Nothing happened for the next few minutes. Jack still hadn’t figured out what he should do. He hoped that the creature would just leave the cave, but it clearly wasn’t going to happen. The mysterious beast was still sitting somewhere behind one of the large rocks up ahead, making snorting sounds every now and then.

Jack didn’t have much of a choice. He could just continue to, figuratively speaking, sit on his ass and hope for the creature to eventually leave the cave. Another option was to try to sneak past the beast. Grinding his teeth in anxiety, he made up his mind. He was going to continue down the tunnel. He’d spent too much time in this cave for his liking and was eager to finally get out. Now that he’d finally started moving forward he didn’t want to slow down and wait for who knew what. So he took a deep breath and resumed sneaking down the tunnel, trying to make as little noise as possible.

His eyes darted between rock outcroppings ahead of him, trying to figure out which one had the creature hiding behind it. He couldn’t determine it, and it made him nervous. Still, he continued on, not letting his fear slow him down.

The beast continued to make the same snorting noises every now and then. The noise it made was peaceful enough. The creature clearly wasn’t aware that there was somebody else in the tunnel. Jack would love for it to continue to be the case.

As he sneaked down the tunnel, the noises were growing louder. He was getting closer and closer to the spot where the mysterious creature was hiding. After a few seconds, he reached the place where he assumed the animal was. A few paces ahead of him were two large boulders, one at each wall. The snorting sounds were so loud and clear that Jack had no doubts about where the beast was. The mysterious creature must have been behind one of the two boulders ahead of him. He was sure of that even though he still couldn’t see the creature itself. The animal wasn’t moving at all.

Maybe it’s just sleeping? Jack thought hopefully.

The beast continued to snort, still not moving. There were no sounds of any movement. The creature must have been completely still. Jack remembered it emitting the same snorting noises when it stood at the entrance to the cavern. Did it mean that the beast was awake? Or did it produce such sounds even when it was asleep? Without knowing anything about the mysterious beast, it was impossible to tell which was the case. If the creature was actually asleep, then he had a good chance of sneaking past the beast unnoticed.

Jack continued to quietly move down the tunnel.

His gaze darted between the two large boulders ahead, which sat right across from each other. Which one of the two had the beast hiding behind it? He got the answer to this question soon enough.

When Jack almost reached the two boulders, he heard a new sound. It was the grate of claws scratching the rocky cave floor. Immediately after that, the beast made another sound like drawing air into its lungs. Then there was silence. The creature went quiet, making no sounds at all now.

Jack tensed. What just happened? Had the beast woken up? Or maybe it hadn’t been sleeping at all? Maybe it’d caught his scent? How good was its sense of smell? Jack didn’t know what to think. He didn’t know anything about this creature and how it behaved. The lack of information put him at great disadvantage.

There was another scratching of claws against the cave floor, and a second later, the beast finally showed itself. It stepped from around one of the large boulders and froze, staring at Jack with its red evil eyes. It was so dark in the tunnel that he didn’t learn anything new about the beast. All he could see was its general shape. Now that he was so close to the animal, it seemed even bigger than before. The mysterious creature was surely seeing him, but it didn’t make any aggressive movements toward him. Maybe he would get lucky and the creature would run away as it’d done the last time.

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Unfortunately for him, it didn’t happen. The animal emitted a low growl and took a few steps toward Jack. He backed up. Sensing his fear, the beast growled louder and picked up its pace. Heart hammering in his chest, Jack moved backwards hurriedly.

One of his feet hit a small rock on the floor. He waved his arms, trying to keep his balance, but he failed to do so and fell on his back. He yelped in pain, and his vision darkened for a moment. Grinding his teeth, he sat up and saw that the beast wasted no time taking advantage of his misfortune. The creature rushed toward him and its jaws clamped down on his ankle.

Jack screamed in pain when razor-sharp teeth broke the skin of his leg and pierced his flesh. Beside himself with pain and panic, he punched the monster in the face with his tightly clenched fist. Only he didn’t do any damage to the creature. If anything, he made the beast even angrier. It shook its head as if trying to tear a piece of flesh out of his leg. The pain was overwhelming. His eyes teared up, blurring his vision, and he screamed again.

Overcome with extreme pain and fear for his life, Jack set about hitting the monster’s head with his fists. He punched his enemy as hard as he could but hardly dealt any damage to it. Its head seemed to be made of stone. Jack knew that the beast wasn’t bothered by his strikes at all, but he didn’t know what else he could do, so he continued to hit the beast with his fists.

Suddenly, the creature gave his leg a hard yank. The beast turned out to be surprisingly strong. The sudden tug made Jack fall on his back again, and he hit the back of his head on the cave floor. The monster continued to drag Jack along the tunnel with sudden jerking movements.

Where is it taking me? Jack thought panicky. Into its lair where more of its hungry breed await the food?!

Jack wasn’t keen on being eaten alive. Bringing up another leg, he kicked the monster in the head as hard as he could. The beast got stunned for a moment. It encouraged him, and Jack kicked the creature another time. The grip on his ankle weakened. He kicked the monster again, and its jaws finally let go of him. Jack tried to kick his enemy yet again for good measure, but the beast decided it had enough of that. Snorting bitterly, it jumped back out of his leg’s reach, and his heel hit nothing but the empty air where the beast’s head had been a second before.

Jack leaped to his feet, grimacing against the searing pain in his maimed ankle. He quickly looked around, searching for any kind of weapon. There was none. The boulders that lay nearby were too large for him to pick up. When he looked back at the monster, he saw that it had disappeared. It hadn’t run away, though. It was somewhere nearby because he could still hear its heavy breathing. But he couldn’t see the beast. It stood completely still, blending into the surrounding darkness so well that it’d turned invisible.

How to fight the enemy you can’t even see? Jack thought in frustration.

He had to get back to the cavern. There was no other option. Back in the cavern, he, at least, would be able to see his enemy. Besides, he remembered that there were a few heavy rocks with sharp edges that he could use as a weapon against the beast. He turned around and moved back down the tunnel. He tried to run, but his injured ankle prevented him from moving fast. Every step he took caused a new pang of pain in his leg. Grinding his teeth, he moved down the tunnel as fast as the injured leg allowed him. He could hear angry growling and claws scratching the cave floor behind him. He didn’t need to look back to know that the beast was gaining on him.

A few seconds later, he reached the entrance to the cavern and burst inside. He glanced around and noticed a few large rocks. He dashed for the nearest one. Grabbing it with both hands, he wheeled around to face the only entrance to the cavern. The noise that the monster was making was getting louder. The beast was getting closer. His injured ankle bled profusely, but he couldn’t do anything about it at the moment. He needed to defeat the monster first before tending his wound. He didn’t know if he was going to live through this, but he was gonna fight till the last gasp.

The sounds of the approaching beast were getting closer and closer. Grinding his teeth against the pain in his maimed ankle, Jack waited for the monster to show up. His palms were sweaty, so he gripped the large rock harder.

He didn’t have to wait long for the monster to appear.