Nathaniel's Rapid breaths could be heard as he ran like a headless fly deeper into the forest. His legs aching as he dashed for an hour which almost felt like an eternity. With only one goal in his mind. To get as far away as he can to the monster that he saw. He was shaken, witnessing death close-up for the first time. He felt nauseous when he remembered the bloodied mess of Kyle's decapitated body.
Feeling out of breath, He slowed down and chose to stop. His legs gave up as he knelt on the ground, his hands clenching tightly the grass beneath it. His chest heaved as he gulped for oxygen. Sweat dripping down his face.
"Hah... heuk… What the fuck even happened earlier... Hah..." He bit his lips as he sat on the ground with frustration.
His eyes roamed the surroundings, the light was dim due to the large foliage of trees covering the sunlight, barely illuminating the place he's in right now. He combed his hair with his fingers, combing back the fringes that was sticking on his forehead due to sweat. His eyes tightly shut as he rested. His mind conjuring up various explanation to what he witnessed earlier.
"There's no way that was a prank. It's way too realistic. The beast couldn't have been animatronic. So what? Time travel? They even said that they don't know what phones are. Not to mention they insisted that my name's Xael." He couldn't help but face palm in frustration feeling like he's going crazy.
Nathaniel stood alert when he heard rustling sounds coming from the bushes. He held his breath as he draws out the small kitchen knife he saw earlier. Cautiously he started backing up until he was behind a tree. There he peeked from behind as the bushes started moving.
His heart started beating fast as he raised his hands, gripping tightly on the knife's wooden handle. Whatever the thing in the bush was, it was going nearer as the movement approached near in front of the tree he was hiding in.
'Please don't let it be another monster' Nathaniel prayed desperately in his mind as the movement in the bushes stopped before a figure sprang up from the bushes. He caught his breath but sighed in relief a few minutes later when he realized it was just a deer.
"Jusko . . . Good thing it was just a deer." As Nathaniel breathed in relief. He couldn't help but notice something on the deer's fur. In the same familiar bold font was a word written.
"Follow." He read aloud. He cautiously stepped out from behind the tree, and as if the deer didn't notice him, it started walking towards the woods.
Reluctantly, Nathaniel weighed his decision. Whether to follow the word that appears mysteriously or not. Ultimately, he decided to follow the deer since the direction it was taking was the opposite of where the Lampher beast was. Although there are many questions surging in his head, he doesn't have the capacity to find the answers now.
With the knife still in his hands. He followed behind the deer's tracks cautiously. Alert for any surprise attack that would come in his way. Along the way, the deer stopped on a bush of berries and ate some of it. As if on cue, Nathaniel's stomach grumbled in protest.
"Right. I didn't have my dinner. Not to mention I don't know how long I was out." he didn't immediately reach out for a berry. He wasn't an idiot, and he knows that some plants in the wild are poisonous. Since he doesn't have a death wish, he decided to wait for a few minutes. The deer turned to him and tilted its head before it continued eating.
Judging that almost half an hour has passed, Nathaniel reached out for one clump of berries and examined it. It looks plump and glossy with a deep yellow color the size of a loquat. It smells a bit citrus and sweet. He took a small cautious bite at it.
The flavor was light; it was a bit sweet with a tinge of lemon flavor. After swallowing it, He started picking the berries and collecting a large bunch of it. Placing them on the satchel he was wearing. As if the deer had enough of it's fill. It huffed and continued walking. While following the deer, Nathaniel ate the berries like a snack as he roamed his eyes.
About ten minutes have passed when he keenly noticed a sound. It was gushing water! The deer started trotting to which he followed, almost running, both him and the deer was welcomed with the sight of a clear river. It's water glistening as it flowed downwards.
"It's water! Thank you very much deer!" Nathaniel almost knelt as he saw the river. He was feeling thirsty ever since they were walking and the juice of the berries he ate earlier was barely enough to satiate his needs.
