Chapter 2

New World Day 1

Pinned by those ferocious eyes, I couldn’t help but freeze in place like a deer in headlights. The moment dragged on for what seemed like an eternity before my mind finally kicked back into gear and pushed my body to slam onto the accelerator throwing the ATV down the hard dirt path like a bat out of hell. The beast howled in outrage and pulled itself to its feet as its prey tried to get away. However, the beast staggered and fell back to the ground its body not yet used to the new lower mana densities. Twice more it attempted to force itself to its feet but its seemingly boneless legs couldn’t withstand its weight. With each failure, I managed to get further and further away when on the third try it finally succeeded in getting its legs back underneath of it. It howled in delight as it staggered off after me, its four barely coordinated legs pumping hard, intent on hunting me down.

I knew that a monster like the one behind me would be almost impossible to lose. The coyotes the beast resembled had exceptional senses of smell, and I wasn’t stupid enough to believe that this monstrous version wouldn’t be just as capable if not more so. If I wanted to survive I knew I had to find something to defend myself with, and the closest place I could do that would be my parents’ house where they kept a number of guns in a safe in the basement. First though, I had to make it to the house alive, and as I stared down what should have been a clear path in front of me I realized that was going to be even harder than I had originally thought. What was once an obstacle free dirt path suddenly cut off and disappeared into a ground covered in a thick layer of leaves that had not been there even an hour ago. Massive trees with enormous trunks far larger than any I had ever seen, aside from pictures of the great sequoias of California, now jutted from the ground blocking out all of the sunlight and casting a gloomy hue across the land. I could hear the giant beast’s paws pounding upon on the ground behind me, and I glanced behind me to see that it was already far closer to me than I had thought possible. Its speed, even on those shaky legs, was unreal. There was no other choice for me to make. I gunned the ATV and darted right into the unknown hoping against hope that I would be able to weave my way through this new strange forest without running into a damn tree or even worse another beast like the one chasing me already.

Minutes passed by, while the new trees flickered past me so quickly that I couldn’t even see how they differed from the native trees I was used to viewing as I struggled to force the ATV to corner and weave in ways it was never meant to. I could hear the beast behind me howling in delight as it used its incredible speed to close in upon me. Imaging the beast’s great white fangs and deadly claws near inches from my back, I began to snake around the trees at the last second hoping that the odd rhythm to the beast’s paws hitting the ground meant that its coordination was still lacking enough that it would fail to corner properly and ram headfirst into a tree. I could feel the ATV lifting sideways into the air first left, then right, then left and left again as I whipped through the undergrowth. The last turn pulled the wheels so high into the air that I feared the ATV would flip completely before I managed to shift my weight to the side and force it to finally settled back down onto all four wheels, but despite the horror of the moment, I was rewarded with a grand thunk and ear-splitting howl of pain as the beast’s legs failed it. Its legs had slammed into each other on the last turn tangling them together and causing it to run straight into the tree trunk just as I had hoped. The beast’s misfortune bought me some much needed time to find my way back home.

It wasn’t long after the collision that I finally caught sight of the original path once more and realized I was almost at the turn that would take me by the Small Lake at the front of the property and up towards the house. All told, it had taken me almost three times as long to get back and that was even going at a far greater speed than normal. My luck in the new forest area wasn’t bad as I hadn’t encountered any new terror besides the one that I knew still pursued me on my breakneck journey throughout it. I could only hope that luck still held as I reached what I believed to be the home stretch and took that last turn onto the dam of the Small Lake.

I was immediately disappointed, and my heart sank like a stone as I saw what lay ahead of me. The originally short and immaculate grass of the lake dam now ended in a field of wickedly sharp deep blue grass blades. The grass was heads taller than even my 6’4’ frame, and to make matters worse, the lake itself was now over four times its former size complete with a new azure tint to the water. I knew better than to hesitate. The wails of pain echoing behind me had ended, and that must mean the beast was back on my trail. Survival demanded that I go forward no matter the danger. The blades of grass waved gently in the wind beckoning me forth. Not knowing what may lay waiting for me in the grass or in the now stunningly foreign lake, I shifted the ATV into the highest gear possible, jammed the accelerator to the max, and aimed the vehicle towards the house that I could just barely see poking out through the trees that overlooked the lake.

