CHAPTER 2: THE HUNTED
‘I still can’t believe I’ve made it this far...’
I’m walking through a very tight hallway and this is the first time I’ve come across one like these. It’s big enough to barely fit one person, and I can’t even turn around, so I really hope nothing comes chasing me from behind. I wouldn’t even be able to run in this tight place, much less fight.
It’s extremely hard to understand exactly how this whole maze-like dungeon was built, considering all the walls are probably made of some kind of smooth obsidian. Even the cracks and small holes might have been placed there on purpose. The hallways are always different in width and length, like some random maniac just drew some lines on a piece of paper.
There were no complex features like carvings of any kind, just a plain wall with no visible weak points at all. The floor had the occasional emblems, but they made no sense, most likely decorative in nature. The only real part that was different were the rooms, sometimes made of hard cave-like rock, sometimes made of indestructible wood, nevertheless I was never able to break or scavenge anything from the walls.
‘Oh, there’s the exit!’
It took about a day of walking to get through, and I feel incredibly lucky to have made it. At one point I thought the walls were getting tighter, and felt like I just walked into a trap, but it was only my imagination playing tricks on me. How embarrassing would it have been if I had died crushed by walls.
Before I get out into the open, I check very silently if there is anything outside. Right corner… check. Left corner... check. Ok, I can finally take a break.
I place the bow and my last arrow on the wall next to me, just in case something gets too close, and make sure I have all my things accounted for. I have about three cloth straps in case i get injured, a few vine strips, one small rabbit pelt, a small bag full of rocks, coins and monster teeth, and a few broken sticks and bone fragments. This is probably the least amount of gear I’ve had yet. It’s already beyond a dangerous situation.
I sit down and take a bite out of a large maggot I found on the wall earlier that i stashed into my pocket. Tastes disgusting and a sour liquid invades my throat. I cough a little, almost choking, but food is food. Can’t be too greedy. I still have a piece of meat, about 10 cm in size that I plan to eat before it goes bad, so maybe tomorrow.
Then I take my flask out and drink one mouthful of the green water that I got from some vines earlier. Rather than calling it water, it’s more like a green thick soup, but I only need enough to not die of thirst.
Not much time passed and I can hear the sound of bones moving towards me from the left. Must be a skeleton.
I have yet to find a way to deal with them other than running away. They aren’t very fast but seem to be much smarter than other beasts that mindlessly charge at me. But then again, every time I see one, it’s different in size and wears different types of armors and weapons, so I can’t assume to know everything about them.
I tried to fight one at some point, and I wasn’t even able to get a hit on it. The shield it had was probably the most troublesome thing, and he could easily move it around. They definitely know how to fight... that’s for sure.
I get up and walk away slowly, being careful not to make any noise and picking up the small pebbles I placed for safety. I’m in no condition to run at the moment since I’ve gone so long without sleeping. I should conserve the little energy I have left.
A few minutes later, and it doesn’t seem like I’m being followed. I’ve passed through enough crossroads, so it wouldn’t be that easy for it to follow my exact path. I should be safe for now. It’s about time i take a short nap, so I sit down in my usual meditative position and close my eyes. Finally…
Rather than calling this sleep, you could consider it somewhat of a semi-unconscious state. I’m resting, but at the same time staying as alert as I can. I used to always fall asleep completely when I first started, and I almost died plenty of times because of it, but I got used to it now.
*HOWL!*
‘What? Already? It hasn’t even been 10 minutes yet. Dammit!’
Whenever a beast howls, it’s usualy because they either smell or hear something they don’t recognize. I assume that they only do that because they like the thrill of the hunt. I can’t think of any other reason as to why they would give away their position so easily.
I get up quickly and I start running. Beasts aren’t as easy to avoid as skeletons, since all they do is run around mindlessly looking for prey, and are very hard to predict. I just hope it didn’t catch my scent and just met another creature. Though the possibility of that happening is rather low, considering I haven’t taken a bath in ages.
I run in a straight line as fast as I can, making sure to check behind every corner to not bump into something else. The last thing I need is more creatures chasing me.
I used to be very paranoid when running around, since I didn’t know when I would come face to face with a wall and end up in a dead end, but I have yet to have such an encounter. I just assume whoever built this place made sure there are only continuous paths, however I’m not naive enough to be overconfident of that fact. I always find different types of rooms and hallways, and maybe one day I might actually find a dead end, but I won’t lose time thinking about it in these kinds of situations.
A decent distance away I slow down and walk quietly, checking and making sure I didn’t drop anything from the previous sprint. In front of me a small room comes into view and It seems like someone’s been here before.
Inside the room there are some kind of weak looking tents, with green cloth on top and fur used as beds. In the middle, there is a small campfire that looks like it hasn’t been used in a long time. There’s a few backpacks and a small crate in the corner, along with four wooden wheels and a few stones and sticks. I assume the people that lived here were part of some kind of caravan. There are obvious signs of struggle and it doesn’t look like anyone is here. Weirdly enough though, there are no bodies.
‘I’ve never seen so much stuff in one place before. And it looks like there were a decent amount of people that tried to live here.’
I have to be quick. I start by searching the three backpacks in the corner hoping to find something of use. The first two sadly were a big disappointment. They were filled with meat that seems to have rotten, the smell almost made me lose consciousness.
The third backpack, however, had quite a bit of small furs, so i decided it was time to switch out my own with this one. I didn’t mind as much as I thought I would. I loved my old backpack that was hand crafted by my father, but it was already a mess and could break at any point. Not to mention it was rather small. I move everything I still had into the new backpack and throw it on my back. Perfect.
