Running with all my might, I groaned at myself.

“You said no bait!” I shouted as I ran past a bunch of snow.

Of course my teacher couldn’t be heard for a response. And not just because the world was noisy as the thing behind me roared and squealed, chasing after me.

The thing sounded heavy as it ran. Too heavy. It made these weird thumping noises as it plowed through leaves and snow, never far behind me.

Luckily although very heavy, and fast, it wasn’t faster than me. I didn’t feel too worried as I ran through the forest, heading for the section of trees where we had made the trap.

This was so stupid. I had happily volunteered, since I’d grown tired of waiting for the thing to fall into the trap on its own, but still…!

Running past a tree, I kept my breathing even as I ran through dense leaves. I had to focus a little as I ran, since sometimes the bundles of fallen leaves on the ground were slick. If I wasn’t careful I’d slip and fall.

The thing behind me was oddly having the same issues. Every so often I heard it slip. Thanks to it running on all fours it didn’t collapse as badly as I would have, but it still usually made loud noises as it hurried to get its feet back under itself. When it collapsed near a tree it sometimes ran into it too, causing the forest to become even noisier as the whole tree it ran into shook violently.

I tried to avoid a hill, but it was too big. I had to climb it, and then hurry down it. Doing so was dangerous, and the reason became very clear as I put my all into running even faster as the beast pursuing me ran over the hill as well.

Releasing a loud roar, I heard it leap from the top of the hill. It landed harshly not far behind me, kicking up leaves and branches as it fell. My heart leapt into my throat as I bounded away with as much speed as I could, and I felt a rush of air behind me as I did.

Had it just swiped at me? I think it had. And it had been close enough that I had felt the rush of air from it, even as I ran!

“Bait…!” I shouted at myself.

The giant Opossum screeched angrily as it returned to running. As it did it sounded a little farther behind. Maybe its attempt at swiping a claw at me had allowed me to put some distance between us.

Thank goodness. Let’s not run up and down any hills from now on…

As I ran I looked around for a landmark. I knew soon, any moment, I should be coming up to a large open field. One with lots of snow, with an orange tree in the center. For some reason I felt like I should be there already.

Huffing, I felt a little relieved as the field came into view. Just beyond the next batch of trees was the open space. The large orange tree standing solitarily in its center.

Good. Just beyond this field would be the row of trees that I would be able to use as a guide. As long as I arched a little in the field, as to enter the next section of forest at the proper angle, I’ll be able to run straight at the trap teacher and I had set.

Finally. I’d not been running long, but it sure felt as if I had been.

Thankfully the thing was still chasing after me. It seemed kind of stupid. It hadn’t chased after me just upon seeing me, I had to shoot three arrows into its side before it even registered I existed. It took two more for it to grow angry enough to attack me.

I still carried the bow, but knew it was pointless. Those five arrows had done practically nothing to the creature as far as I could tell.

The beast roared as I ran out into the field. The scattered snow glistened as I ran past the clumps of it still left over from the winter snowstorm, and I did my best to turn a little as I ran. I could see the path I needed to take on the other side of the field. There was a particular group of trees that I was using as a guidepost for the trap.

As it followed after me, hissing and roaring the whole way, I wondered why some of them were able to talk and others weren’t. So far it has seemingly acted completely like the base animal it was. Although massive, it seemed no more wiser than any other of its kind.

Witch said it was because some of them were not as blessed by the gods as others… but it was such a strange thing to say.

If you were blessed by a god, how was that not the pinnacle of existence? Weren’t they gods? Or were some gods weaker than others? Or were there different levels of blessings or…?

“Focus!” I hissed at myself as I turned and ran back into the forest. I was now moments away from reaching the trap.

It was one dug into the ground. We had found a crevice in the earth. Like an upside down hill. We had dug into it several feet and made a deep pit out of it. We had then fashioned large stakes and spikes within it. Some had been as wide as my waist, while others had been as thin as my wrist.

I did not want to fall into it. So I needed to be careful.

We had laid long, but thin, branches over the huge pit. Then we had layered it with leaves and dirt. It was thick enough to not be noticeable, and had hidden the pitfall beneath it, but it wasn’t firm enough that I could walk or run upon it.

I’ll need to leap at the right moment. The pit was large, but more wide than long. Witch had me leap over it several times, before putting the spikes in, to make sure I was able to do it.

