted fur creature slammed into him.

He lost hold of his branch; the rocks slid out from under him and he was pitched forward by the weight that slammed into his back. He cried out as he began tumbling.

Pain bloomed along his left side as he slammed up agains the base of a boulder. The pain was intense and he snapped his eyes open, gasping for air. Rocks and dirt rained down around him and he could hear the wheezing of some animal beside him. The thick stench of wet fur, earth, and rotting meat filled his nostrils and San began digging himself out of a pile of loose rock.

He staggered to his feet as the monster began to stir. It was visible now, the yellow eyes snapped at him, the yellowed teeth flashed. It tried leaping, but the rocks under it’s back paws slipped out and the creature fell heavily on it’s belly.

San would have laughed if his life hadn’t been in danger. It was like those cat videos he would watch for hours, the deadly hunter falling flat on their face. Instead of laughing he fumbled for his revolver, cursing that he had placed it in a velcro pocket of his cargo pants.

The first shot missed the creature and San’s ear rang with the retort. He could hear the sound echo loudly in the silent forest, a moment later he heard the stampeding noise of the deer that had been grazing in the field below.

He didn’t manage a second shot as the beast plowed him over. It wasn’t trying to kill him, instead it was fleeing, from the noise or from the embarrassment it had just endured. San was thrown aside as the creature bolted away from him and was lost within seconds among the boulders.

San sat down in the loose rock. His left side ached badly, but as he gingerly touched it, he felt nothing broken. His shoulder ached, his ribs were bruised, and his hip was protesting his movements.

The sun was overhead and he was protected from the breeze; it would have been a nice spot to rest in the sun warmed rocks, but instead he began to shiver. It was adrenaline. Mary’s father, a former Marine, used to talk about it a lot. How after a fight he’d begin shivering as if he were freezing. Then again, as he was sitting in half melted snow, he could actually just be freezing.

San slowly got up and limped to the boulders, keeping the revolver out and steady. The beast might have ran off, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t lying in wait somewhere. One didn’t have magical invisibility powers if they weren’t an ambush predator too.

He clamored to the top of a boulder and looked down in the pasture below. He could see the churned up dirt and dead grass from the deer that had been grazing, but as he used his binoculars he noted the clawed prints of the beast on the snow.

The creature had headed north. San looked east and decided to head south. The river was there somewhere and maybe the beast had had enough of trying to kill him. That tumble down the slope hadn’t hurt San too much, but he was almost at the bottom. The beast on the other hand had been less than half way toward the bottom, that was a long tumble.

With the near death tumble and attack, San decided it was a good time to rest. In the sun warmed rocks his muscles eased their protesting and he drank water. He could feel his pack had lightened since this morning. He should be running low on water by now.

There was always snow and the isopro stove, but he would wait to see if he made it to the river first.

***

With the sun out, the forest was more alive than it had been on the plateau. Birds were chirping and fluttering around, small dull colored birds that San didn’t recognize. After so many hours hiking, he could tell what most birds were, but these ones were different. They had the same bird shape and feathering, but they had brightly colored beaks and their eyes were large and crimson.

They were also too small to easily catch and this late in the season he doubted they would have eggs he could steal. He continued on, the forest was thick, but it seemed more livelier than the one he had just left behind. The air was slightly warmer and the heavy trees didn’t allow for the wind to gust too much. There was a slight breeze, but walking generated enough heat to keep him comfortable.

The river came into view after two hours of trekking. He constantly stopped to listen if anything were following, not that he was any kind of scout, but the chirping birds would quiet if a predator was around. He heard the chirping of the birds and a strange chittering that came from a furry puffball with skinny legs that sat in the trees. This world’s version of a squirrel.

San took a break at the banks of the river. There was a fallen log that he sat on as the sun began heading west and plunging the valley into shadow. He guessed he had maybe a few more hours of daylight before he had to find a place to shelter for the night. With the beast out there, he wasn’t looking forward to it. The creature seemed to have a problem with him and was not acting like any animal he knew.

He filled up on water in the river. It was cold, with thick sheets of ice floating by. San had brought along a pump filter with him and set one end into the water and began pumping water into his water bladder. In a few minutes he was done and took a tentative sip from his water bottle. It was cold and tasted like water. San shrugged and put away his equipment.

