I wake up slowly, drifting back to consciousness and getting hit by the soreness of my body as I sit up alertly. I take a quick look around me and find that I am still on the rough platform in the dark woods. I sigh as I look up into the bright day sky. “Wasn't a dream then…” I sigh to myself as I breath in the fresh morning forest air and examine the dark trees around me before my attention turns back to my little natural platform in the tree and I see that it is actually surprisingly nice, the dark brown branches almost looking woven together with leaves acting as a cushion for me to sleep on and with my blanket, it was practically perfect!

‘What are the chances that I found this little spot?’ I thought to myself, impressed a little by my luck at finding this thing despite the situation I was in.

The branch that had snapped off when I was making my way to this platform was still there too, maybe about seven feet long and two inches thick towards the end that broke off, which was actually starting to give me ideas on what I could do with it from the long and pointed end of the long stick.

It was practically already a spear! Just a little longer than I would like, and way too thin near the opposite end of my new weapon. That is a pretty easy fix though… I reached out and picked up the spear with both hands before gliding my hands down the rough bark of the shaft towards where it got thinner until I had about five feet on one side of my hands and the thinner end opposite. I quickly snapped off the thin part of my new weapon and examined it critically.

“Not the best, but it is probably good enough for now, or until I can find something better.” I decided, taking in the rough point on the thicker end and the knots throughout its length.

“Now, what to do…” I mused to myself as I leaned over the edge of my little platform, looking through the dark branches and leaves to the dirt and small shrubs below me. Nothing unusual for a forest was there, but I wasn't really looking for anything particular, staring off at the ground unfocused as I thought about my best course of action.

‘Food and water will be a huge problem…’ I realized quickly after thinking for a second about my situation. ‘I don't see or hear any animals or sources of water and moving through the forest will be extremely dangerous, especially with that weird flame wolf thing walking around and if that exists, then who knows what else could be hiding in the woods…’ I thought to myself worried for my chances of survival.

I thought of this problem for a while but there was no solution that presented itself. The only way I could see myself surviving more than a week is if I take a risk and find a stream or river and try to survive long enough to find civilization, if there is any on this planet…

“Don't think that. There has to be…” I scolded myself and tried to create a plan of action. I took a few moments to think, but nothing seemed like it would really work in action. I was in unfamiliar territory with at least one supernatural animal that is keen to kill me. It seems like the only plan that has even the slightest chance of success is to choose a direction and walk as stealthily as I could with my spear and hope it was enough.

Not the best plan ever, but I was never some survival expert or tactician. What choice did I have?

With a plan in mind, however stupid it was, it was time to start moving. Time wasted in this situation is time that could get me killed. I quickly wrapped up the warm blanket around me in a sash and I strapped my spear to my back with it, making sure to keep it within easy reach however.

I slowly started making my way down through the branches, stepping down one branch after another until the path was clear enough to drop onto the ground, which I did after another quick examination of the darkened area around me. “Where to go now…” I wondered to myself slowly, trying to remember ways to find water sources from any survival courses I had ever been to, but recalling nothing usable.

“Guess I should just choose a random direction? I have to find something eventually…” I mutter to myself, looking around not letting my concentration on my environment lapse. Getting distracted when monsters could and probably are in the area is a good way to get myself killed.

Sighing to myself I start walking swiftly through the forest, navigating around dark trees and thick bushes, dodging through the low hanging branches and slipping through the shadows quietly observing around me.

I spent over an hour making my way through the dark forest environment, making lots of progress through the tangle of the branches and bushes, but the forest seems never ending. Though for all I know there is a pond just a few feet in front of me hidden by the thick trees so I dont stop.

Hours of walking pass slowly as I search through the huge expanse of forest I found myself in, but I found nothing. Not a single source of water that I desperately needed at this point having exhausted myself and my sweating great drops of the salty water that I knew would only make my thirst grow. Not a single living being, including insects, which was a huge surprise to me as normally the things were everywhere.

They would have been annoying and I was somewhat thankful of not even seeing a single one of the things, it was concerning for multiple reasons. The first was that in a worst case scenario like this, insects could be a great source of nutrients, which I knew would also be needed soon as the throbs of my empty stomach yelled at me. Secondly it was erie. There were more actual reasons it was concerning, like the fact that the lack of insects was an indicator of how safe an environment was, but it was mostly uncomfortable from an emotional point of view.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

This dead place was getting to me and I was starting to see things. Monsters out of the corner of my eye, that turned out to be just a bush when I faced it, or a strangely shaped branch that made me leap into the air away from it. Because of the shadow it made I thought it was some sort of shadow monster.

Then I stopped suddenly from my run and stood motionless. ‘What was that…’ I thought as I listened carefully to the forest around me. Nothing happened and whatever I thought I had heard didn't sound out again. It almost sounded like a woof. ‘My mind is still playing tricks on me…’ I thought as I continued to make my way through the forest, slower now. If I didn't hear what I thought I heard, that's great. But if I did hear what I thought it sounded like and I let my guard down… Well, things won't be so great.

