From behind the tree, Ziel could see the shadow of the creature closing in on her. At that moment, she couldn't hear anything else but the rapid beating of her heart. Her hands trembled as she pulled out the knife from her pocket, screaming profanities in her head as a single drop of sweat slid down her cheek.
This is going to be a disaster.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She raised the knife, holding it close against her chest. She was prepared for a bloodbath, to get injured, to risk her life.
(Wow, she must love that fishing pole!)
As for the fishing pole, she can try and make a new one later.
(Nevermind)
Right now, survival was the most important thing. Ziel gulped nervously and pushed any unnecessary thoughts aside, "Alright, calm down. You can do this." she encouraged herself and forced a cocky grin. As she was going into a defense position, she heard the culprit bellowed and didn't anticipate its next move.
A large cracking sound echoed through the forest, and the next thing she felt was a headache as her vision becomes hazy. She rested her hand on her head. Then she felt a sharp pain at the side of her head, something warm was trickling down from where the pain had come. She touched it and looked at the red liquid. But she was in too much pain to acknowledge the red liquid.
There were a few seconds where she had just sat there, not even realizing the situation. Those few seconds felt like forever. Her head was spinning, a sick feeling in her stomach. The 'feeling' rising to her throat, threatening to spill out. She swallowed it back and instead focused her attention on the figure that was in front of her.
She saw a silhouette of something big behind what looked like a tree, broken in half. It took her longer than it should have to realize that the broken tree was the tree she was hiding behind.
She shook her head and looked in the direction of where the silhouette was. Her vision had cleared, and this time, she got a better look at the menacing figure. It had a dark grey coat with tiger stripes decorating its back, sides, and face. The dark colors faded into a lighter color, as its abdomen and legs are mainly white. It had one blind eye with a scar accompanying it.
Her eyes widened in realization as she quickly grabbed the knife beside her and dodged another attack. After avoiding the attack, she didn't even bother to look back and bolted the other way. She ran for her life, running through bushes and getting scratched by branches of leaves. Blood still dripping from the side of her head. Quickly while running, she grabbed the bottom of her cloak and ripped a part of it off. She lifted the piece of cloth and wrapped it around her head to slow down the bleeding. But she wasn't paying enough attention to where she was running until she tripped on a stray root. However, the roots didn't stop her as she quickly got up and started running again. She could hear trees getting knocked down from behind her and the growl of a hungry animal.
