The air around us froze. The fog was still unmoving, as if the world was waiting for one of us to make the first move.
My heart beat so hard I could hear it in my ears.
I gripped the rock tighter.
The wolf raised its head high, its fur tense, then… it pounced.
"RAAAARRRR"
"AAAAARGGHHH"
I screamed and fended it off with my bare hands, feeling those sharp teeth tear the skin on my arm. Warm blood flowed, but I didn't stop. I swung the rock again, this time aiming for its eye.
The loud sound of cracking bone surprised even me. The wolf retreated again, its eye bleeding. But it wasn't down yet.
It howled again, louder, angrier.
I tried to back away, but my foot caught on a large root behind me. I stumbled, my arms flailing as I fought to keep my balance.
Seizing the opportunity, the wolf attacked again, this time faster and more ferocious.
I only had time to raise my arm to block, and its teeth sank deep into my left shoulder. The pain pierced through to the bone, making my vision blur.
"AAAAAGGHHHH"
"No... I don't want to die... not like this... not here!"
The words tore from my throat, half-sob, half-defiance. My body was screaming, refusing to let this be the end.
With my remaining right hand, I grabbed another rock from the ground, then slammed it repeatedly into the creature's head. Once. Twice. Three times.
"RRAAAAGGH" the wolf roared in pain
The wolf Blood splattered on my face, warm and thick. The creature finally released its bite, stepping back, unsteady.
I almost fell too. My vision spun, my hands and legs were bleeding, but I didn't stop. I stared at the creature, my breath ragged, my eyes watering not from fear, but from pain and anger mixed into one.
"I won't die by your hand," I said softly, with a voice that was almost shattered.
The wolf looked at me one more time, growled lowly, then stepped forward for the last time. And this time, I also stepped forward.
I had no time to think. As the wolf stepped towards me again, everything around me vanished, the fog, the air, even the fear. All that remained was a simple urge.
Survive.
I raised the rock in my right hand, but my strength was almost gone. My breath was short, my chest felt hot, blood kept dripping from the wound on my shoulder. Every time I inhaled air, a sharp pain stabbed into my lungs, making me almost cough. But I couldn't stop.
The wolf pounced again, and I rolled to the side, just one step away from its teeth closing in the air. I fell onto the muddy ground, my back hitting a large root so hard it felt like a bone had cracked. But that pain actually sharpened my mind.
I rose trembling, picking up another, larger branch. Heavy, but strong enough. I stood, staring at the creature. It also paused for a moment, lowering its head, looking at me with its blood-wet red eyes. We were both panting. Both bleeding. But only one of us could live after this.
The fog around us swirled slowly. The air here was so quiet I could hear the friction of the wolf's breath, heavy, rough, full of anger. It stepped forward slowly, its claws pressing into the damp soil.
I retreated half a step. My body trembled, but my eyes didn't leave it. I could see the wound on the side of its face, blood dripping to the ground. But that didn't make it stop.
"I WON'T LOSE TO YOU!"
My voice tore through the air, raw, defiant, and sharp with a fury I didn't know I still had in me. It wasn't a whisper anymore. It was a war cry.
I swung the tree branch with all my might. A loud collision sound filled the air as the wood hit its skull. I almost lost my grip because the vibration was so strong. But the wolf only shook, then crashed into me with its large body.
"AKKHHHHGGGG"
I fell to the ground again. The branch slipped from my hand, rolling away. The world spun around me. Before I could get up, the creature's teeth were already sinking into my left leg.
I screamed. The pain was indescribable, like being sliced from the inside.
I kicked, punched, but the wolf shook my body like a ragdoll. Muddy soil stuck to my face, and blood from my leg flowed profusely.
"AGGGGGGHHH! I WILL SURVIVE!"
I screamed again, this time louder, not just from pain, but from pure fear.
I grabbed a rock beside me and slammed it into the creature's head. Once, twice, three times.
The wolf growled loudly and finally released its bite, stepping back while shaking its head. Blood dripped from its snout.
I gasped, trying to get up, but my legs trembled violently.
I knew I had lost a lot of blood. My vision began to shake, but I refused to give up.
The creature lowered its head again, preparing to attack once more.
I felt the ground, searching for the rock that had slipped earlier. My hand touched something hard, not a rock, but a long bone, perhaps from another creature that had died here.
