The air was distinctly cool as he made his way through the old forest. Carter had no idea how long he had been walking, but the sun was still shining through the tree boughs so he knew it couldn’t have been too long. His feet ached terribly though. He looked down and saw his once pristine dress shoes now covered in mud.
He frowned but continued moving.
As Carter trekked through the forest, avoiding the tangling vines and roots that could trip him up, he was amazed at how well his younger body was performing. His old self would have tired out by now, and it was a wonder to see how out of shape he had become.
As he was passing a collection of young trees, his nose caught the whiff of a sudden aroma. It caught him by surprise, causing his mouth to water. The scent was of cooking meat, and his stomach grumbled at the possibility of food. He hadn’t eaten all day, and now his body was reminding him of its needs.
Carter followed his nose, which led him to a small thicket. At its center was a campsite of some sort, with two small tents pitched up as well as gear scattered about. By the tents was a campfire that was burning brightly. This was the source of the aroma Carter had smelled as he saw several pieces of meat roasting on a spit over the fire. There was a figure sitting down next to the fire tending the food. From its size, he guessed the figure was a child or a young teen.
“Hello!” Carter called out as he approached the campsite. “I don’t mean to bother you but I-”
He stopped dead still when he got close enough to see what was cooking on the spit. There were numerous pieces of meat skewered into the wood, the shapes indistinguishable from each other. But one of the pieces was unmistakable: it was a human arm. Carter gasped, taking a step backward, then looked towards the child next to the fire.
Except it wasn’t a child at all. Seated next to the flames was a thing that was the size of a child. It had spindly limbs and a large head, its face composed of beady red eyes, a long nose, and a mouth filled with sharp, needle-like teeth. It had long ears and was naked except for a short, dirty loincloth covering its groin. Its dark brown skin had a soft green luster to it.
The creature let out a harsh growl causing Carter to back away with his arms held up.
“Easy! Easy now!” he said, trying to appease the little monster. It ignored Carter’s soothing tone, standing up and hissing at him aggressively. It picked up a primitive-looking spear from the ground, pointing its stone head toward Carter’s chest.
“Whoa! Don’t do anything stupid now!” He told the beast. It, of course, ignored him and began rushing forwards, the tip of its spear leading the way.
“Shit!” Carter cursed just as he dodged the sharp end of the spear. The little monster squealed loudly, obviously quite angry at its miss. It began to jab the weapon at him, Carter managing to back away from it each time.
Pretty soon he found himself backed up against a tree. With no more room to retreat, Carter decided that he needed to go on the offensive. As soon as the creature jabbed the spear at him, he lunged forwards and caught the weapon by its haft. He then pulled the spear away from the monster, leaving the little beast staring at him in shock.
Carter took the primitive weapon in both hands and smashed the shaft onto his thigh, easily snapping the thin wood in half. The creature, though weaponless, did not withdraw. Instead, it leaped towards Carter while letting out a loud, shrieking yell.
Caught completely by surprise, Carter was knocked off his feet and onto his back with the little monster struggling on top of him. He tried to push it off but the thing clutched onto him tightly, refusing to let go. Carter coughed at the foul stench emanating from the monster, its smell a mix of body odor and rancid meat.
The creature opened its wide mouth and savagely bit down onto his left hand. Carter let out a yelp of pain, feeling the monster’s needle-like teeth piercing the flesh of his palm. With a grunt of effort, he rolled both of them to the side. This allowed him to reverse positions, with him now on top. He pulled back his right arm and slammed it downwards, his fist impacting hard against the creature’s skull. It let out a pained squeal but did not stop biting into his hand. Carter continued to desperately punch the monster, over and over again, until its jaws finally let go. He gave it several more blows for good measure until it stopped moving and lay limp on the forest floor.
With a shaky breath, Carter stood up, then backed away from the prone monster. His left hand was bleeding profusely, dripping red down onto the fallen leaves and grass. He took out his handkerchief and wrapped the injured hand up. He desperately hoped that whatever the hell that thing was it didn’t have rabies.
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What was it, anyway? Some type of monster? Carter crept closer to the unmoving creature’s form and took a closer look. It was completely still and not moving. Black liquid was oozing out of its mouth and nose, its eyes staring lifelessly up into the forest’s canopy. It was dead.
Suddenly, he heard a commotion coming from the direction of the camp. He looked up and saw several small shapes emerging from the bushes. Six creatures similar to the one he had just killed stepped out into the open, eyeing him hungrily. They each held primitive tools in their small hands, two of them wielding stone-tipped spears while the others held vicious-looking hatchets with flint blades.