At first, she thought it was a bear. God, how she wished it was a bear now. A bear was still better than facing that demon of a wolf. She remembered why she had that sense of deja vu now. In the past, she has encountered this creature before. At that time, her parents were still with her. They went into the forest to find some ingredients for dinner and some herbs that her father needed. They were near a crystal cavern to pick up some curtain shrooms when they heard the roar echoing through the caverns. The memory itself sent shivers down her spine. They barely escaped alive that day.
S̸̫̺̼͋͛̿̅͛̔̑̈́h̸̻̪̒͋̃̓ȇ̴̥͕͙̝̞̮͋ͅ ̶͓̤͘ḋ̴̡̖̞̼̺̙̞͚͎͕̍͌̀̉̆̑͂͗͒͗̀̑̓̇ǫ̷̩̼̬̗͍̗̺̖̜̱̦͓̦̈́̈̽ę̷̧̭͍͙͉͚̣̰̻͉͌͐͒́̌́̈́̀ṡ̴̡̝̯̖̲̥̠̯͉͔̻̇̋̑̐͋͐̕̚͘n̸̛͈̼̰̦̄̔̾͒͗̽͛͂̆̒͌͗̀̕'̴̹̗͖͕̲͈͉͖̭͌̾͛t̴̯͈̣̥̤̰̯̩̬̬̠̼̲̏̅́̎̈̑̔̈͌́͘ ̷̛̥̯͖͍̰͍̠̺̘͎̮̯̖͌̑̊̐͒̾̽͒̋͂͋̇͘ȓ̵̖̬̩̙̖̘͉̌̏̎͂̒̐̂̚͝ė̸̯͙̰͎͚̖̘̙m̸̡̫̯̹͓̣̥̱̪̪̖̯͒̑̊̀̅̓̉͜ę̸͍͇̦̙͓͌ṁ̴̧̱͎̺̭̩̻̤̯̙͘b̶͚̺͖͇̠̹̩͖͓͙͉̻̳̭͒̐̒͐͒͛̊̚è̵͜r̴̮̦̬̠̼͆̏͑́͐̃͂̑̂̅͐͆͛͘͠ͅ ̷̛̘̱̖̩͕̭͔̥͑́͑̍̈͊͆̀͛̅́͛̎͘h̵̢̳̲͔̟̗͔͎̞̰̬͊̈́o̷͙̜̻͛͂͐̀̈́͊͆͑̊̍̏̑͝w̸̳̫̺̰̗͖̘̌̇̾̈́͋̇̏̈̈̑̕͝͝ ̴̡̨͚̝̠͖̱̤̬͗̆̒̿͂̌̅́͘͜ţ̸̧̡̟̳̞̥̞̮̤̫̜̘̾̽́̔̃̄̈̋̈͗̆͝͝h̴͓̖̤̦̞̲͇̏̍͌̆̈́͋̀͆͋͗͜ę̵̨̧̡̡̛̤̮͓̞̫̦̏̽̌̍͗̊̂͗̇̀͠y̸̧̭̫̘͕̪̆̇̓̌́͆́̇̊̆ ̵̡͐̏̑̆̎ȩ̶̢̺̞̙̞̬̭̻̲̥͂̑̄̉̅̓̃̓̍̿̿͘͠s̷̡̜͇̱͑̂͆̽̉̇̅͋͝͝c̶͖͛̀̒͒͂͋̓͆̈́̕͘͝͠͝a̴̮̲̯̪̞͚͖͆̊̾̒̿̓̂̅̂̌͝͝p̶̨̨͕̜̻̬͋͐ë̸̢̛̻͙́̀͑́̋̇̍͗̉̔̽́͘͝d̸̨͕͕̭̺̠̜͓͚̗̋́̐͛͊͝.̷͉̑̑̇͐͐͋̈́͊̽̋́͝
She could feel her adrenaline pumping. She could hear every breath that escaped her mouth, every step that she had made, and the horrifying roar behind her. A million thoughts were running through her head.
How am I going to escape this situation?
Am I going to die?
How can I outrun that beast?
Where was my fishing pole?
Did I hit my head on something?
I think I'm going to run out of energy if I keep running like this.
Is there no place to hide?
How much time do I have until I run out of blood?
What time is it now?
Why was that thing in broad daylight?
She was running without any destination. The only thing she had in mind was to survive. The wolf had caught up to her and tried to pounce at her with its jaws wide open. Ziel dodged in the nick of time and rolled to the side, wasting no time as she quickly got on to her feet and started running again. She tried to think of a way to get away from the wolf. She knew that grey tiger backs are persistent when it comes to chasing their prey. They could hunt for hours without resting. The only way to get them to stop is either tiring them, killing them, or outrun them. Outrunning them would be very unlikely as they are very agile, and they have very high stamina. So she is left with no other choice but to kill it.
The only question was...
how was she going to kill it?
The most troublesome thing right now is the fact that the wolf can smell her from half a mile away. It has a good sense of smell. How was she going to do this?
"Fuck-" she cursed as she got scraped by a branch, "How am I supposed to get rid of that thing?" she thought as she looked back to get a glimpse of the wolf's grey fur.
At that moment she also thought that maybe this was it.
Maybe, this is how her short life is going to end. She's going to die in nature's hands.
Maybe, this was her f̶̧̯͍͎̤̞̜͚̘͍̱͓͂ą̵̛͎̥̰̙̓̇̒͐̀̎́͋̏͆͋͘͜͜͠t̸̛̝̮̣̩̬̜̩̀̈́̒̀͒̍̋͐̓̃̈͊͜͝ë̷̖̙̖͙̖̠̈́̍̂̿̑̊̿̐̕ͅͅ.
...
Ṇ̸̭̉̃̋̃͆͑͌̎́̏̾͐̈́o̷̡̟͎͖̤͈̲̲͔̱̙̫̜͆̎͆̈́̌̑͘͘ͅ...
This isn't how her story ends.
