Every footstep I took was drowned out by the noise of crumbling stone. I didn’t know if I had been running for seconds, or hours. Either way, I wasn’t going to stop, since stopping meant certain death.

I retraced my path through the woods as best as possible, trying my best to remain calm and think clearly. “Think damnit! This isn’t sustainable! You saw how fast that thing was, it’ll catch up in an instant!” I kept pushing my muscles as hard as I could to go faster, but I was already feeling exhaustion set in. My breathing was heavy, and my heart was pounding at an inhuman speed. With every step, the burning ache in my thighs increased, pleading with me to quit running.

I had begun running down the declining slope that lead up to the cliff and felt my speed increase as gravity helped carry my body along. I felt relived, until I heard the noises of cracking stone turn into the dull thud of a large body hitting the ground.

“It’s already up here?! That was a 200 meter cliff?” This new information was terrifying, but necessary to my survival. I was going to need every piece of information I could to be plan around the hulking abomination’s strengths while circumventing my weaknesses.

“If it’s fast enough to get up the cliff in seconds then I have no chance outrunning it. I’m going to need a change of plans.” As I ran through the woods, a thick bush of twisting vines emerged from the side of a large tree trunk. Without thinking, I reached my left arm out to grab it in an attempt to redirect my momentum in a different direction. I felt pain streak up my arm and into my shoulder as my arm fought from being ripped out of socket.

Using all of my strength, I held on for dear life as my body accelerated 90 degrees to the left. My legs raced to keep up with my body, kicking away debris as I moved. After reaching the desired direction, I let go of the vines and nearly stumbled as I pushed harder to go even faster. I regained my balance and began running perpendicular to my original direction.

Glancing to the left, my gaze was met by the glaring sun shining above the crest of the hill. “Where did it go?” I thought as I slowed slightly to get a better look at where the monster had gone. The dark and light stripes on the beast’s hide were like a leopard’s spots, masking the movements of the giant creature beneath the moving shadows of the forest. The large trees also helped to obscure its movements.

My question was answered when a thunderous explosion went off behind me, startling me and sending me tumbling to the ground. As I fell, I braced for impact, tucking my head in an approaching the ground with my shoulder.

It felt like I was falling for an eternity, waiting for the inevitable crack of my neck snapping upon landing. Less than a second passed before I hit the ground. Simultaneously, I felt a spattering of wood splinters strike my back, like I had been shot with a spray of shotgun pellets. Luckily, I landed on my shoulder as planned, which groaned under the force of my fall. I tried to stay strong as I rolled, but my body continued to build up speed as I moved down the slope.

My momentum carried me up, and my limbs flailed out and I went airborne for a moment before slamming into the ground with more force than before. With any semblance of control broken, I flopped down the hill like a fish out of water, earning countless scratches and bruises as my body fell uncontrollably.

Out of instinct, my hand shot out blindly to grab something to slow my fall. I grabbed some tree roots, but my fingers slipped, causing me to lose some skin on my fingertips to the course bark. I tried again but couldn’t slow my momentum enough to gain control again. Dull aches pounded throughout my body, adrenaline keeping the pain from consuming my thoughts.

Luckily, I felt a web of plants grab my back, sapping my speed and slowing me down to a stop. Dazed, I inhaled deeply as the fall had knocked the air from my lungs. Breathing heavily, I remembered what I was doing, and began to scramble to escape the thick foliage. Unfortunately, the same qualities that helped it stop my fall also made it hard to escape. My hands pushed for leverage but couldn’t get any as I flailed around like a fly caught in a spider web.

As I was struggling to escape, a rhythmic thudding resounded through the earth, the sound growing louder each second. With fear in my eyes, I looked up to see a hulking mass of dark muscle barreling towards me. Animalistic hunger shined in it’s dark eyes as it shot toward me at impossible speed. It’s mouth had four large tusks that oscillated up and down with every stride.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the beast was very top heavy. It had a broad chest and two muscular arms the size of tree trunks. There were thick pads of hardened flesh at the end of the arms, which tapered into a slight point at the tip. It’s comparatively smaller legs were dragged behind it, the arms providing the force to get the massive creature moving so quickly. It would’ve been a little funny if it wasn’t a few seconds away from breaking my body into a million pieces.

