Alex hurriedly limped away from the thunderous footfalls that shook the trees, using the tree branch he had picked up as a cane. He could feel the forest floor shuddering under the weight of whatever was charging through the trees to get to him. Seeing a large tree up ahead, he quickly ducked behind it, and tried to hold his breath.

He only had a moment to try and calm himself so he could hide when a menacing creature crashed through the tree line on the opposite side of the stream. The monster’s head easily was 10 ft off the ground. It had the same four stumpy legs, and large body, but instead of looking chubby like the monster he had just fended off, thick powerful muscles rippled underneath its thick leathery hide. The large bony plates covering its head were thicker and the two large ram horns that protruded on either side of its face curled menacingly, ending in sharp points.

Alex quickly ducked back around the tree after catching a glimpse of the monster. Crap crap, fudging crap he cursed in his head as the creature let lose a monstrous cry. It started sniffing around the fallen form of the creature Alex had just defeated. I could have just ran, I didn’t need to bash it with a stick. He mentally kicked himself. Why did I do that? That was so dumb!

As he was mentally berating himself, the massive form of the creature began to stomp around the river, sending large splashes of water into the air as it did. All the while, he could hear it sniffing the air loudly, searching. Alex tried to hold his breath and tried to meld into the thick trunk of the tree he was hiding behind.

What the fudge am I going to do? He frantically ran through a few scenarios in his head. I could try and run, but if the juvenile one was any indication, it's really fast. He remembered how the monster had really only charged in straight lines. Maybe I can zig zag a bit? Or I could stay quiet and hope it doesn’t see me. He tried to calm his breathing, but his heart was beating out of his chest in fear.

I guess I could fight it, but something tells me that’s a very bad idea. He pulled up his status to look at his resources.

Health

8/12

Mana

0/18

Stamina

5/8

Yeah, I doubt I could even survive a second against that creature. I don’t even have any mana to try that exploding stone thing again.

He closed his status and let out a sigh. Well, looks like I’m pretty much screwed right now. He cocked his head to the side, as the sniffing suddenly stopped, and he could hear the heavy footfalls of the beast approaching him.

Crap

Without realizing it, Alex’s feet began to move, sprinting away from the monster behind him. He could hear the thunderous steps shaking the ground coming toward him, but he put his head down and sprinted as fast as he could.

Seeing a tree up ahead, he swerved to the right, dodging past it, and kept sprinting as if his life depended on it since it did. As he passed the tree, he heard a loud crack. He took a quick peek behind himself and saw the tree he had just avoided was in splinters as the monster had charged through it. At least it slowed it a little.

Alex ran around another tree, hoping that the monster would get tired of smashing through trees before he got exhausted from running and fainted. Already his leg was beginning to burn as the bruise he had gotten made its presence known. His side hurt every time he took a breath, but he kept running. Can’t stop now, dying sounds painful.

He focused on putting one foot in front of the other as fast as he could, trying not to trip on any roots or rocks, trying to shut out the pain. Every time he saw a large tree, he would swerve around it, trying to make the monster charge through them, hopefully slowing it down. Occasionally he would quickly change direction, zig-zagging through the forest, desperately trying to stay ahead of the monster.

Ahead, the tree line started to thin, and before Alex realized, he ran out into a sizable clearing. He desperately looked around for any sort of cover to get behind, anything to put between himself and the charging beast behind him, but all he could see were a few dead logs.

Not seeing any other choices, he sprinted into the clearing, hoping to reach the other side before the angry monster could catch up to him. He could hear the monster ripping through the trees behind him. The ground shook as the beast charged at him, but Alex didn’t spare a glance back, too focused on getting to the other side.

The far side of the clearing seemed miles away, while the footfalls behind him grew louder and louder. I’m going to die, trampled by some monster, he thought. All because I was an idiot and fought that monster before. He didn’t have enough energy to smack himself physically, but he mentally slapped his forehead. Dumb idiot, always making dumb decisions. I could have just stayed around that clearing, and I wouldn’t have run into any monsters. I was perfectly safe, but nooooo, I just had to go out and attack a baby monster.

He cursed himself as he ran, but he ran on, hoping that he could make it to the tree line, and survive a moment longer.

As he neared the center of the clearing, he saw a shadow pass overhead and heard a loud thump behind him. The monster that had been chasing him let out a pained squeal.

Alex turned his head to look behind him, and the monster that had been chasing after him was on its side, with a green furred creature standing on top. That was all he saw before his foot hit a rock and he took a tumble into the dirt. He landed hard on his face, his body flipping over, as he tumbled to the ground. Alex felt a rock slam into his bad leg, while he accidentally got a mouth full of dirt.

Tumbling to a stop, Alex cradled his body for a second, before rolling over to get a glimpse of what was happening behind. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the scene before him. The large horned monster that had been chasing him was heavily bleeding. He could see a large gash ripped in its hide as it limped around, trying to keep its head pointing towards its attacker.

Facing it was a large wolf, with fur that reminded Alex of vines. He could even spot a few flowers blooming on its back. The wolf stood easily 7 ft tall, with a large powerful body. It crouched low to the ground as it tried to circle around the wounded monster, but the horned beast tenaciously kept its large horns pointed in the wolf’s direction.

Suddenly, Alex felt a surge of mana from the wolf as thick vines exploded up from the ground at the feet of the horned monster. They quickly wrapped around its short chubby legs, binding it in place. The monster squealed in frustration, pounding its feet to try and escape, but now that the monster was restrained, the wolf quickly leapt at it from the side.

