Kai awoke,

Screaming, screaming, screaming, all around him were desperate cries for help or mercy, he groggily shook himself awake and then the panic set in, a blazing orange inferno ravaged the houses in the outskirts, the wall closest to the outburst had already caught aflame. His body was slick with his sweat as he flung himself out of his bed and shoved through his door into the hazy corridor. As Kai ran down the hallway he turned to the side in shock, reflected in his deep amber eyes was the collapsed entrance to his parent's room. In a stupor, he turned and fled, bursting out of his flaming house. Kai bolted, scared, afraid, powerless, hot tears burned his face as he ran from the destructive conflagration, he ran until he could not feel his legs, then ran more after that, scared and alone, the world turned dark.

Time passed, and amber eyes opened. A young man shakily rose to his feet. The muscles of his lower body screaming in opposition. He slowly made his way to a nearby tree, leaning on it as his stomach inverted, a nauseous bile escaping from his mouth. He felt lightheaded and weak. Memories of last night or possibly many nights ago flitting through his head in fragments, the scenes of broken, marred bodies, adults and even small children alike were permanently burned into his memory, even his own family. All that was left was death and destruction. Kai was sure of it, but in his heart, he hoped for a minuscule chance that they could be alive, so he snuffed that flame. Knowing that irrational thinking would only cloud his judgment. His first goal was to find water.

Stumbling along Kai made his way through the forest, dry leaves crackling underfoot, he was so thirsty, that he limped across the forest with his aching muscles, stopping every once and a while to lean on a tree or rock for support. At some point during his search, his fatigued legs gave out, and he fell to the ground. His eyesight dimmed, and he was forced to crawl, sweat slicking his hands as he pulled himself forward. Eventually, his hands met open air, and the soil beneath him fell away, plunging into a stream. Barely conscious, he instinctively lowered his head to the flowing water and drank deeply, the cool liquid invigorating his body. He still felt frail, but he could think now.

Pushing himself into a sitting position, Kai looked around the forest for the first time. The trees were tall and vast, huge stretching canopies of leaves and branches, intertwining like threads, golden sunlight filtered through the forested sky. He lay back and fell asleep. The young man woke up as the sun was rising, orange streaks of light pierced the leafy canopy overhead. Slowly Kai stood, looking down at his bare feet he sighed. He looked around once more and set off, he followed along the stream carefully scanning his surroundings. 

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

Eventually, Kai spotted a large cave entrance, he turned and walked towards it. Kai looked down and saw a trail of blood dotting the floor of the cavern, he cautiously followed the trail and eventually came across two corpses, one of a man and the other of a large furry beast, the beast had a long jagged slash on its side and the hunter’s chest was crushed.

‘Looks like these two fought and the beast won, however still dying of blood loss due to its wound after dragging the man’s body here. Is it wrong to steal from a corpse?’

Kai stooped low and retrieved the knife from the hunter’s body, somberly looking at the black leather boots on the feet of the corpse he sighed and stole those too. As he dressed in the new shoes and sheathed his blade, he turned his attention to the massive bestial body, with some struggle he eventually managed to cut into the beast's chest and obtain several strips of hard meat, as he cut the slabs of meat his knife struck something hard. Bringing his hand towards the cut he dug out a lustrous green crystal that sparkled with internal radiance.

‘I wonder if this has any use…’

He pondered the unexpected development as he continued carving into the meat. Eventually turning to the hunter once more he noticed a shining ring on the man's hand, with what he assumed to be a sort of runic language etched into the white crystal surface, along with the shattered remains of a bow,

‘Well that’s too bad’

Many days passed as Kai scouted the area around his cave. He spent his free time practicing with his knife, slashing and thrusting, slowly honing his skills. On his third night, things changed. 

Kai’s eyes snapped open and he sat straight up, now on his feet he drew his knife and backed up against the wall. Kai turned his head and listened, straining his ears to hear any noises that might have woke him. Eventually, he heard it. Ragged breathing, sharp claws scraping against stone, Kai fumbled with his knife, slowly backing himself deeper into the cavern, the air seemed to grow sharp as he did so, he could hear the breathing now. Something was nearby, he slowly raised his blade and got into an immature fighting stance, red eyes glinting in the darkness, Kai’s breath caught short, his hands shaking. The thing slowly moved towards him with a catlike gait.

‘What have I gotten myself into… think Kai, think! What do I do now?’

Kai slowly crept away from the crimson eyes that burned like fire. His back collided with the cavern wall, and the blood-colored eyes pursued him. He drew a few ragged breaths as his mind spun.

‘Is this how it ends? 

And then it pounced.