He had lived his entire previous life clinging to a single belief.
He was convinced that there was nothing more cruel and terrifying than a conflict between people. Malice, hypocrisy, meanness, ignorance... Sometimes, simple disagreements between two individuals led to entire wars, which in turn brought misery to millions of innocent people.
Against this backdrop, an ancient struggle between humans and animals seemed insignificant. In his opinion, humans were the strongest and cruelest of all creatures.
It wasn't that his point of view had undergone a radical change, but... Now he knew that there was someone stronger. Someone more terrifying.
And a struggle between a human and such a creature was a hell of cruelty and fear.
'Am I really going to face it head-on?!'
He was shaking.
The monster's paws pushed off the ground energetically and carried its massive body forward. It picked up speed and rushed straight at him.
In a few seconds, the predator would pounce and devour him.
He stood with his back against a tree. His teeth were chattering, and his fingers were not trembling because they were clenched tightly around the dagger, as if it were some kind of lifeline. He could be as brave as he wanted, but in such conditions, his body simply refused to fight.
The sharp muzzle of the Ryskar, which had previously looked vicious and aggressive, now seemed to express anticipation. It was as if the predator had already encountered similar brave souls, ready to clash with him in a final stand, armed with nothing but a knife.
The predator knew all those brave lambs met the same end.
His red claws were ready to sink into his neck and tear it apart. Ryskar was here and had almost caught up with him.
Someone whispered.
"They'll eat you. Tear you to..."
"I KNOW THAT!!!"
His nerves, which were already on edge, exploded at the whisper that sounded right next to his ear.
All the courage he had tried to muster vanished in an instant before the bloody paw that was raised above him.
He clenched his teeth and threw himself down. His fingers dug into the ground, and dirt got under his nails.
*Crunchh!* Claws slashed at the tree, and white shavings fell.
He could literally feel the creature's roar and vibrations on his own back.
Then, mimicking a sprinter's stance, he lunged forward, launching himself off the ground like a beast.
Behind him, he heard a sawing, tearing sound. Apparently, the creature had sunk not only its claws but also its jaws into the tree.
And he ran. Again....
...
'It's useless! He can't be defeated! He can't even be scratched!'
Protecting his back, he darted behind every tree, and right behind him came terrifying cracking sounds.
He was literally one step away from death. It couldn't even be called a fight.
"Pha...! Damn it!" he shouted, not even having time to spit out the saliva with its disgusting iron taste.
The echoes of his heartbeat in his head were so loud that he couldn't even think straight. He couldn't hear his own screams and thought he was screaming in his head.
'I need something!'
"Anything!" he shouted, veering to the right and leaving another shattered tree in his wake.
He simply had no idea and no time to come up with them.
He didn't even have time to look back, so all that was left was what was in front of him.
'What, an endless forest?! The only thing missing from this damn one-way chase is music!'
*Crackk!* Ryskar's claw tried to slash his back, but once again met a tree.
He used the agility of his much smaller body and literally zigzagged between each trunk. This caused the beast to miss and hit the trees with its steel sides. Of course, this gained him a few moments and prolonged the chase, but... That was all.
However, no matter how much of a dead end it seemed, he couldn't help but notice that right now... his heart was screaming with life. And he himself was almost lost in the endless expression of overwhelming feelings.
It was nothing like the stagnation and depression that had overwhelmed him just recently.
Now he was burning with the will to live. His heart was on fire.
"Damn it!" he shouted and reached back with his hand as he ran.
He didn't understand what he was doing. Looking at this forest, he had noticed this detail from the very beginning, and now his eyes were fixed on it. The tree branches resembled blood vessels and were endlessly intertwined.
There was an unfolded metal rope attached to his backpack, and he grabbed the hook at its end.
He unconsciously looked back and saw Ryskar was almost on his heels.
Before the returning fear of the predatory red eyes caused him to make a mistake, he rolled toward the nearest tree.
*Crashh!* There was a frightening crack and rumble, and the broken splinters flew right in front of his face.
This gave him a couple of precious seconds.
"Daaamn!!!"
He swung with all his might, and the rest of the rope slithered to the ground like a long snake.