The river didn’t roar or move quickly, it was slow and lazy, but San didn’t know how deep it would be. The river flowed to the north, the old adage that rivers flowed south was never a real thing. Eventually they all lead to the sea, supposedly, but based on the geography of a region, rivers could flow in any ole direction they pleased.

The valley was laid out in a south to north direction, he could see some distant mountains to the north but to the south there didn’t seem to be any. If there were civilization around, it would be around water. If there were people, they wouldn’t want to live in the deep ass forest where invisible monsters lurked.

San stood up and decided to head south. The beast had went north, so it wasn’t as if he had much choice.

He moved upriver, noting the trees, the birds, the puffballs, and some fish that swam in the waters. Although he was hungry, he knew he could skip a day or two before he needed to really dig into the remainder of his food. He would have stopped and tried fishing, but the threat of the monster was still a worry. Finding shelter was the first priority and he needed to do it soon. Already the valley was shrouded in heavy shadows, although this close to the river there was plenty of light; the forest was already preparing for twilight.

The trees were looking like the place to stay the night, it would be cold and miserable, but it was better than lying on the ground waiting for the monster to take him. The temperature was beginning to drop as evening arrived and San was already beginning to shiver. He could heat up another liter of water and use it to warm himself for the night.

As he was deciding upon a tree to spend the night in, San spotted something. In the distance and on the other side of the river he spotted a dock.

With his binoculars, San peered at the man made structure. It was a sign that there were people out here. The sight made him grin. Then he paused, what if they weren’t human? He was in a different world with different creatures, what if there were no humans here?

San pondered on the thought for a moment and shrugged. He was being chased by a monster and there looked to be shelter ahead. He would take his chances.

That left him with the biggest challenge. How to get across the river.

San looked at the water, there was ice still floating in it. Large chunks that were nearly the size of him and pretty thick too. He watched as some debris floated by, branches and a tree trunk. The river wasn’t fast moving, but there was a lot of junk in it.

Plus it would be cold as hell.

He was already shivering and if he tried going across now, that would be risking hypothermia at a minimum. He dug through is pack and checked his tinder, it was enough to make a single fire. He had collected some dry twigs and other kindling on his journey to the river, but that wouldn’t be enough. Within in an hour he would be losing daylight.

San began untying his boots.

San had brought plenty of sealable plastic bags with him, along with another dry bag that was useful for keeping his clothing in during rainy weather.

He emptied his water bladder and container, stuffed everything into a dry bag and stood shivering and naked at the edge of the river.

“Hopefully no one sees me,” he muttered. “They’ll understand that it’s just the cold, right?” He chuckled and then hissed as his feet sank into the mud. “Fuck!”

He continued forward, the bank dipped suddenly and he was plunged chest deep. The breath was blasted out of him and he nearly tried scrambling back out. Logic won out and San kept moving forward, he was a good swimmer and the current of the river wasn’t too strong. He paddled across the water and heard a growling behind him.

San managed to turn his head to see the monster at the banks of the river. It prowled back and forth, flickering in an out of invisibility. The yellow eyes locked on him and it growled, deep and angry.

“Fuck you!” San shouted and cursed as a large chunk of ice hit the back of his head.

He focused on his swimming and dodging the oncoming debris. After what felt like an eternity he pulled himself onto the dock. It wasn’t that big, about twelve feet by six feet, with posts to tie up fishing boats or something. Maybe it was someone’s personal dock.

He was shivering badly, but he noted the path through the trees. He slipped on his clothes after using a towel to wipe off as much water as he could. The cold was settling into his bones and he pulled out the mylar blanket and wrapped himself in it as he staggered down the path. If there was nothing or if it was too far, he would just make a fire and wait until morning.

The path was swallowed up by darkness as the foliage overhead blocked the remaining sunlight. He was about to pull out his flashlight when he saw an opening ahead. He staggered forward and entered a massive open field.

In the center of the cleared area, perhaps a mile distant, was a castle. San stared at it for a moment as he began to shiver violently.

A castle? The sun reflected off the upper most spire and San could see a curl of smoke rising from a chimney.

Fire.

San shuddered and staggered forward to safety.