S̵̶̸̡̡̩̮̤̮̠̪̺͓̣̃͌̾̀̈̈́̓́̌̑̀̾͛̓̍̐̎̚̕̕͘͘͜͠͝h̶̶̶̬̬̠̜̣̩͚̱̲̣̖͔̤̹͒̽̒̈́͊̈́̆̒̾̾̇͒́̈́̑͜ę̷̶̴̨̛̭̱̬͔͚̠̞̺̝͇̟̦̀̉̀̾̆̀͗͛̎̈́͐̍̃͆ͅ ̷̰͖͙̯̭̞͔̝̗̞̼̙̄̆̀̐̀̈́̌͗͗͊͒͝͠͠͝...
Î̶̧̛̭̺̤͚̮̙̟͍̿̾͛̄͝͠ ̷̨̨̨̧̨̨͓͙͈̣͉͚͓̱̅̍̈͗̒̌͌̓̽̒̉̎͜s̵̢̛͛̊̊͌̾̐̀͋̈́̕͠͠͝t̸̙͓̫̙̱̥̭̹̹̪̜͍̝̱͒̏͛͌̈́̈̕ͅi̶̧̠̙̤̿͂̄̓̄̀̑̇̂͑ḷ̸̨̨̯̳̖̖̓̑̎̈́̊͋̈́̏͛̀͊l̸̼̠̂̇̑̌̈́̉̔͆͒̈͗̎́͘ ̸̖̝̦͖̠͌̔̀̂̀̌͆̀̾̈́̿̚͝ͅw̶̝̱̔͌́͘ȃ̶̧͚͚͕͔̯̠͇̝̻̗̩̣̘̈́̂̓̄̊̾̍͠ņ̶̧̖̘̗̖̭͚̗͔͕̠͉̒̾́̐̈́̒͊̉̚̕t̵̗͔̳̮̩̤͒́̄͛́̐̀͝ ̵̡̲͓̣̒́͌̇͑͌͌t̵̠͂̀͋̉̌̂͑̓̚͜͠o̴̢̧̼̗̼͉̬̣̩̺͛͐͋̆́̈̏̔̕ ̷̨̡͇͇̞̮̥̟͇̥̇͂͂͌́̔̅̃̕͠ḽ̴͓̬̹̭͚̞̖̩̗̯̀͐͆͌̇͂̒̿͆̂͊̾͜͜͝i̵̛̛̠͎̙̖͎̲͉̝̪͛̀̀͒̔̀̐̈͠v̷̢̞̹͖̘̞̌͂͌̓͐́̈̿́̈͜ͅé̴̼͇̣̯͕̳͉̃̃̑̉̏̄̿͘̕͝
To be continued...
Info:
Curtain Shrooms
Curtain shrooms are mushrooms that grow in the dark crystal caverns. These mushrooms usually stick to the walls of the cave, getting its nutrients off of guano. If you don't know what guano is, it's basically bird or bat poop. They are commonly found near the mouth of the cave because the deeper you get, the more crystals will cover the walls. With the crystals growing, there will be no room for the mushrooms. Which is why it's rare to encounter one of these mushrooms deep inside the cave system (unless there's no crystals, then they will grow).
It's named the curtain shroom because of its curved or folded cap. It has an orange hue at the top side and a dark brown color on its underside. It grows in a vertical order like how a wasp's nest is formed. They live in groups and each group can be up to 6 curtain shrooms. Unlike the Oyster Mushroom, its hyphae do not branch but are rather structured as levels. Each level is an individual mushroom that can range from 7 to 12 inches in length and 2 to 3 inches in width.
These fungi have a translucent and sticky liquid. It has the ability to neutralize odor or stench. It also has a barrier-like layer on the surface of the liquid. The barrier is formed out of a structure of small molecules that creates a wall. That barrier keeps the molecules from escaping, trapping them inside and preventing the odor or scent from spreading. Because of these features, the fungi are utilized as a body deodorant, odor repellent, or even cooked as food.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note:
Hello there!
Sorry for not posting chapter 3 after... 2 friggin weeks TvT
I just lost motivation all of a sudden and I was also trying to find the words to describe an action scene since I suck at it-
Also, I'm not the best writer.. but I'll try my best to make this novel great.
So yeah, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
See you in the next one!
Have a great day, and stay safe! <3