Time to look around the tents. I wanted to take the large pelts that were used as beds, but they were too big. But an idea suddenly came to me. A perfect idea. I ripped out lines of cloth from the tent and turned them into short ropes. Then i rolled one large pelt around itself and tied it to the bottom of my backpack with the cloth. Now, the next time I find a place to sleep for a while, I won’t have to do it on the cold ground, and like this it shouldn’t slow me down either.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
I also rip up as much cloth as possible and fix my rugged attire, and stash the remaining ones in my new backpack. I was really hoping to find some proper clothes, and I’d hate to have to end up running around naked. My clothes are filthy and full of holes, but that’s probably the least of my worries. I’m probably lucky I haven’t gotten and of my previous wounds infected considering how dirty I am.
I check the rest of the encampment but there was nothing else i could really use, except for the small sticks. I tried to break some of the large stones that were used to make the campfire, but i had no luck. I wasn’t going to spend too much time trying.
Just as i was about to leave, something caught my attention. Behind one of the tents in the corner of the room was hidden a small blade. I quickly grab it and leave without checking its condition. I’ve been in one place for too long, and I could get ambushed from both directions if I’m not careful. Loot is important, but my life more so.
After a few hundred paces, I stop to inspect the blade. It wasn’t long enough to be a sword, but not short enough to be a dagger. I guess it would have to be considered a dirk. It’s in a fairly decent condition considering it stood there for so long.
The grip was wrapped in leather and it seems to be made out of silver. The sword was bigger on the end of the blade, rather than the grip, but with a flat tip, so I wouldn’t be able to use it to pierce anything. There were also small razors on one side, and a small hook-like thorn on the other side, right on the end. It looked barbaric, but I assume it was made specially for skinning.
This is probably the best find so far. I jump up in joy at my new accomplishment, and then make a small prayer for the people that most likely died in that place.
*HOWLLLL!*
Suddenly another loud howl came from behind me, and it obviously caught my attention. It seems to have been directed towards me.
‘Did it follow me all the way here? But… something is different…’
The howl didn’t exactly sound normal, it sounded more like a war cry. This was dangerous. Most likely it fully caught my scent from the camp since I stood there too long, and it can now track me. I didn’t get a good look at it before so I don’t know how big it is, but from the way it sounded I assume it’s pretty big. I need a plan…
Since the beast would probably hunt me until I’m dead, I can probably lure it into another monster I bump into, and hope it will get killed or at least get hurt enough that it would give up. In worst case, it kills whatever I bait it into and continues to chase me. But even if that happens i can probably repeat the process and get a glimpse of what it is at the same time.
‘Yes… Let’s go with that…’
Not too long has passed and I found a giant imp like creature. Red skin, a large horn coming from it’s forehead, a muscular tail with a very sharp pointy end and a human sized body. It’s wearing some kind of leather vest with shoulder pads made of metal, and some metal plated leather pants.
A large spear is resting on the wall next to him. It’s completely white, probably made of bone or ivory, and a large red furball separates the tip from the rest of the long stick. Around the middle, leather is wrapped around it with two metal rings keeping it in place, most likely used as grip. Looks rather dangerous and I can see obvious dried blood on the tip.
It looks like a demon of some sorts, but it will have to do. Lucky for me, it’s just sitting there eating something a few steps behind the corner, right next to a crossroad. I can just bait the demon when the beast chasing me is close enough, then run in one of the other two safe directions, and the beast would most likely pounce on it, giving me a chance to flee. I can just hope whoever wins won’t start chasing me.
I wait a few minutes while constantly making sure the demon doesn’t move from the spot, and that nothing else walks up to us from the other directions. So far so good…
*HOWWWLLLLL*
‘Right on time’
I can see a large wolf like creature with grey fur running towards me on all fours. It’s about 4 times bigger than me and the sounds of claws hitting the smooth obsidian floor makes a most terrifying metallic noise.
I turn around and just as I was about to throw a pebble at the demon to get it’s attention, I notice that he’s already slowly walking towards me with his weapon in hand, ready for whatever is coming.
With no time to lose, i start running in the opposite direction of the demon, making sure he hears and sees me. I can feel the bloodlust in the air all the way over here, but I don’t hear any fighting... I wonder what’s happening...
I turn around to check on the two and find out what’s wrong. Then I see the two of them, just sitting there, staring each other in the eye.
By the time I realize what's happening, it was too late… I should have kept running...
Suddenly, the demon starts walking backwards slowly, and the wolf doesn’t even make a move. I’m not really happy about the result though. If anything, I couldn’t be more terrified. It never occurred to me that this could ever happen. The large wolf turns around, completely ignoring the demon, sits up on two legs and shouts in anger while glaring at me.
*RAAAARRRRRRR!*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In case you guys didn't figure it out,
*...* is Sound
'...' is thoughts
"..." will be dialogue
I would also like to point out that chapter 3 might take a while since I'm moving to a different country, but I'll try my best to do it this week. Thank you all very much for reading.
On another note i already got a rating which i find kind of suspicious. Why would anyone rate something that doesn't even have more than 2 chapters posted. But i digress... Thank you anyway for the 4 starts... that's 3 more than i ever expected this fiction to get...
Special thanks to those that give me creative criticism. I try to answer all questions, even if i'm busy. I also already copyrighted the story so yay for that?!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~