The deer huffed and proceeded to take a drink in the river. There were also some few small animals taking a drink alongside them. Some squirrels, rabbits and also a number of deer. He set down his satchel as he sat by the riverside. He reached his hands and scooped some water. He almost teared up feeling the cold and fresh water sliding down his throat.
He was finally satiated after drinking a few more gulps of water. He was about to stand up when he finally took notice about his reflection in the clear water. There he sat motionless, staring at the image in front of him.
"Eh?" Nathaniel blinked and pinched his cheeks which was also reflected in the water. There he saw in the reflection was a brunette male, his hair was slightly long with fringes covering his forehead, his eyes here light blue with a hue of white. His nose was tall with his pale red lips slightly ajar. There was a mole under his left eye.
"Who? Eh? There's no way this is me!" Nathaniel exclaimed as he stumbled backwards. Still shocked from what he saw. First of all, he has black hair with brown eyes just like your typical Asian male, although his nose was tall it was only moderate and not that tall. He doesn't have a mole on his face too!
Curious he leaned towards the water again, He made some few gestures, and it reflected exactly what he was doing. "Oh crap. It really is me."
He grabbed his hair in confusion as he sat on the grass. First, he woke up inside a wagon and was tied up. He can concur that it was a kidnapping situation. Then he saw some terrible beast and witnessed how it killed one of his kidnappers. And now he looks like someone else?
And then he remembered what the person earlier said to him. He said that his name was not Nathaniel but Xael. As if realization dawned on him. His eyes widened as he inspected his body. He was wearing bloodied clothes, but it can be seen that it was of good quality. There was a metal logo of a phoenix on his chest. He was wearing leather boots. The outfit was just like what he saw on medieval costume parties.
"This… This is not my body." He finally muttered in disbelief.
The forest was silent with just some few sounds of bird could be heard. Nathaniel sat listlessly beside the river as he came to terms that the body he's in right now was not his. His mind also raced towards the fact that he's not even on earth anymore. That's the only valid explanation he could have with the existence of that monster.
His turned towards the deer that lead him here, He saw that the words have been long gone from its fur. Right and there's that issue with the mysterious writings too. It also appeared before. The one that says survive the Lampher beasts' attack. It's as if it was giving him a clue or hint. If it does, then could the monster that attacked earlier was the Lampher beast it was stating?
"Fuuuu. . ." He stared helplessly at his hands. "All this thinking is hurting my head. Could someone explain this to me please."
"Right. Maybe I could gain some information from the satchel I took." He reached for the satchel and poured out all it's contents.
Some berries that he picked earlier rolled on the ground. Aside from that there was also a wooded gourd that seems to store water. A flat piece of bread covered with oil paper, a compass, a pocket watch, some few miscellaneous stuffs and a pouch. Taking interest of the pouch. He opened it and there he saw a stack of some paper that he assumes as banknotes since it has printed numbers. Aside from that, there was a folded paper inside of the pouch. Curious he opened it.
The paper was a bit yellowish with cursive words written on it with black ink. The Initials of the sender who wrote it was smudged with only a 'V' line visible to the reader, but the rest of the message was still clear.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Orion's Calendar, 210
Location: Primeval Forest
Bring Xael Eitan Laurhette in this location by noon. We will arrive at dusk with the rest of the payment of 500,000 Rehyas.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
"What the hell? Someone want's this guy's life?" Nathaniel muttered as he refolds the paper and placed it back in the pouch. He reorganizes everything back inside the satchel.
"From the looks of it. This body either has bad blood with someone or he offended someone he shouldn't have. Those two also said that they were paid to kidnap Xael. Looks like the money in the pouch was the down payment."
He sighed and stared at the sky from the gaps of the trees foliage. The sky was still bright and according to the pocket watch he saw it was quarter to four already. Nathaniel blinked and sat up straight abruptly. He reread the contents of the letter again and stared at the pocket watch.