I gripped it, raising it high.
"This ends now." I whispered through gritted teeth.
When the wolf pounced again, I thrust the bone towards its neck. There was a hard jolt, followed by a
"RAAAGGGH!" A sharp, pained cry that ripped through the fog.
The wolf crashed into my body, pinning me to the ground. I fell, my breath stopping for a moment. But I knew I had hit my mark.
The bone was stuck in the side of its neck. Blood flowed profusely, warm, soaking my arm.
"GRRRAAAAUUGHH!" The wolf snarled, its hot breath washing over my face as it writhed in pain and fury.
It thrashed on top of me, shaking its head, trying to remove the object. Its weight pressed down until I could barely breathe.
"Get... off..." I choked out, my vision blurring.
In desperation, I did something I hadn't even thought of.
I bit its neck. Hot blood filled my mouth, salty and fishy, making me almost vomit. But I didn't stop.
"RAAAUUGGHH—!" The wolf let out a choked, gurgling cry as I bit deeper, twisted, and screamed from within my chest.
The wolf thrashed, its body writhing wildly, kicking the ground. I don't know how long it lasted, maybe a few seconds, maybe an eternity.
Until finally, the body stopped.
Became still.
I lay beneath it, panting, my entire body smeared with blood, my blood, wolf blood, I didn't know which was which.
"I... I survived..." I breathed into the sudden, deafening silence.
Only my breath remained, ragged, short, and heavy.
I pushed its body away, slowly, and rolled to the side. My back ached, every bone felt cracked.
I looked up, the sky was invisible, only swirling fog. I didn't know if it was morning or night.
"It's… over…" I whispered, but my voice didn't come out.
I stared at the wolf. Its body was large, its dull black fur now turned dark and dense with blood. Its mouth was slightly open, showing sharp teeth now stained red. Its eyes no longer glowed.
I won.
But why didn't it feel like victory?
"Hahahaha..."
I laughed softly, my laughter hoarse, dry, and empty. Tears fell on my cheeks without me realizing.
I cried, not from relief, but because I realized I had become part of this world. A world that only knew one thing: survive by killing.
I tried to sit up, but my body was too weak. The wounds on my leg and my left arm were still bleeding. I pressed the wounds with my hand, but it was useless.
Hunger returned.
Not ordinary hunger.
A painful hunger that made my body shiver and my stomach cramp. As if my body was demanding something to be put in so it could continue to survive.
Was this how I was going to die?
Starving, and bleeding out… what a pathetic ending...
....
No!
I wasn't going to die like this! Not before I paid them back.
Then my eyes were drawn back to the wolf's carcass.
Fresh meat.
Warm.
And for the first time, I thought of the most disgusting thing that had ever crossed my mind.
no...I couldn't possibly. I'm not an animal.
But the hunger wouldn't leave.
Every second, my thoughts grew more blurred. My breath was ragged. My hands trembled violently. I could no longer think clearly.
"I... have to eat..."
My voice was hoarse, almost inaudible amidst the moving fog.
I looked at the carcass again.
And this time, my mind stopped resisting.
I dragged my body slowly, my knees dragging on the ground, blood dripping along the way. When I reached the side of the wolf carcass, The foul, metallic stench hit me like a wall, forcing me to hold my breath.
I looked at it for a long time, my eyes blurred from tears and sweat.
The world seemed to wait.
Then i squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, gathering the last of my courage, then opened my mouth and pressed it directly against the exposed flesh.
My lips touched a cold, damp surface. My front teeth clamped down on a piece of meat with skin still attached. The hide was incredibly tough.
Realizing my mistake, I recoiled slightly. With trembling fingers slick with blood, I pinched the edge of the tough skin and began to peel it back from the flesh beneath. It came away with a sickening, ripping sound, revealing the dark, glistening muscle underneath.
When I brought the skinned piece of meat back to my mouth and bit into it, the flesh was still so tough it held fast against my teeth. Instinctively, I braced one palm against the body of the wolf carcass beside me for leverage. With my other hand, I gripped the piece of meat tightly and pulled in the opposite direction, my neck and jaw straining against the tension.
It was like a terrible tug-of-war against that tough meat. Then, a low, wet tearing sound was heard as the stubborn muscle fibers finally split between my teeth.
