Something rustled, behind me.

If you've ever walked alone in a forest, you'll know the sound. When a twig is broken, but in the silence you were used to. Times like that, the noise might as well be a gunshot.

I managed to turn and raise my walking stick, just before the jaws closed down.

So, I came to be face to face with a monster.

Sharp fangs of stained yellow and murky red crunched, heavy like a vice, onto my unlucky walking staff. The wood splintered under the agonizing pressure of thick jaws, as they clamped down on the only obstacle between them, and my throat. Thick fur, covered in dark clumps that matted together like armor: what might have resembled a wolf, stared at me.

Might have resembled.

Wolves, so far as I knew, didn't stand eye to eye with people in height. They also don't have glowing red holes of whisping smoke, instead of eyes, or a growl that sounds like several people screaming off-key of one another.

So, this was a monster.

Objectively, I was so stunned, it was all I could do just to soak in the sight. The fur, the smell, the drooling saliva, the small knife sticking out of its neck-

For obvious reasons, right about this time, I was thrown like a rag doll.

Pretty far, too.

With a twist of its body, I was tossed into the air. As I flew through the tall grass, leaving splinters and broken stalks in my wake, I considered a few things.

One: it looked as though someone, probably Gregory, had managed to wound it.

Which was good.

It didn't seem all that bothered by the small knife it had been stabbed with, but it was reassuring to know that it could be hurt by something of that nature. Knowing very little about monsters, it was something of a relief that a regular weapon would work against one, so I filed that away in my mind.

My second observation, though, and arguably the important: it hadn't eaten or kill Gregory.

Why?

Further, it seemed to only have bitten him once, with a goring set of wounds on his shoulder. At that point, it must have dragged him until... he stabbed it? Maybe he'd stabbed it right away- the timeline of the events wasn't exactly clear, but it brought up some questions.

Why?

If it was hungry enough to attack someone, why hadn't it eaten them?

I hadn't managed come up with answer for my questions right away, but the landing was fairly distracting. To say I tumbled through the field, would be the polite way of putting it. Somehow, I'd managed to cling to my walking staff, though it had been snapped into two pieces by the wolf. Risking a quick look at my belt, my dagger was still present.

If I were somehow going to kill it...

Kill it?

The thought took me by such surprise, I had to resist shaking my head.

There was no way in hell I was going to kill this thing. It was a giant, hungry, wolf-monster, with smoke for eyes, and fangs as long as my fingers. I'd be lucky if I could just get away from it. Just getting back to the road and seeing if anyone from the town might be able to help: if I wanted to live, that was going to be the best course of action.

Now... where was the road, again?

In fact, where was the wolf?

As a result of my rough landing, I no longer had a single idea where either of those were, or, where I happened to be. I'd rolled and tumbled. The grass was above my head, and together it formed a thick barrier to any kind of useful line of sight. Peering through the stalks, all around me was silence.

Misleading silence.

No doubt about it. That wolf was somewhere out there, now. Waiting for a chance to get another jump on me. Only, this time, I had doubts I'd actually be able to block it. The first time might as well have been a fluke, and my would-be spear...

I slowly set down one half of the walking stick, taking the other portion with both hands. Based on the jaw marks, the remainder was still enough to block with... probably. I knew as long as I could get it to latch onto the wood a second time, I might be able to buy myself some time. Not a lot, but a few seconds was better than dying immediately. Just a few more seconds, to try and figure out which direction I needed to run.

This wasn't an ideal situation.

Crouching down, I continued to search the thicket around me. [Hide Presence] was already active, but I doubted that was going to help me much. The monster had found me before, easily enough. It could probably smell me.

If only I could figure out where the road was...

Objectively, I was cursing my stupidity in not using [Identify] when I had the chance. If I had, I felt confident that I might have been able to come up with a better plan than "hide" and "try not to die."

But, risking a look at the broken half of my walking stick, I at least had a hint. Bringing it closer, I focused.

[Identify]

Broken walking stick

This is a-

No.

[Identify]

Fernwolf Saliva

The saliva of a Fernwolf. The compound has uses in alchemy, especially when condensed. Due to its natural attributes, this is valued as a powerful ingredient when concoting potions of poisons with a toxic, paralytic, effect. Can be used on its own, although it is slow acting.

Well, I was glad that the ability worked liked I had hoped. But, it wasn't exactly good news. The possible avenues for getting away alive were rapidly starting to disappear.

Fernwolf.

I didn't know what that was, exactly, but I could make some educated guesses. Clearly, this was the sort of monster that relied on an ambush. With a paralyzing bite, it made sense that Gregory was still alive.

If this was an opportunistic predator, it might be somewhat risk-adverse. So, while I might be a match for it in a fair fight, I'd seen Gregory act with enough strength to put most people to shame. Even weakened, he was probably deemed a potential danger. Plus, it seemed as though he had managed to get a few good hits in with his knife.

I felt that scenario made sense.

Most likely, the creature had biten him, and managed to drag him into the thick of the grass. Now, though, it was patiently waiting for Gregory, still a very possible threat, to die.

It wasn't taking any chances.

Smart...

I didn't like the thought of a smart monster.

Would it do the same with me? Did it know it was stronger than me, just yet? I'd managed to block one attack, but I seriously doubted that was going to be enough to scare it.

Wracking my brain for something that might help, all I had was potentially irrelevant knowledge. In case of a bear attack, it was said that you should stand your ground and make yourself look bigger- but I doubted that was going to help. In the case of a mountain lion, or a tiger: I read somewhere that they only like to attack from behind a person. When they think you're not looking...

That fit the situation a bit better.

This Fernwolf had come from behind me, last time. Probably trying to bite at my neck, or my shoulder. There was a good chance it would probably do the same, now.

Still crouching down, slowly, I drew my dagger.

Looking around, I had no idea where to run. The grass was too thick, and it all looked the same. What's more, is that I knew I couldn't beat this thing in a fair fight. But, if surviving until then had taught me anything: it was that no fight was fair.

Something rustled.

I won't say that I was ready.

When it came for me the second time, to be completely honest, I was so scared I wanted to vomit. But, in my mind's eye, I knew what I had to do.