Alex could see its claws glow a bright green, flashing out towards the unprotected flank of the horned beast. Before the claws could get there though, the gray hide turned darker, almost steel-like, and the claws scraped against it, only leaving faint scratches.

He was surprised to see the wolf grimace at the failed attack, disappointment clear on its face. It jumped back away from its opponent and began to circle it once more. With a sudden burst of strength, the horned monster ripped itself free of the vines it was trapped in. Locking onto the wolf, the monster roared and charged at it. As it did, its horns started to glow a deep brown, leaving faint trails behind it.

The wolf nimbly jumped out of the way and took a swipe at the charging beat’s side as it did. This time the strike connected, leaving another bloody gash along its side. The beast couldn't stop its charge in time, and slammed into a large tree, sending splinters flying everywhere as the tree was completely destroyed only leaving a shattered stump behind.

The wolf quickly ran up behind it, not letting this opportunity pass. With a mighty leap, it jumped onto its back. Alex could see the large jaw clamp shut as the wolf bit into the neck of the horned monster.

It started to shake a buck, trying to dislodge the jaws, but the wolf didn’t let up. The monster’s movements started to slow, its strength fading as the wolf kept biting into it. Eventually, it slumped over, eyes glazed and dull.

The wolf kept its jaws locked on the fallen monster’s neck for a while longer, ensuring that the beast was indeed dead, before jumping off, shaking out its vines in the process. It let its gaze wander around the clearing before it locked eyes on Alex.

As its piercing gold eyes stared at him, Alex felt very exposed. Like someone was staring straight through him, inspecting everything there was to know about him. Suddenly the feeling stopped as the wolf slowly stalked over.

Alex quickly scrambled to his feet, not knowing what else to do as the wolf neared. Its claws dug into the soft forest ground, leaving large footprints in its wake. He could smell the iron scent of blood wafting from its snarling mouth as it approached, stopping a few feet away.

“What do we have here?” Alex was stunned to hear a melodic voice issue out of the massive wolf’s blood-stained maw. Each word containing the barest hint of a song, but not quite singing in full.

Alex just blinked in shock, unable to put words together at the moment.

“A little demon fledging it appears,” the wolf continued, almost to itself. It leaned down and sniffed. “But it doesn’t smell like one at all. More like a human than anything, like what its status said”

This thing could tear me to shreds in seconds. And how the heck does it know I’m a demon? Technically a demon. I’m definitely still human.

“Not going to talk I see. Or maybe it’s just too dumb to understand me.” The wolf conditioned on, obviously content to study Alex for the time being.

Should I say anything? What if I say the wrong thing and get eaten? Knowing me, I’ll definitely say something stupid and then there goes Alex. Though there’s really no other option. When a vine-covered wolf starts talking to you, the only polite thing is to talk back. Mustering up his courage, Alex opened his mouth to speak.

“Uh, hello?” his voice coming out hoarse and cracking. He realized he hadn’t spoken to anyone for at least 3 days at this point, possibly more.

The wolf let out an amused chuckle.

“It appears that the little fledgling can talk after all.” It gave a smile, lips curling up to reveal its sharp fangs. “What a pleasant surprise!”

Alex gave a weak smile in return, his heart beating anxiously in his chest.

“Now, I do have to ask, why are there so many of you in this forest all of a sudden?”

“What do you mean, there’s more humans around?” His hopes of reaching civilization overriding his fear of this wolf. “I haven’t seen any myself.”

“No no no, not humans, they rarely wander in this far. I was talking about all the demons around.”

“Demons? Like demon demons? Horns, tail, red skin, and fire?” Alex asked, frantically looking around. I know I don’t look like that but who knows what regular demons look like?

The wolf chuckled a bit.

“Not quite, what you’re thinking of are devils, though I can see how you could be confused if you’d never met one.” The wolf sat back on its haunches. “No, what I’m talking about are demons. You should know they don’t all look the same, since you’re one of them.” The wolf paused for a second to give Alex a once over, before continuing. “ I have no idea how you could have gotten all the way here from The Rift, but I’ve seen at least a couple.”

Alex was floundering from all the information contained in this conversation. Demons aren't devils, but apparently, there are devils, and they look like Satan. I think they said something about humans not wandering in this far, so that means that there are humans, and somewhat close by. And there’s a rift...

“Wait, did you say rift? As in a big rip in the fabric of reality?” Alex asked, as his memory was jogged.

“That’s one way to put it, yes.”

Alex thought for a second, not sure if he should tell this monstrous wolf in front of him how he had come into this forest.

“You know something, don’t you fledgling?” the wolf asked, its eyes narrowing.

“I don’t know, maybe?” Alex stammered out, afraid that a wrong answer would lead to him ending up like the horned monster. “I just know how I ended up here.”

“Then tell me, before I grow bored and start wanting something to sharpen my claws on.” The previous melodic voice the wolf used suddenly switched to a dissonant growl. “I have little patience for demons. The only reason you’re alive is that I’m still not quite certain you are one.”

Alex gulped, blood draining from his face at the sudden threat. It’s going to eat me!

“I don’t remember much.” He started hesitantly, but a look from the wolf made him quickly spit out everything. “ I just fell through a crack in what looked like the universe and ended up here. With blue boxes and everything. That’s all I know. Please don’t eat me.”

The wolf sat back, a pensive look in their eyes, digesting the information that Alex offered.

“That is most unusual, very strange.” The wolf said as it began to walk around him. “I’ve only heard of The Rift spawning demons. I’ll have to look into this more.”

The wolf stopped in front of Alex again, staring into his eyes.

“Now, I only have one more question for you. Should I eat you?’