Carter slowly rose to his feet and kept his palms held out, trying to keep the newcomers calm. It worked about as well as it did with the previous monster, as the six began growling and hissing evilly at him. Without a second thought, Carter turned around and dashed away. He used all the strength in his new younger body to run from the scene as he heard the monsters snarling and giving chase. Carter swiftly sprinted through the undergrowth, desperately avoiding the numerous tangling vines and roots that could have tripped him up. He ran faster than he had ever run before.
Yet still it wasn’t enough. He could hear the little monsters right behind him, yelling and shrieking as they chased him through the forest. Despite running as fast as he could, they seemed to be able to keep up with him, and would soon overtake him once he tired out.
As he continued to run, a small voice in his mind began to whisper to him. “Why are you running?” It said. “Isn’t death what you wanted? Why are you trying so hard to escape it now when just a few hours ago you were so ready to blow your brains out?”
Carter pushed the teasing thoughts out of his mind and concentrated on trying to escape. Unfortunately for him, his foot chose that exact moment to get snagged by a root and he tumbled down onto the underbrush. The little monsters laughed hysterically as they surrounded his prone form.
Carter pushed himself to his feet and desperately looked around but, from all corners, he was trapped. The creatures had formed a ring around him, their primitive weapons held out, ready for the kill. They moved slowly, closing in on him, seeming to enjoy prolonging their moment of triumph.
This was it, Carter thought. He was done for.
Suddenly a long shaft flew through the air and pierced one of the spear-toting creatures in the neck. It was an arrow! Black blood erupted from the fatally injured monster’s mouth before it dropped to the forest floor.
The forest became filled with loud shouts and angry snarls, only this time it wasn’t coming from the fang-lined mouths of the little monsters. These were the yells of human beings, and Carter almost laughed in relief when he saw several men emerge from behind the trees, armed with shields and swords, rush toward the remaining five creatures.
The monsters were the ones who looked frightened now, and a few of them tried to run. They were quickly met with arrows to the back, sent there by a tall, lanky archer who had just risen from behind the cover of some bushes. The rest were bowled over by the men and chopped to pieces by their blades. Soon the plants around Carter were covered in the black ichor of the monsters’ blood.
Carter took long, heavy breaths, his heart still racing from the chase. He looked around at the men who had saved him, taking in their general rough appearance and strange, rugged clothing. The men each wore different outfits, though their accouterments shared the same general materials of leather, wool, and cotton. They were armed with swords and shields, except for the archer who had a bow and a set of knives sheathed in his belt. He eyed the newcomers wearily, well aware that he was the only one there that wasn’t armed.
The biggest and meanest-looking one in the group approached him. His bearded face was smiling in a decidedly unfriendly way.
“Well, now,” he said. “What’s a fancy foreign fucker like you doing all alone out in the middle of nowhere?”
Well, at least they spoke English, though with a weird accent. That narrowed down the places of where on Earth he could be.
“His clothes look expensive,” said the archer. He was a tall man with blond hair and sharp green eyes. “He’s probably a noble of Lacotia. That, or a rich merchant.”
Carter was confused. What the hell was he talking about? But soon he quickly realized what the archer had meant. Carter looked down at his suit, which was somewhat dirty from the run through the forest’s undergrowth, but still in very good condition. He then looked at the drab but rugged attire of the other men. Compared to them, he was dressed rather formally.
Carter felt like slapping himself for being so stupid. They obviously thought he was some wealthy aristocrat or something because of his clothes.
“You here alone?” asked the big, ugly one.
Carter thought quickly. It was obvious that these men meant him harm. His eyes flicked from one to the other. There were five of them, all armed with archaic weapons straight from the middle ages. Or a Renaissance Faire.
As weird as they looked, these men easily took down those monsters, whatever they were. There was no chance that he could take them on alone and survive.
“No,” Carter lied. “My… guards should be coming very soon.”
“Bullshit!” One of the swordsmen shouted with a grin. He was a weasely looking goon, thin with various scars on his face. “Him and ‘is bunch probably got waylaid by them gobbies. Then this poncey prick got scared and ran away! He’d be roasting on a spit by now if it weren’t for us.”
“Exactly.” The big one stepped closer to Carter, who had to back up a step when he smelled the foul body odor coming from his unwashed flesh. “We deserve a reward, don’t we?” He chuckled, his eyes moving up and down Carter’s form. “I wonder how much we can ransom you off for.”
Carter chose not to answer. The thugs just laughed at his silence. The big one gave a nod to his men causing two of them to separate from the group and rush up to Carter. Each one grabbed an arm, roughly bending them backwards behind him. Carter didn’t resist when they began tying his wrists together with some rope.
The leader reached over and grabbed his chin. The large, beefy fingers squeezed down hard on his jaw as he lifted Carter’s face up to look him in the eyes.
“Oh, yes, boy. We’re gonna get a lot for you.”