In the next second, without looking, he threw the hook toward the high branches and forced his body forward.
He could already see how Ryskar would tear his legs apart for such audacity... But he was lucky, and the claw cut only through the air and the ground at his heels. He was damn lucky, if you could call it that.
"Ha...!" He darted between another tree, returning to his erratic run.
His wide-open eyes were bloodshot, and he was critically short of breath. He felt like he was literally becoming that tired rabbit that the wolf had finally caught up with.
At that moment, the rope clenched in his palms began to slide through his hands faster and faster. Although he didn't see it, the hook had caught.
At that moment, the main thing was not to let go of the rope, but unfortunately...
'Don't even think about it!'
"RRYAA!!!" the beast screamed, but once again his claw crashed into the trees instead.
He grabbed the rope that had almost slipped out of his hands even tighter. The burning sensation from the friction was simply terrible, and now it was slipping away rapidly.
The most important thing was to start climbing up it. And he had to do it as soon as possible.
But first, he needed to create an opportunity to try.
Of course, this rope was clearly not intended for manual lifting, and the handle of the mechanism made that obvious.
At that moment, he once again regretted not digging up the place with the corpses to the very bottom just to find a limb with a suitable print. Still, that was in the past, and now he had to work with what he had.
The beast, tearing at the ground with its paws, was breathing down his neck. The beast clearly had no intention of giving him precious seconds to get up... But there would never be a better chance.
Someone whispered:
"It's going to tear you apart..."
Someone called out to him:
"Run..."
"...?!"
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the spots on the trees reminded him of faces again. Now there was something even more terrifying behind him, and he didn't have time to react...
But he noticed that all the faces were facing in one direction, as if showing him the way. About 7 meters to his left was a tree. It was similar to all the others, except that it was slightly thicker.
"How the hell is that going to help?!"
However, there was no time to change his mind, and he turned left at full speed.
Along the way, he tore between two more trees, deliberately so the cable would snap tight between their crowns like a string.
The rope between them was stretched parallel to the thick tree.
He acted intuitively and improvised.
A second later, the thick tree indicated by the marks on the trees was in front of him.
So was the foul smell of blood and the vibrations of a mechanical roar right behind him.
'What the hell am I going to do now?!'
No miracle or magical coincidence happened because of the trees' hint... However, he had only hoped for himself from the very beginning.
He was horrified by his thoughts, but there was no time to doubt.
He walked diagonally to the tree and pushed off from the ground... And then he flew. More precisely, he jumped.
"Aaaaaah!" He screamed from the rush of emotions.
Perhaps it wasn't that important... But in his past life, he truly believed that he could jump higher than anyone else in the world. Whether it was true or not, that confidence did not fail him now.
The indescribable feeling of flying. Reaching the highest point... And then his foot landed and instantly pushed off the tree trunk.
At that moment, his hands let go of the metal cable, and the tension between the two previous trees began to weaken.
He had only seconds.
"RRWAA!!!" A blood-curdling mechanical roar sounded right at his feet.
He didn't know how far he had jumped, but it was enough to reach the height of the mechanical beast... However, it also meant that his feet were right in front of Ryskar's jaws.
A greedy light flashed in its predatory red eyes. It was as if someone had waved a long-awaited carrot in front of it.
And in the next moment, the bloodied jaws opened, intending to devour his entire foot.
And at that moment...
"Not today, you bastard!"
He stepped right on the mechanical head and the blood-soaked metal.
His legs weren't strong enough to force the jaws shut, and the opposite happened, but...
He was waiting for just that.
"RRAAAWW!!!"
The enraged Ryskar tried to bite his leg again, but in doing so, he pushed him even further with his head.
He had been waiting for this exact moment. He kicked off the predatory jaws and jumped into the void with all his might.
'...'
His thoughts were devoid of exclamations such as 'What the hell is going on?!'.
He remained silent, both in his thoughts and in reality.
He was consumed by pure ecstasy. He was flying…
And in the next second, he caught the rope with his hands, which was briefly suspended between the first two trees.
He grabbed hold and flew on, as if on a vine.
With every second, he tore himself farther from the hungry beast — and from his inevitable fate.