Neidr could swear the creature could hear his heartbeat. How could it not? Every beat was deafening to Neidr. Its ears stood up and surveyed their surrounding like a periscope. Neidr was as still as the dead, but the Paksi was slowly approaching him regardless. It seems the creature can smell him.

Should he try to climb a tree now? The thing doesn't seem to be able to tell exactly where he is. Would that give him enough time? What if he couldn't get up on the first try? Neidr decided to go for it regardless, it was better than standing still anyway.

Neidr bent down as gently as possible and picked up a stone. He then threw it in the opposite direction of the tree he wanted to climb. If he could get this thing to move away, it would give him more time. Hearing the stone falling on the forest floor, the Paksi quickly turned its head in that direction. However, it soon stared back in Neidr's general direction. It looked back and forth a couple of times before shaking its head and continuing to head towards Neidr.

'Does it trust its nose more?'

Neidr was disappointed, but the Paksi didn't seem to be in any great hurry to tear him apart. It would sniff around and listen while heading in his general direction, but it was kind of zigzagging along the way.

'Should I just make a run for it? Or?' Neidr’s lip started to curl up. He noticed this, but didn't dare make a sound. Neidr started to dash back to the road. The Paksi quickly took note of his movement and chased after him. Neidr charged straight at a tree. At the last second, he rolled around and behind it. He pushed himself up and a huge smile broke out on his face when he heard a thud. However, soon after his smile vanished as he heard the creature pick up the speed again heading towards him. So, Neidr did it again and again and...

Why was this damn thing still following him? Was multiple head trauma not enough to put you off? Neidr had caused this Paksi to bash its head at full speed into a tree trunk seven times. Shouldn't any sane animal stop?

Neidr knew there was no way he could keep this up. He had hoped this creature would be dissuaded from chasing him, but it seemed determined to take his life. Neidr, at this point, could only throw his hands in the air and try to fight it. He knew it was basically suicide, but at this point, so was running. Just as he was racking his brain about how he could possibly fight this thing, he heard a high pitch screech. A baby Paksi was calling its mother. Paksis, despite being herbivores, were actually quite maternal and protective of their young.

He ran directly towards the noise. His heart was racing, and his bones were aching, but he searched the brush wildly and upon finding a little Paksi laying under a purple berry bush. Neidr grabbed it swiftly by its neck, only to see a desperate and enraged adult Paksi charging at him more viciously than ever before. It was time for a gambit. If this didn't work, it wouldn't be the death of him, but he would lose precious distance. He took a deep breath and chunked the baby Paksi as far away as he could. What is stronger, a mother's love or a mother's hatred?

Hearing the cries of her child flying through the air, the mother Paksi made a full stop and chased after her baby. Unfortunately, Neidr wasn't the most athletic young man, This bought him time, but it wasn't likely he could use that time to escape. He quickly tried to climb the closest tree with the most easily accessible branches. After a couple attempts, he started to force himself up this tree.

Just as he relaxed, a young Paksi rushed up to the bottom of his tree and started to screech angrily. Suddenly, Neidr's heart seized up, he didn't have a good feeling about this. Sure enough, the mother Paksi followed shortly after. She stared at her child for a moment before she started to climb the tree. At this point, Neidr couldn't help himself. He looked to the sky and prayed.

"Dear Goddess of Life, Creation, and all artistry Alsa, what the fuck? Could you stop picking on me?"[Neidr]

If the clergy or even the average person heard him talk to the Goddess like this, they would want to have more than just words with him. Neidr wasn't too concerned though, He wasn’t very religious, especially not towards otherworldly gods. But, when in Rome… It was worth a shot anyway.

Regardless of his prayer, though, the Paksi patiently crawled its way up the trunk, digging its huge claws into the bark and pushing up off the branches with its smaller hind legs.

Neidr scratched wildly at his hair, he had thought he had escaped calamity, but instead had just trapped himself at a dead end.