I had accomplished it… but now I was running for my life… and plus…

I was a little sweaty, I hoped I hadn’t worn myself out. There had been a few times I had used up great bursts of energy to run faster. Like when I had descended that hill.

If I screwed up I’d die. Even if I didn’t die from the sharp sticks and spikes, the creature would simply catch me. Or worse, my falling into the trap would alert the creature to its danger and this would have all been for naught…

Passing a familiar tree, I focused in front of me. I scanned the distant ground, covered in leaves and branches… and…

There. A tiny little stick. One placed intentionally. Just at the edge of the pitfall. It was noticeable thanks to how dark it was, and how it stood straight up.

It was only visible because I knew where to look for it. Otherwise even I would have missed it.

Picking up my speed, I focused and tossed all thoughts out of my head.

I stopped thinking about being bait. I stopped thinking about the differences between the different elders. I stopped thinking of Witch’s baby…

Then I reached the stick… and jumped.

The air rushed around me as I flew through the air for a moment. My stomach became oddly ticklish as I apprehensively watched the world pass under me, and then half a moment later the world came rushing towards me.

I firmed myself, and for a single heart stopping moment… I felt the apprehensive fear of dying.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Then I landed on solid, but leaf covered ground… and rolled.

Rolling roughly, I felt the bow wrapped around my arm snap. I felt leaves and branches dance into the air violently from my fall. I felt the rush of wind and the thump of my heartbeat… and then I felt something heavy thump very close by.

Then I heard the howl of pain.

Shooting up to my feet, before I even finished rolling, I skidded backward a little and spun to face the hole I had just leapt over.

What had been flat land, covered in multi-colored leaves, was now a big open space of darkness. And from within that open space, that hole, was a giant tail squirming around in the air wildly.

“It worked!” I shouted in awe.

The thing had fallen into the hole!

And it was squealing loudly, sounding like a stuck pig. The pain and shock in its voice was unmistakable, and as it screamed I heard the sound of wood snapping and earth crunching.

It was rolling around…!

For a few moments I felt glee and pride. The plan had worked. The trap Witch and I had spent days making had actually worked…! It was squealing in pain and fear. It was rolling around in the hole and… odds are all those spikes had pierced it and…

But as the moments lingered and came and went, something terrible dawned on me.

It was rolling around in the hole, clawing at the earth around it… but it wasn’t dead.

Then the tail slapped downward into the hole… and a huge claw emerged, grabbing the side edge of the hole. Giant nails dug into the leafy ground, and then a huge snout appeared, sniffing wildly at the sky.

“Run, Renn!”

I jolted at the sound of my teacher’s voice. It sounded distant. She was hiding in that blind still. Or at least, she should have been.

“Run!” she shouted again as the creature’s whole head emerged from the hole, as it began to crawl out of it.

For a few moments I was stuck there, staring at the thing.

It had new arrows stuck in it. Large poles and sticks were sticking out of its thick fur and body, reminiscent in the fashion of arrows. But they weren’t arrows; they were the giant spikes we had placed into the trap.

I quickly counted a good eight that were lodged firmly into its body. Mostly on its right side. It had one of the smaller ones poking out from under its right eye, the black beady eyeball was still visible but it was popping out a little at an odd angle. Streams of blood were pouring from several of the spikes piercing its body… but…

With a great hiss of a squeal it roared at me, and I realized that although hurt…

The thing was far from dead.

Spinning around I darted off again, returning to running with all my might.

I made sure not to run towards Witch and her hiding spot. I angled myself away from it, running between trees… and luckily the thing followed me.

Great.

What now?

Would it eventually die if I just kept running? From those wounds…? Or should I run away from it and hide? Should I climb a tree?

It wasn’t like I could fight the thing. I had arrows dangling on my waist, in the quiver attached to my belt, but no longer had a bow. It had snapped in my fall and roll earlier.

Was it even hurt enough to die? Were its wounds even great enough?

Sure it looked like it had been lethally hurt, what with the waist sized spikes half buried into its side, but who was to say that was true damage to this thing?

I could endure a lot of damage for my size. And even if a lesser elder, as my teacher called it, it was still an elder. Still a creature blessed by a god…!

Huffing as I ran, I was a little worried to hear the thing behind me still. It sounded as close as ever.

It did sound hurt. Its squeals and roars had grown higher in pitch, and it was blurting them out more often than before. But it was hard to tell if that was pain behind those screams, or just pure rage.

Still…!

Running with all my might, I wondered what to do.

