The feline beast growled and snarled at Aurion who backed away with careful steps. He didn’t dare take his eyes off the creature.

  ‘Dammit! How did I even end up in this place?’

  The forest was huge and while he couldn’t see far, what he saw was enough to tell him he was deep inside.

  Suddenly, the beast bounced and Aurion leapt out of the way before a swipe from the feline reached the location he was just at.

  ‘That was close.’

  He broke a cold sweat while watching the creature turn around again. It had realized that this prey was smart and wouldn’t turn its back on it.

  Aurion narrowed his eyes as it began to circle him while mimicking the creature’s movement.

  ‘It’s waiting for an opening. Even if it doesn’t get one, the stalemate won’t go on forever.’ His thoughts spun as he considered many scenarios on how to escape the beast.

  Running was certainly out of the question and fighting wasn’t viable either. After the stalemate lasted too long for the beast to tolerate, it snarled again and this time, exploded with greater ferocity at Aurion.

  “Shit!”

  He cursed as he tried to sidestep out of the way but this time, he wasn’t so lucky as the beast’s right claw grazed his chest, tearing away his wet clothes.

  “Ugh!”

  He groaned and moved his hand to the stinging sensation that accompanied the blood that spilt from the three claw marks.

  However, before Aurion could do anything else, the beast came at him again, not giving him any time to recover or even retaliate.

  It saw an opening the moment Aurion attempted to stop the bleeding.

  “!”

  Aurion’s eyes widened in horror as the beast’s maw came straight for his head. On instinct, he brought both hands forward and caught the beast’s maw in his hands.

  However, the force of the creature’s leap sent Aurion stumbling back until his back met the ground. He struggled with the beast in his hands as it clawed at his shoulders and sides with ferocity.

  With clenched teeth, he tanked the pain and held its maws in a vice grip.

  ‘If I let go of its maws, it will be my end!’

  It was better his body was riddled with claw marks than being torn to shreds with the creature’s powerful jaws.

  The two creatures, man and beast, tried to overpower each other to no avail as there seemed to be no end in sight.

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  But Aurion was beginning to feel the burden on his body as his entire body had turned bloody and his clothes in tatters.

  ‘Fuck, I’m losing too much blood. At this rate, I’ll black out and it will be my end.’ He cried inwardly but still found no hope of getting out of his situation.

  His palms were already bloody from the fangs planted in them and the strength in his arms was waning.

  The beast also sensed the change and increased its ferocity.

  As Aurion got closer and closer to blacking out, a change finally occurred.

  Out of nowhere, an arrow pierced the head of the beast, tore through its brain and came out on the other side with a splat of blood and brain matter.

  The beast fell limp in an instant the moment its head jerked to the side.

  “Haa…” Aurion felt a wave of relief wash over him once he saw the dead beast lying there with lifeless eyes.

  He fell on his back as his chest rose and fell rapidly from exhaustion. With great effort, he turned to the direction the arrow came from but spotted no one.

  “Whoever you are, thank you.”

  Aurion muttered as his eyelids felt heavy. He was totally drained; that and the amount of blood he lost plus its wounds was enough to kill anyone if they didn’t get treatment on time.

  He finally fell unconscious, his fate in the hands of whoever fired that killing arrow.

  Sometime later, someone landed close to where Aurion’s body lay and gazed at him with an expressionless face.

  “How did he end up this deep in the forest anyway?”

  The being muttered while looking around to see if there were others they missed, but Aurion seemed to be the only one.

  The person lowered themselves and carried Aurion back to their lair. If the person had no intention of helping, they would have turned a blind eye to Aurion’s struggle till he ended up dead.

  ‘I don’t recall the last time I helped anyone here, and a male no less.’

  The being gazed at Aurion’s expression in wonder. The person didn’t understand why they chose to help when they had done worse.

  ‘I can tell there is something about him, I’m just not sure what.’

  Sometime later, the person arrived at the base of a large tree that served as their home for who knows how many years and then pressed a certain spot on the tree.

  A faint glow of what appeared to be the outline of a door appeared on the bark of the tree before it completely turned a light green, appearing to be some kind of gateway into the tree’s stem.

  The person stepped in with Aurion in their arms and seconds later, the bark returned to normal as if nothing happened.

  Inside their home which was made entirely out of wood with small wisps serving as lights, the person lay Aurion on the bed and proceeded to treat his injuries.

  They employed magical spells and ground some herbs to prepare a paste they used as an ointment on Aurion’s many wounds.

  Aurion would groan in pain whenever the person applied the herbal mixture. Normally, a couple of potions would have done the trick, but the situation was a unique one as there was nothing besides the gigantic forest and the tree that served as their home.

  “Haa… This should be enough!”

  The person sighed and got back to their feet to put everything away.

  “He should be fine in a few days.”

  They added with a last glance and walked away.