The beast’s charge inspired a newfound fear in my heart as I reignited my struggles to escape the bush. With every passing second, the beast grew closer, crossing the fifty meters between us in record time. I was only able to get the right side of my body free as I continued to struggle against the plant’s grasp. Adrenaline surged through my veins, and I used my free leg and arm as leverage to push against the plant. I felt a terrible pressure on my body, but I redoubled my efforts when I heard a few vines snap.

With only ten meters between us, I felt the plant’s hold give in as my body lurched to the side. Using every limb available, I scrambled desperately to get out of the monster’s reach, hoping that it’s linear momentum would prevent it from grabbing me. My feet slid in the dirt and my arms grasped at roots to aid in my escape. Flesh was ripped apart as I fought to move just a bit further to the side before my time was up.

The drumming earthquake reached a crescendo behind me, and I heard a guttural roar emerge as the beast tried to end my life. The moment felt like an eternity as I silently prepared myself to receive a crushing blow to the spine that would end my life. The moment never came, and I felt the rumbling fade slightly as the beast flew past me and accelerated down the hill.

Risking a fall, I turned my head to the side to watch the beast fall. From it’s movements, I could tell that it had expected to reach me and was not prepared to fall down the hill empty handed. It had lunged at me in a last-ditch attempt to reach me, which left it in an awkward position. It’s thick arms grabbed at the ground to reorient itself, but it was carried off into the air, spinning wildly as it recreated my fall from earlier.

Unluckily for the beast, there was no shrubbery dense enough to stop the mammoth beast’s fall, which meant it continued falling for much longer than I had. I slowed down slightly as I prayed it would fall too far to pursue me, allowing me to escape. The hulking monster seemed to sense this eventuality as well, as it desperately grasped at the earth below it to slow it’s descent.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

I almost breathed out in relief but stopped when I saw the monster dig it’s hardened hand into the earth, lodging it deep in the ground. A small trench was dug as the monster began to slow down slightly, but it’s massive body was moving too fast to be stopped easily. Unfortunately for me, the beast had two arms, and it used its second to grab at passing trees. It missed a few but got a good grip on a particularly large one. The tree strained under the pressure, a large chunk of it’s exterior ripping away into small splinters.

That much was enough, though, as the monster was able to ground itself fully and slide to a stop 200 meters away. I couldn’t see perfectly, but I could tell from its stance that the beast was outraged at my survival. Deciding it was no longer a good time to keep watching, I turned around and ran up back up the hill. While my lungs burned and legs protested, my mind fought to keep me moving as I trudged slowly up the hill.

I hadn’t been watching the beast for no reason, though I was hoping it would disappear down the hill, saving me a lot of trouble. “No, things won’t end that easily. I can’t outrun it, and I have zero chance of killing it face-to-face. That only leaves one more option…”

I pushed up the hill as fast as possible. In my escape, I had fallen travelled over fifty meters from the crest of the hill and didn’t imagine I’d be able to reach the top before the beast caught up to me. The speed at which it climbed the sheer cliff face and reached me should’ve been unattainable for a creature that size. Nonetheless, it was that fast and I would have to contend with it somehow.

While it slowed me down to do so, I periodically checked behind my back to track the beast’s movements. With every glance I felt dread rising deep in my heart, as it accelerated up the hill at impossible speeds. Using the trees as handholds, its massive physique shot it forward, making it look like a primate swinging through trees. I had gotten about halfway back to the top when the rumbling marked the inevitable approach of the beast. Clenching my teeth in frustration, I looked around for the right features for my plan.

Seeing what I was looking for, I slowed down to a complete stop and turned around. Fear gripped my heart as I saw the mass of hulking muscle gallop closer and closer. I waited for the beast to lock onto my position, forcing its momentum straight ahead. Once it was approximately twenty meters away, I dashed to the right, hiding my form behind a thick tree. I knew the tree wouldn’t stop it from reaching me, but any barrier between us would go a long way.

The beast charged to the tree, fury and rage fueling its powerful strides. Upon reaching the tree, one of its long arms swung wide to reach the other side of the tree. The beast had object permanence and knew the small creature it was chasing was just behind the large tree, waiting to be slaughtered. Its powerful bone spear snaked around the trunk, rending the earth immediately behind the tree into powder and mulch. It was surprised by the lack of crunching bones and splitting flesh and rounded the tree to investigate.

