The beast moved faster than before.
Not reckless. Not wild.
It adapted.
Its claws ripped through the air where my head had just been one second ago. I twisted my body in sheer instinct, such a smooth movement it felt troubling. My foot slipped through wet leaves, yet I didn't fall. I steadied myself, my muscles responding before my thoughts caught up.
This was new.
The jungle's pressure still forced itself onto me, but this time, it merely felt heavy in training, not like it was about to snap my spine. Heavy. Brutal. But bearable.
The beast snarled from its surprise over my movement.
I hustled it out, then.
I lunged forward.
Rib-splitting pain flared sharp and vicious, but it all vanished from my consciousness. The shoulder rammed right into its chest. That rattled my teeth; the beast staggered back half a step.
Half a step was enough.
I scooped up a jagged stone from the ground and slashed upwards. The blade scraped down his arm, leaving a thin line of dark blood. It was a roar that made nearby trees quiver.
And then silence—the jungle answered.
No wind. No birds. No insects.
Just me and the thing that wanted me dead.
The beast swung again. I ducked, felt claws whish past over my head, and rolled forward. Dirt filled my mouth. I spat and came up on one knee, burning in the chest.
My heart was calm.
That frightened me more than the monster.
I should have been panicking. I should have been begging any god that existed for my life. Instead, my thoughts sharpened and clarified, as though all unnecessary information had been stripped away.
Kill or die.
Simple.
The beast charged.
And I ran straight at it.
Its eyes widened. At the last moment, I dropped low, sliding beneath its strike, and stab the stone blade into the back of its knee. The resistance was tough, like slicing leather wrapped around steel, but the blade sank.
The beast howled.
I withdrew the blade with a tug and rolled away just as it collapsed, blood gushing from the wound. Thick blood poured from the wound, hissing on contact with the ground. The stench was suffocating- decay, metallic, and something acidic seared my nostrils.
The jungle reacted.
Pressure surged forth once again, sharper this time, like it was judging me. Measuring me.
The beast thrashed, trying to get up, but I would not let it.
I mounted on its back, ignoring the claws raking down my legs, and drove the stone in again. And again. And again.
Each blow sent shockwaves through my arm. Muscles screamed in protest. My vision blurred.
But there was a fire inside burning brighter.
The moment the beast stilled, I rolled away and landed painfully on my back, gasping for air. The chest felt caved in, hands shaking violently.
I looked up at the canopy, where branches grew so tightly intertwined they looked like a single entity. No sky. No light.
I was alive.
The realization came on slow.
I let go a weak, broken laugh.
Then the ground below the beast began to stir again.
Blood soaking into the soil glowed softly, pulsing like a heartbeat. Thin black lines sprouted from it, crawling towards me. I tried to crawl away, but my limbs felt heavy.
They reached my hands.
A cold shock traveled up my veins.
I let out a cry as something flooded into my body—not pain, not quite. It was as if my nerves were being rewritten, sharpened. Images poured through my mind: the beast that moved, its strength, its instincts.
Then it stopped.
The light dimmed. The body of the beast crumbled into dust and ashes carried by unseeable hand.
I lay there, breathing hard, staring at my hands.
They felt... heavier.
Stronger.
Clenching my fist, I heard the slight pop of air around it.
I swallowed.
"So it is done," I muttered.
The jungle was not merely slaying people.
It was harvesting them.
The pressure lifted just a little as if acknowledging my thoughts silently.
I was on my feet, swaying. The body was completely exhausted. My arms and legs were scratched and bruised. My ribs felt cracked. Blood was drying on my skin.
But beneath the bruises, something else was pulsating.
A foundation.
I took my first step deeper into the jungle.
With this single step across a threshold, the world changed.
Trees opened up a little, their trunks etched with deep cut marks as if something massive had dragged itself in and out of this area repeatedly. The air grew heavy, with a slight bitter touch in its taste.
I froze.
Voices whispered at the edge of my hearing.
Not words I understood, but intent. Hunger. Curiosity.
I wasn't alone anymore.
Carefully, I moved with senses rimmed tight. The slightest sound was louder, every movement seemingly sharper. I could feel faint vibrations through the ground now, unmistakably clear.
Something large was stirring ahead.
I climbed onto a fallen log and peeked over.
My stomach knotted.
Amidst the clearing stood three figures-humanoid in outline but wrong in every other way. Their skin was gray and cracked, their eyes sunken, glimmering faintest blue. Black symbols etched into their flesh, still oozing blood.
Black magic construct.
Or people who were once people.
They were wielding clumsy weapons and surrounded a stone altar smeared with dried blood.
Suddenly, one turned and looked right at me.
Its mouth stretched into a grin far too wide.
I fell from the log and ran.
A shriek ripped through the air behind me. Footfalls pounded, light yet fast for their twisted bodies.
I crashed through bushes, branches whipping my face. My lungs burned. My legs screamed.
The jungle shifted again.
Roots burst from the ground, forcing me to leap. I rolled, narrowly missing a bone spike that shot up where my head had just been.
It wasn't doing me any good.
It wasn't doing them any good either.
It was testing for my response.
Sliding into another clearing, I skidded to a halt.
A ravine split the earth in front of me, wide and deep. No bridge. No way around.
The screeching came ever closer.
I turned just as the three figures came charging through the trees, weapons up, eyes locked on me with fanatic glee.
A trap.
Heat flashed within me, reacting to my dread.
I walked towards the rim of the ravine.
The drop went straight down, so deep that I couldn't even see the bottom.
Jump, maybe die.
Stay, sure death.
I stared at my trembling hands.
"I did not survive that thing," I whispered, picturing the beast, "just to stop here."
The figures charged me.
I jumped.
The world turned upside down.
Wind howled past my ears. My stomach lurched; for a splitting moment, terror seized my spirit.
Then my body caught itself.
I twisted in midair, smacking the wall of the ravine and clawing into the rock. My arms jarred from the hit but held. I slid for a few meters before stopping on a narrow projection.
Upset, the figures screeched above me.
Looking below, I saw movement.
Silt. Great.
The ground tremored.
A deep, time-worn groan emanated from the bowels of the ravine.
My heart sank.
The jungle was not yet through with me.
Not even close.