The creature prowled around the hollow tree, smelling the human inside and hissing softly. Looking up, it saw the darkness receding as a new day began to dawn. Giving one last glare at the tree it turned and stalked into the forest, disappearing back into the parts of the woods where the sun never reaches.

Jack awoke with a start. Grabbing for his rifle and gripping it tightly in his hands he checked his surroundings. He could see the mossy ground and the walls of the tree husk around him clearly from the light of the dawn shining in through the crack in the bark. He sat up off the ground and attempted to stand before groaning and sinking back down. He was really sore. Apparently running for your life is a killer leg workout. Who knew?

Using his gun as a walking stick he pulled himself up, ignoring the pain in his legs and hobbled out of the shelter of the tree. Dawn had risen in full, the sunlight sending colorful rays shooting through the trees, so for the first time, Jack had a clear view of his surroundings. He figured he had run around ten kilometres in the night and the forest scenery had changed. The trees were a great deal smaller on average, closer to the ones he knew, the massive redwood-like trees growing here and there, but not nearly in the same concentration as the place he'd woken up in the night before.

Jack began to do some stretching and light leg exercises to loosen up, stopping to wince and massage his legs occasionally. After a few minutes of pain and suffering, he managed to get his legs into somewhat working order and started walking through the forest.

“This forest's gotta end at some point... Just have to walk in a straight line.”

he mumbled to himself, limping over to the tree shell and leaving a slash in the bark with his hunting knife to mark where he had been.

After two hours of walking and leaving gouges in the base of nearby trees while staying alert constantly, Jack began to relax a little bit and start to wonder at the scenery around him. He had decided by now that he probably wasn't anywhere on earth if the two meter tall brown mushrooms growing in droves throughout the undergrowth were any indication. The forest resembled a taiga from earth if someone had used photoshop to randomly enhance different vegetation in it. The trees seemed larger on average, strikingly colourful flowers of various sizes dotted the ground, massive mushrooms and green hanging moss provided cover from the sun while different species of birds filled the air with songs Jack had never heard before.

Eventually, though, the wonder wore off and Jack began to be acutely aware of his grumbling stomach. He knew many different species of edible plants and mushrooms... On Earth. Unfortunately, it seemed like he was no longer on earth, and the flora and fauna, while similar in some ways, was for the most part, extremely different. He didn't feel like dying from a poisonous mushroom right after managing to survive a group of man eating horror movie monsters. That would be embarrassing to have on a gravestone. “Brave young man, died of fungus.”

Jack hobbled over to a nearby rocky hill jutting out of the ground and sat down on the base to consider what might be edible. “Maybe I can eat the flower heads like dandelions... Those mushrooms look like they'd be good fried... In butter... with garlic..” After wiping away some saliva, Jack slapped his face a few times to clear his mind from daydreaming and sighed. “Well shit. Mushrooms, no go. Flowers maybe?.. I've heard of edible moss... Maybe the inside of the bark? As Jack was busy considering his lunch options a gentle breeze swept through the trees, causing the forest to ripple as branches swayed in the wind.

Unknown to Jack, right at that moment, the forest was changing. For the first time in exactly 100 years, the heart of the forest was awakening. A pulse ran through the ground, ancient energies that had been dormant for a century coming to life all at once. Far in the north of the forest, a being opened its eyes, exuding a crushing pressure on everything around it. In a certain area in the west of the forest, massive fissures cut through the ground as small pieces of rock began to gradually float into the sky. Changes swept through the forest, affecting everything in it, including Jack.

“Did I... Just get taller?”

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Jack thought to himself. The flowers on the ground seemed to have moved a little further away from when he had first sat down. In fact, the forest floor itself seemed to be receding. Alarmed, Jack stood up and quickly looked around. The outcrop of rock that he was standing on was somehow rising straight out of the ground. Jack jumped off the hill and crashed onto the ground, now over a meter further away than it had been minutes ago.

The sound of rocks grinding permeated the air as a tremor ran through the ground, causing nearby trees to shake and rain leaves. Suddenly massive hands shaped from stone burst out from the ground on either side of the rocky hill, each finger easily the size of Jack himself. The hands raised in the air for a moment before dropping back down to the ground with a boom. Jack scrambled to his feet, gripping his rifle until his knuckles went white as the colossal fingers dug into the ground and pushed.