The beast skidded to a halt over the course of five meters, whipping its head around to inspect the other side of the tree. A deep trench was carved through the ground and part of the tree, but the small creature was nowhere to be found. Confused, it huffed a massive burst of air as its confusion was overtaken by rage at being deceived. It stomped around the area for a bit, circling around the tree another time to ensure it wasn’t being tricked.

A few meters away, behind a much smaller tree, Olivia stood in absolute silence, fighting the urge to breathe or make any noise whatsoever. Using the much larger tree as cover, she silently traced a path to a smaller tree, using the larger one to obscure her movements. The massive impact she heard, though, had shaken her confidence even more, and she could only imagine what would happen if the beast found her. Luckily, it didn’t seem too intelligent, so she knew she had a bit to think of her plan.

“That… hulk isn’t smart, but it could easily check the immediate area and find me. I need to use this time to think of something-“ My thoughts were interrupted when I felt a pulse of spirit strike my entire body. To my surprise it didn’t hurt, but that didn’t mean it had no purpose.

As the realization of what had happened dawned on me, I pushed my body as hard as I could to accelerate forward as quickly as possible. My calves, quadriceps, and hamstrings tensed as I erupted forward with all of the strong my body had remaining in it. My abs tensed and my arms shot forward as I used the base of the tree to sprint forward at top speed. Less than a second later, I felt wooden shards strike my back as splintered chunks of the tree I was in front of rained around me.

Despite the pain, I urged my body to keep moving forward. I felt my body on the verge of failing, as my burst of hysterical strength had sapped a lot of energy from my body. A lack of rest and proper food meant that I was already running on fumes and wouldn’t have much more to give if things kept going at this rate. I kept sprinting up the hill, my moments reprieve doing little to reduce my exhaustion.

“How did it know where I was?” I wondered as I ran to the next tree. The tree was smaller, but that was relative to the massive trees in the forest. It was more than large enough to completely obscure my figure. “It could’ve smelled me,” I thought in my head. I had been rolling around in the dirt, so I shouldn’t smell too pungent, but it was certainly possible. The fact it was confused at all was in and of itself, confusing to me. “If it could hear or smell me, why didn’t it immediately attack me?”

As I thought it over, I decided to run in a zig zag pattern up the hill. The beast was obviously very good at linear movement but seemed to have trouble turning once it got going. By hiding behind trees and switching up my direction, it should have trouble catching up to me as easily. I heard it recovering quickly behind me, and I ran between two large trees that I was barely able to pass through. I heard another cracking explosion behind me, as it hit the wood barrier a second after I passed through.

I continued this up the hill trying my best to be unpredictable. “One wrong move and I’m dead.” Fifteen meters from the top and I stopped hearing crashing behind me. I could still hear the beast moving around in the woods, but the morning sun was directly in my eyes, making it hard to see anything. Exhaustion was also starting to set in, and the heat was making me lightheaded. I ran to a large tree and leaned against it, breathing heavily as I fought to stay alert through my fatigue.

It was less than ten seconds when I felt another wave of spirit brush against me, like a wave splashing against the shore. A second later, the drumming of muscled arms against the forest floor quieted, and I heard the groaning of wood from behind me. Just then, something clicked, and I scolded myself for not realizing it sooner.

“Those waves, they’re sonar! It’s using them to track my position!” It made so much sense I felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. That was also likely how it noticed me to begin with.

“Wait, I just felt one. Wouldn’t that mean it knows where I am?” It had noticed me nearly 200 meters above it, which meant it could detect my presence from at least that far away. I shivered in fear as I prepared myself to move again.

Just before I resumed my mad dash, I felt the tree at my back shift slightly. A loud groaning of splitting wood followed, and I felt the tree move completely away from me. With growing horror, I looked around the tree. Expecting to see the snarling maw of the beast, I was confused to find nothing. When the noises grew even louder, I kept looking around, fearful that the creature had snuck up on me.

I grew more on edge the longer I went without any signs of the beast. Suddenly, I felt a small object strike my shoulder. I flinched when a twig fell to the ground at my feet, a few more following a second after. Fearfully, I whipped my head up and saw a dark shadow looming over me in the tree’s canopy. Glowing yellow eyes looked back at me, as the hulking beast situated itself fully on the top branches of the trees, furious snarling warning of my imminent death.