Her feet continued to spring forward. Her breathing was sparse, quick, nervous. Lena could feel her palms turn sweaty. Balling her hands into fists, Lena's knuckles turned white.

She could still feel the creature following her, hissing at her as if she were prey. As if the chase only made it more excited.

With her flushed face and matted hair, Lena let out a string of curses as she slipped on the grass. 'These shoes are useless!' she thought as she tried to find a place where she could hide.

Despite the exhaustion, Lena continued to run. She knew she was losing-- but she would never give up. She swung her arms harder as if the additional exertion could make her run faster. She turned her head to her left. She could see the creature from the corner of her eye, hissing, following her around like a cat following a mouse-- a small, weak mouse.

Yet she never stopped. She couldn't.

Lena never noticed the changes of the terrain or the disappearance of the woven roots that had surrounded her earlier. She continued to run away from the snake. Slowly, the wet mud turned into rocky boulders as the thick dark green branches of the trees arched upwards disappeared. Tall grasses that grew on top of the rocks blocked her sight and clawed at her skin as she ran through them. When she realized that she was running towards a slope, it was already too late. There was no turning back.

With her weak legs, Lena immediately braced herself. She knew tumbling and rolling against these rocks was inevitable.

Still, the pain that followed after her fall surprised her. Wincing at her aching leg, Lena forced herself to stand up. Without looking behind her at the creature, she stood unsteadily before climbing up the boulders.

Both her ankles trembled and her hands slipped due to the lichen covering the rocks. Frowning at the stench of rust mixed with sweat, Lena fought the need to examine herself. The pain on her right leg intensified while the loud drumming from her chest flooded her ears and blocked out the surrounding noise. Scrambling up the slope, desperate to find safety, Lena could not help but let out a curse.

'Giving up is never an option.'

She lifted her head to check the distance ahead, and desperation instantly flashed in her eyes. What she saw ahead of her made her pale.

A cliff.

She was running towards a cliff! Panic rose inside Lena as she turned her head back towards the creature for the first time. As expected, the snake was indeed following her. Frowning at it's slow state, Lena immediately wondered if it was wounded.

Wounded or not, the snake's cold, sharp eyes were enough to make her tremble. She hated snakes! She hated their slick skin, their freezing gaze, their huge jaws, their--- Lena froze inwardly.

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For a few seconds it was as if Lena's brain had stopped working. She fought the urge to turn her head around again to make sure that she saw the right thing earlier. The snake's tail was made of spikes.

They were huge black spikes as long as her foot and sharp enough to pierce her. What kind of snake was this? With this in mind, Lena tried to increase her speed as she hoped that the cliff would still lead her somewhere safe. Maybe a river? Maybe a lake? Hopefully a place where she could jump.

She wanted something that she could escape into. However, this hope was easily crushed when she saw what was beneath the cliff.

Rocks.

The rocks were sharp enough to kill anyone who fell from the hundred meter cliff that she was standing on. Lena gulped. The fear exploded inside her as she turned towards the snake, which was still slithering silently towards her.

Now, only a few feet away from it, Lena could see its humongous twenty foot stature, coiled underneath itself. It's steely black eyes stared at her, its tongue flicking in and out as it occasionally let out the hissing sound that Lena dreaded the most.

Turning her head back towards the rocks beneath the cliff, Lena could almost feel her heart jumping out of her chest. Leaping towards the rocks meant death- an easy one. Turning towards the snake, a decision flashed in her eyes.

Her hand around her knife tightened. Cold sweat trickled down her forehead as she bravely met its eyes. She took a step back, lowering her hips, adopting the posture that would enable her to move as fast as she could.

"Hiss"

She gulped her fear away as determination flashed in her eyes. Between the sharp rocks and the snake, she would always choose the one where she still had the chance to fight. Lena gritted her teeth as she waited for the snake to strike, attack, to move towards her. As illogical as it seemed, Lena waited, her hand holding the knife closer to her chest, her eyes sharp and cold, scrutinizing this unfamiliar black snake species.

Soon, it became apparent that both sides were remaining still, waiting.. The snake continued to stare at her messy state, enjoying the fear in Lena's face. Suddenly there was movement.

The snake sprang forward, like a wolf jumping towards its prey.With its jarring fangs that screamed death closing in as a feint, the snake chose to side-swipe her with its tail. She ducked, easily avoiding the tail that swung above her head, missing it by a few inches. A string of curses left Lena's lips as she tumbled, rolling over to her right, avoiding its second strike in the process.

She frowned as she tried to avoid the follow-up attack that was aimed at her arm. The snake's rapid attacks aimed at her limbs surprised her.

She jumped, trying to dodge the massive spikes on its tail. This time she failed.

The tail struck her right side. The pain instantly reverberated through her back. Tumbling closer to the cliff, Lena's eyes lingered on the blood spilt from the attack before she stared at the giant black creature in front of her.

It paused, tongue flipping as it returned her gaze. Ignoring the pain on her body, Lena tightened her sweaty palms around the knife.

The snake stared at her for a few seconds before advancing towards her. This time, Its spike pierced her leg, hoisting her high before throwing her towards the tree opposite the cliff. The loud crack of bones accompanied by the searing pain in her left arm almost made Lena lose her consciousness. She screamed in pain, her eyes glued on the incoming snake. She rolled, ignoring the pressure on her broken arm.

Lena stood unsteadily. She could feel her legs giving up, her body trembling from the immense pain.

She swallowed the blood in her mouth. Eyeing the knife on the ground an idea sprouted inside her. Suddenly, Lena sprang into action. She ran towards the knife, rolling over to secure it as she avoided another attack from its spikes.

Ignoring the throb in her legs and arm, Lena used all the strength that she had to jump towards its head. Her target was its eyes-- its black and steely eyes.