The earthquake briefly intensified, almost knocking Jack off his feet as the hands gave one last heave and a giant stone head rose from the ground. The head shook like a wet dog, raining dirt and debris. Then, as if waking up from a quick snooze, the gigantic stone golem rose up from the ground, picking off small trees that had been growing on its body like toothpicks and planting them gently into the forest floor. Jack reckoned the golem to be around 30 meters tall, with a disproportionately large torso and arms that nearly reached it's knees. The golem straightened up, seemingly unaware of a small human watching it from behind a nearby tree, and began to slowly walk towards the north.

Jack edged out from hiding and observed the back of the golem as it lumbered off, each of its footsteps shaking the ground.

“That was really cool. I'm still hungry though.”

He thought to himself, turning around and walking in the opposite direction of the golem. Screw that. Unfortunately for Jack, that was only the beginning. The forest was awakening and everything that happened to be in it was stuck along for the ride. After a few minutes of searching, Jack managed to find a bush covered in small bright red berries growing at the base of a tree. Soapberries. Sour and starchy but very edible to starving teenagers. “Yes! Finally, something to eat!” Jack yelled, tossing his rifle to the ground and shoving the first berries he could get his hands on in his mouth. There were edible things that he knew from earth here! The knowledge gave Jack a little comfort. Maybe he could survive after all.

After stripping the berry bush clean, Jack was... Still starving but at least his hunger pangs had subsided for the time being.

“I really need to find some water to wash that crap down”

Jack commented, straightening up from his impromptu meal and picking his rifle off the ground to begin his hike again. Another half hour passed before Jack stumbled on a stream running at the bottom of a small gully, the water flowing with the sound of life itself. Jack slid down the small slope and almost submerged his head in the water before thinking better of it and cupping his hands to drink water instead, staying alert for danger.

“All animals have to drink, after all, there might be a magical murder moose around here somewhere.”

Jack thought to himself, sipping water from his hands while keeping an eye on the banks of the stream. After Jack had drunk his fill, he began to splash water on his face to wash away the accumulated sweat and grime of the . Hearing something moving through the brush on the opposite bank, Jack froze mid water splash and frantically grabbed for his rifle lying beside him. Bringing it up to his shoulder, Jack held his breath unconsciously as he stared down the sights at the rustling ferns.

A slight glow shone through the undergrowth as a huge golden deer trotted out of the bush, radiating a pale golden light, similar to the sun. It regarded Jack for a few moments with beady black eyes before snorting and sauntering down to the stream to drink. Jack stared at it for a second, then lowered his rifle and shrugged.

“Better not shoot the magical murder deer, It'll probably get angry and incinerate me or something.”

Jack muttered and walked back into the forest, really wishing he could take a picture of the glowing buck. For the gram. After another half hour of walking, Jack's hunger pangs had come back with a vengeance.

“Ugh.. Maybe I should've gotten that deer... Raw venison's better than starving to death...”

Jack grumbled, rubbing his stomach with one hand and almost walking into a metal pillar sticking straight out of the ground. Taking a few steps backwards, Jack examined the pillar. Then the pillar looked up and examined Jack.

“Whoa! It's an iron golem!”

Jack exclaimed, staring at the four foot tall metal golem looking up at him.

“You're actually pretty cute, y'know that.”

Said Jack, leaning closer to the golem. Jack woke up a second later, gasping for air and struggling to get to his feet. The golem had punched him in the chest, sending Jack flying backward into a tree. The golem began to speed walk aggressively towards Jack. Luckily, Jack had held onto his rifle and he brought it up just as the golem was almost on him and shot it in the chest. The golem stopped suddenly and looked down at the squashed slug lodged in its body. Jack used his rifle as a cane and pulled himself to his feet as the golem picked the slug out of its chest and popped it in its mouth.

Jack gaped as the golem patted its chest and the dent from the bullet repaired itself. The golem raised its head, looking up at Jack and opened its mouth, as if asking for more.

“Well shit... I guess this is how I die.”

Said Jack, using his rifle to keep himself upright as he hobbled away, chest aching. Jack glanced back at the golem, expecting it to be about to break his skull. However, the golem was just following him with its mouth open.

“Wait a minute... Do you want... More bullets?”

Jack asked the golem, pointing to his rifle. The golem kept staring at him. Jack raised his rifle again and fired, hitting the golem in its open mouth. The metal creature closed its mouth like it was swallowing. Then it raised its arms as if it was going in for a hug and walked towards Jack.

“Oh shit! Bad idea!”

Jack yelled, hobbling away frantically, the small golem following him eagerly.