Witch had never really said what I should do if the trap had failed. Just that I should escape with her.

But how…?

The thing behind me sounded like it was breathing heavily, as if labored, but it had sounded like that this whole time. And its footsteps were heavy, and it sounded like it was stumbling occasionally… but it had done that too even before falling into the pit…

“Come on!” I shouted as I tried to think.

Should I try to round around? What if I made it fall into the pit again? Were there any spikes even left? It had rolled around quite a bit while it was in there. What if it dislodged all the rest? And what if leading it back to the pit only allowed it to notice Witch, and thus endanger her…?

I couldn’t allow that. My teacher was frail. And she had a baby now.

Even if her touch could kill this damned thing…

As I ran the world began to blur a little as I searched my mind for an answer.

I couldn’t run forever. Even I would get tired. Or I’d eventually stumble, or fall. I didn’t know the forest around me well enough to know where to lead it as to trick it, trap it, or escape it. The best I could do was round around and find some of those hills or denser sections of forest to use against it. They might work, and give me some distance between me and it, but would it be enough? How long will it chase me? And for how far?

It seemed like a base animal, but that didn’t mean anything. Even a basic creature could track smells for long distances. And now it was full of rage. That rage might really entice it to chase me for as long as it needed to… even if I led it far, far away from its territory.

There was a nearby human settlement. The one that woman, who had died after falling into our lake, had come from… but would I be able to take it there?

Would I be able to endanger the humans just to save myself…?

Witch wouldn’t want me to. And honestly…

“Shoot,” I groaned as I began to near some hills.

That wasn’t good. The hills were steep enough that I might be in trouble. It took me longer to climb them than it did the creature. Likely thanks to its immense size and strength. What was many dozens of steps for me, at an angle, was but only a couple for it.

Should I turn…? I quickly glanced around, looking for another path. An alternate way to round the hills without letting it draw too close to me… and as I did, I noticed something terrifying.

A blur of movement caught my attention. It made my heart miss a beat, as I realized it was not a blur because I was running fast. It wasn’t the trees passing in the distance, an animal running away from all the loud noises we were making, or anything explained by reason.

It was as big and terrifying as the thing right behind me.

Something too big to be real.

Something a glossy black.

Running straight at me. At us.

Running the way only a giant cat could.

The giant cat was very visible in this colorful forest. And ran with speed that almost wasn’t real. What had been a distant blur was now up close and personal. I had blinked and it was already almost upon me.

Before I even was able to yelp in shock, I skidded to a stop as my great-uncle ran at me… hissing wildly as he did.

As I stopped, and nearly fell forward from the momentum, I realized I had screwed up. I had panicked at the sight of him, and went still. As if to make sure he knew I wasn’t running from him… but upon doing so, I had forgotten all about the giant rat-like creature following hot at my tail.

I started to turn, to watch as the giant opossum ran into me and ate me. To watch as it tore me apart…

Yet right before the thing ran straight into me, my uncle ran into it.

The blow of the two colliding had been loud, and the very air from the impact ran into me as if alive itself. I fell backward onto my rear, rolling back, from the force of the air alone.

As I rolled I heard the hissing. The squeals. The roars. I heard the familiar low-guttural growl of my elder great-uncle… and then I heard a very familiar loud-pitched yelp of a creature dying.

The sound echoed loudly, and not just in my ears. It shook the whole forest, causing even the echoes of my booming heartbeat to be drowned out.

Looking up, I found the two giant beasts a rock-throw away. The giant black cat was low to the ground, and the giant opossum was lying on its side. Its tail was out straight behind it, as stiff as could be, and all four of its paws and legs were outstretched, and its huge paw-like hands were stretched out and open as if it was stretching as all creatures did upon first waking up.

Uncle had the neck and lower head of the creature in his jaw. His scarred side of his face was facing me, so I couldn’t see his eye, but I could see his surety. His calmness. He was half crouched, tense but not. A heavy, wet, crack made me flinch… and the massive body of the opossum twitched just once, and then it went limp with a heavy thump.

Although the thing was quite clearly dead, uncle didn’t release it. I heard his mighty teeth slice deeper into the back of the thing’s skull. I heard bone crunch, and muscles snap and tear. He scooted a little closer, shifting just enough to re-angle his head and mouth. He opened a little, only to bite back down even harder. More bones snapped and crunched… and this time, the creature didn’t even twitch.

I was saved…

Maybe.