I didn't get far before I froze again. ‘That hadn't been some trick my mind was playing on me. That was real. And close.’ I thought to myself seriously as I turned to the source of the growling sounds that I had heard for the second time. I drew my spear with both hands wrapped tightly around the shaft from its position in my sash and I stood, keeping my feet grounded firmly I faced where I had heard the wolf-like growls.

I waited. Agonizing seconds of fear coursing through my body as I stood still, listening and looking around me for the wolf spent in silence as I waited. Nothing came, though I stood ready between the trees for at least two minutes before I picked up the courage to investigate the sounds, and if need be, make a stand against the beasts that had almost killed me only yesterday night.

I walked at a crawl and, as silently as I could, moved towards the direction where I was sure the sounds had come from. Then I saw a flash of gray through the brown and green of the forest and I froze, staring at the spot of gray before cautiously moving forwards when it stayed completely still. As I got closer, the form of a wolf appeared from behind the trees and bushes and I watched it nervously, but after a second I realized that something was odd. It was completely motionless on the ground.

‘Was it playing dead? No, that's stupid. Wolves definitely don't use ambush tactics like that. Is it actually dead then?’ I wondered to myself as I watched with bated breath. After a few seconds of thinking fast I approached the still body of the wolf and I looked it over carefully. ‘Not dead then, just sleeping…’ I realized when I saw its chest rise and fall as it lay in the dirt.

I looked around carefully, wondering where the rest of the pack was, but not seeing another wolf anywhere. Though with how thick it wouldn't be unlikely that they were just out of sight.

‘What should I do…’ I thought to myself, thinking fast. It was getting dark and the wolves might be about to wake up and I already knew what would happen if they caught my scent when that happened. ‘I could kill this one and try to find the others before they wake up…’ I thought to myself hopefully, as I examined the sleeping predator in front of me.

The wolf started to twitch and started slowly sniffing at the air, still asleep but I could already tell that it was waking up. It was too late to try to run. Not thinking anymore, I grit my teeth and held my spear firmly before I moved and thrust my makeshift weapon downwards into the skull of the fury beast in front of me, putting all my weight behind my thrust and penetrating deep into the creature's brain.

Despite the amount of force and weight I was putting behind my DIY spear, it was a struggle to actually stab into the wolf and even harder to put the monster down when the thing woke up and started making pained whimpers and thrashing around trying to get at me. I held firm as it trashed from beneath me and I stepped firmly on its throat, drawing my wooden spear and stabbing into its head one final time, causing a final whimper of pain before it went still.

As the wolf died beneath me, several things happened at once. I heard a howl of several wolves through the trees. The wind seemed to shift, the leaves of the trees making an almost musical sound, as if happy about something and the heavy darkness of the forest seemed to retreat from the area around me, causing me to feel light and relieved for the first time in… I don't even know how long. But none of these changes were as important as a blue ball of glowing energy that rose up from the bloody corpse of the defeated animal beneath me, pulsing with an unseen energy that filled me with energy, almost refreshing me as much as a good night of sleep.

I stood still and watched amazed at the clearly supernatural ball of blue light in front of me, wondering to myself what was going on, until I was snapped out of my brain and back into reality when the sphere started shooting towards my chest with speed and I flung myself away from the blue ball’s shot at my chest, barely getting the blue ball to miss and fly over me, my eyes widening in shock, my brain catching up to my body as the bright light that had so clearly felt safe and comforting before, suddenly seemed to gain a fighting spirit and make such a charge at me!

I stumbled and fell over as I tried to get away from the weird ball and I got covered in mud as I slipped and stumbled, trying to get away from the new enemy as it approached me, slower than its initial charge but seeming determined to get to me anyway and nowhere near the slow and graceful rise from the wolves corpse.

My back hit something hard a rough and I looked up quickly, realizing that I had backed up into a tree before darting my eyes back to the glowing ball, barely making out the shape of its glowing form shooting at me once again with a triumph and my eyes widened before it impacted with my body, sliding right through my chest and I felt something connect within me. Something warm and comforting, but also so extremely odd. As if my whole being was unsure as to if this feeling was supposed to be there or not, I felt energy course through my brain, but weirdly I felt the thing pulse in my chest, but also not my chest.

This is my soul. I realized solemnly as I felt my soul come alive, as if part of me was waking up from a long sleep and realizing that it was a saturday with joy. I also felt something else and I searched my soul for the feeling of the thing residing within me and I felt the glow of emotion and the contentedness of the thing within me and I saw in my mind's eye the flash of a wolf's form as it lay in the corner of my soul.

I stood up slowly, marveling as my senses seemed to come alive, my brain and body feeling refreshed, more than I had ever felt before. I felt whole. Complete. Finally alive after being asleep for my whole life. Then my feeling of ecstasy of my new feeling of wholeness was shocked out of my mind as I heard a howl of the wolves rip through my ears and I realized that they were all around me, coming ever near me. There was revenge in the air.