"Crap, there's a murderous Lampher beast at large and now there's also people whose after this body's life arriving at dawn." Nathaniel grabbed his hair in frustration as dawn was drawing near. "They used 'we' in the letter. Fuck I just hope they're not that many and won't search this forest for me."
Nathaniel didn't know whether to laugh or cry in his misfortune. "First I couldn't retrieve my card from that old ATM machine, then I was crushed to death by a truck followed by me waking up in a different body that was kidnapped and attacked by a Lampher beast, now some people I don't know are after my life. Great. Just Great!"
He started considering whether he'd rather die being crushed by the truck again than be here in a place of who knows where with a beast and some people who are after his life. Escaping like a headless fly.
Rather than just wait there for something to happen, Nathaniel grabbed the satchel and hung it on his shoulders. He went towards the river and cleaned up the blood on his face and stored water on the gourd that he found for his drinking water. He inhaled deeply as he took out his compass and decided to go on the good old trusty north. It worked for him since it pointed in the opposite direction of where he came from, which means farther from the Lampher beast and those people. With one last glance of the river, he started treading his path forward towards north.
He's been walking for quite a while now yet the forest he was in seems endless. The light has also grown dim with the sun almost setting. It's estimated that after a few hours it would be totally dark in this forest.
"I guess I should find somewhere to rest." Nathaniel muttered to himself as he glanced around trying to find a suitable place. He walked a bit further until he saw a large sturdy tree. His eyes focused on its thick roots.
"Please don't let there be any snakes down below." Cautiously he approached the pit beneath the large tree's roots. It acted as a small natural cave with the roots as it's ceiling. He crouched down and glanced around. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the space was unoccupied fro any inhabitants. There were also no holes for rats or snakes to hide.
Due to the small height of the place, he had no choice but to crawl in. Good thing he could still sit straight inside. He placed the satchel down and leaned against the dirt wall planning to rest for a bit. He was running like mad for a few hours then switched to walking for another few hours. His thighs and legs were aching in protest. He pounded on his legs wishing that it does not cramp later on.
As he was pondering on the next course of action he should take. He noticed the tree roots have some gaps where he could observe the outside surroundings.
'Should I cover up this place? Better be safe than sorry'
Nathaniel crawled up again from the pit and gathered some fallen leaves. He placed it against some of the big gaps and also towards the entrance. He crawled in before sealing the entrance shut leaving only some small gaps for him to breath air. He prays that if ever those people who are after Xael's life decided to find him, they won't notice his makeshift place here in the dead of night.
A few minutes passed and the sky turned dark. The forest was blanketed in darkness to which Nathaniel finds it hard to see anything from the gap. It was completely silent that it was deafening. Contrary to the silence during the day where you could still here some birds. At night it was as if even the birds were afraid to let their presence be known.
Feeling a bit hungry, he took a few berries to serve as his dinner and took a small sip of water satiating his needs for even just a bit. A few more minutes have gone, and he felt his eyelids going heavy.
"Please let me wake up at the dorm. Away from this nightmare."
He muttered sleepily before hugging the satchel and leaning his head against his shoulders. Closing his eyes slowly, he breathed heavily as drowsiness kicked in and sent him to dreamland. It was probably the fatigue and stress that helped him fall asleep much faster and easily.
"Mhm" Nathaniel's brows furrowed, uncomfortable from sleeping in a sitting position. He adjusted his position trying to stretch his stretch his stiff body. After stretching for a bit, he folded his knees and hugged it. Planning to rest his head on his knees. His blurry vision caught sight of something on his wrist.
He blinked wearily and rubbed his eyes until it regains focus. His heart started thumping when he saw something peeking out of his wrist. With trembling hands he reached for his sleeves and pulled it up. What he saw caught his breath, breathing lightly as his heart started pounding loudly.
[Escape The Pursuers Who Are After Xael's Life]