There was a slight hitch as the vehicle shifted gears and then I was off, speeding madly across the dam. Just moments after I passed by the edge of the lake, I heard the sounds of a massive splash and blast of water splattered my left side as out of the corner of my eye I saw something large and dark fly behind me. Multiple more splashes erupted along the edge of the lake drenching me with water as I sped by and with each giant splash there was a dark shape that whipped through the air to smash into the place where I had just been. I didn’t dare to divert too much attention to what was going on along the lake shore, but the constant deluge of water from the eruptions pushed my terror to new heights. Whatever the hell those things were, they were moving with such speed that I was sure that I would have zero chance of surviving a direct hit from one of them. Perhaps though, they might slow down that damn beast that even now I could still hear pursuing me. One could only hope.

The splashes continued to erupt from the lake’s edge as I charged furiously into the tall grass. When my ATV plowed through them, the grass blades bounced and bent slashing across my face and clawing at my body as if they had a mind of their own, and shadowy shapes shot through the air behind me blowing gaping holes into the field. The blades of grass swarmed me relentlessly refusing to let me pass in peace. Fear threatened to overwhelm me as blood began to flow freely from dozens of small stinging cuts that criss crossed my face and hands. Blessedly, as quickly as it had begun it was over. I was through the field, off the dam, and shooting through a gap in the trees toward the house’s driveway and garage. Suddenly, another wail of pain emerged behind me. This one was even sharper and louder than the one the beast let loose when it hit the tree. The wail helped me calm down ever so slightly and I let a small smile cross my lips as I imagined the trials the beast would have to endure to catch up to me. Maybe, just maybe, I would have a chance to survive this death race after all.

I slammed on the brakes just in front of the garage, and the ATV lurched to a stop nearly throwing me off the front of the vehicle and into the stone wall next to the garage. I raced to the garage door, tore the cover straight off of the keypad, and entered the code faster than I had ever done before. Slowly, ever so slowly, the door began to raise into the air, and that is when I saw it. The beast was sprinting up the hill as best it could towards me. It had made it through treacherous forest and the gauntlet of lake monsters, but it had paid a dear price. Blood was dripping down from its lips and fangs, there was a dent in its forehead where blood flowed down to stain its snarling muzzle red, its back right leg was dragging listlessly along the ground, and its entire right side was slightly caved in. Staring down at the beast charging up the hill towards me, I detected something in its eyes that wasn’t there at the beginning of this chase. Hatred. Pure hatred now boiled ominously in its eyes. From that look in its eyes, it was crystal clear that it blamed me for all that it had endured. That gaze promised an agonizing death if it caught me. Nearing the crest of the hill, the beast let loose a howl of fury and delight as it launched itself the last dozen yards straight through the air toward my stunned face.

And it completely missed! My survival instincts had kicked into overdrive causing me to duck and roll under the still opening garage door. Instead of finally catching the vile prey that had caused it to endure such pain and humiliation, the beast slammed muzzle first into the stone retaining wall. The impact stunned the beast and caused the wound on its forehead to crack open and splurt blood all around. Desperate, I scrambled to my feet my left hand grasping for one of the farm tools that my parents always kept just inside the garage door. Thankfully, my hand closed around the handle of something useful. The handle of a large heavy steel pickaxe. Seeing the beast stunned before me, shaking and pawing at its head in pain, a little voice in my head screamed at me telling me, “This is your Chance! Your ONLY chance! Kill it NOW! KILL IT before it has a chance to recover and tear you limb from limb!” Throwing caution to the wind and driven partly insane due to fear, I charged forward screaming madly and swung the pickaxe with all my strength at head of the beast. There was no form or skill to the blow. Just primal rage and terror. The beast’s ears twitched as it heard my mad roar, and snarling at the offense, the beast turned its head towards just in time for me to bury the pickaxe right in the large crack in its skull. Staring into each other’s eyes, the beast gave me an almost human look of disbelief before collapsing on the spot in a heap of twisted limbs like a puppet with its strings cut.