Warm blood, thick and coppery, flooded my tongue. It was worse than I ever imagined.
"Hhuuurk!"
My body betrayed me. A choking sound escaped my mouth as I vomited to the ground. The taste was a horrible mixture of tough, fibrous raw meat and stomach acid, clinging unpleasantly to my throat.
Tears streamed down my face, mixing with the grime and bloodBut the gnawing void in my stomach was a more urgent truth. I forced myself to swallow it all back down.
My hands clawed the ground, my body shook violently. Every bite felt like destroying the remnants of humanity still left within me.
Driven by the feeling of hunger I was forced to eat it again, I tore another piece of meat from the carcass. The cold, greasy flesh clung stubbornly to the bone, just as hard as before with the fibrous, tough texture that held my teeth with every bite. My jaw worked in desperate, crying as tears dripped from my chin, mixed with the blood on the ground.
I swallowed a large, barely chewed piece that scraped my throat raw. I choked and coughed, my eyes were watering, but I didn't stop. I continued to tear and chew, following a bleak and relentless rhythm.
Until finally, I didn't know if I was still eating or just venting something darker than hunger. And amidst the nausea, the pain, and the blood sticking to my lips, one thing emerged in my mind.
They discarded me to make me die. But I'm still alive.
Only by this way can I continue to live.
The world around me felt slow, heavy, and frozen. The fog that had covered the forest now seemed to change shape, becoming something alive moving along with my ragged breath.
After eating the wolf meat with disgust, i lay beside the wolf's carcass. Our blood mingled on the ground, turning into a thick, dark color. My body trembled violently. I didn't know if it was from the cold, hunger, or the disgust that now filled my mind.
The fishy smell clung to my skin, my lips, my teeth. Every time I swallowed saliva, the metallic taste of blood was still there.
I stared at my own hands. My fingers trembled, covered in black stains that were starting to dry. Between my nails, small shreds of flesh were stuck. I tried to wipe them off, but it only spread them over my skin.
The urge to vomit rose again, but my stomach was empty. Only air and despair came out of my mouth.
"This… is disgusting," I whispered, but the voice sounded weak, trembling like it belonged to a stranger.
I wanted to stop thinking, but my mind wouldn't be quiet. Those images appeared again, the king looking at me without feeling, Eldrin smiling gently while lying, Eri and the others looking at me with disgust.
I didn't know why, but their faces appeared one by one amidst the fog, staring at me.
Did they know I was still alive?
Or did they not even care?
Tears fell again and again without me realizing it. I wasn't crying from fear, nor from pain. I was crying because I realized how low I had sunk now.
I had eaten raw monster meat, with my own hands, like an animal.
I hugged my knees and rested my head on them. That was when I finally noticed it, the slow, warm trickle of blood sliding down my legs, mixing with the dirt on my skin.
I raised my head slowly. The fog… was moving.
Not like smoke, but like something breathing. Every time I inhaled, the fog vibrated. Every time I exhaled, it seemed to respond, closing in closer.
I swallowed, trying to retreat, but my body was too weak. The wound on my leg throbbed, my shoulder ached, and my head was heavy. I didn't know if I was starting to hallucinate, but it felt like this forest was staring back.
Then, the pain came.
At first small, like a needle prick in my chest, then quickly spread throughout my body.
I screamed and curled my body, an incredible heat burning from within. My hands clawed the ground, my fingers digging into the mud.
"What—what's happening…" my voice broke in my throat.
The heat intensified. The veins in my neck tightened, every second felt like embers infiltrating my blood vessels. I tried to breathe, but my lungs felt like they were burning.
My body convulsed, my back arched, and my vision began to blur.
I fell to the ground, my face pressed against the cold mud. But nothing could soothe this pain.
Heat, cold, then heat again.
"AKKHHHHHHHHGGG!!!"
Every strand of muscle felt like it was being pulled and twisted from the inside.
I screamed until my voice broke, but no one heard. No one cared.
"I… don't want to die…" I uttered between heavy breaths.
But my body wasn't listening.
The pain grew more intense. My eyes trembled, the world around me turned into a blur, colors, shapes, and sounds melting into one.
I felt something in my chest, like a pulse that wasn't my own.
My heart beat irregularly, then suddenly slowed.
One… two… three…
Then everything went dark.