1 Beginning

"You can't run away forever Avery. Get your head out of the clouds and come back to reality. You're going to work in the mines like everyone else in town. We don't have money to send you somewhere else. Go apologize to the foreman before it's too late, for your own good." My father sternly looked at me as he got dressed for work. "If I don't see you in the mines today there will be no room for you here, you got that, boy?"

As I watched him leave the thought of being a drone like him crossed my mind and I shuddered. He's a good man but he's a cog in a machine. I never want to be like that. I just want to be free. It's time for a walk in the woods. During this hour of the day the woods are so peaceful, everyone's working or in school and I can be alone with nature. The only place I can be at peace at this very moment.

This town would honestly be perfect if the mining company didn't barge in and breathe down everyone's necks. The mountains have the town nestled coolly from the sun, there are so many trees here. It may be the greenest town in our country.

The creek looks lovely today. I could honestly relax here for the rest of my life. Green leaves stood at attention on every branch of every tree. It's idyllic and quiet, but you can catch wildlife coming through here so they can drink from the fresh water. There's a lake if you follow the creek a ways down but too many people gather there. As I lay down under a tree near the creek side I doze off. Peace at last. I won't go back to those mines no matter what it takes. Any life could be better than this one.

Daydreaming consumed me but eventually I noticed a sound coming from the creek. Bubbles popping at the surface. Could something be drowning? I hadn't heard anything go into the creek. I wearily walked over to the source of the noise and looked within. Thrashing water and bubbles everywhere impeded my sight within. The creek should only be about a meter and a half deep. What could possibly be down there generating all the force?

My body began to get wet from all the water being displaced. This is all too curious, I must at least see what's down there causing this. Daydreams can come after this intrigue is solved. My clothes clung to my body already from how wet they were, I'll just keep them on in case there's some crazy fish down there. Don't want it tearing at my flesh.

Submerging all but my head I couldn't feel anything with my hands or feet in the water. I couldn't even hit the bottom which was strange. There weren't any recent rains that raised the water level. Maybe just a peek underwater would be all I needed. The thrashing was still so forceful, it swayed my body bit by bit. Slowly the water enveloped my whole face, I kept my eyes closed as I entered the water. Once I was fully submerged the thrashing stopped and the water became quiet and still. My eyes darted open and all I could see was a normal underwater scene. I was still a meter from the bottom which was unnerving to me, but I gave up and emerged from the water.

Orange leaves dominated the landscape. This isn't what I remember at all. A large deer gave me an inquisitive gaze. The size was off, this deer had to be 3 meters tall. Is this all a bout of psychosis? Everything's been strange since I woke up from my nap, vivid dreams must be the solution. Wading around the stream for quite a few minutes started to make me anxious; this wasn't a dream at all.I looked back towards the giant deer, its gaze had returned to the water in front of it. But my gaze turned to a red spot on its neck. Everything around the spot and the spot itself looked normal, yet it was colored red. From my position below it in the water I also noticed a giant red spot on its stomach. Could this be a new kind of deer?

Exiting the creek I sat down near a large tree to try and collect my bearings. I need to be calm and rational about this. There is no explanation currently but there's always some underlying reason for anything in this world. Rationality always brings enlightenment. Right?

Huffing noises came from behind me, suddenly a brown wolf tackled the deer creature into the stream. Red blood soaked into the water as the wolf clamped into the deer's neck, the red spot was certainly within the wolf's mouth. They thrashed around in the water for a while but the deer was fighting a losing battle. Bleeding and being in water don't mix, any old fool can figure that out. The thrashing calmed down as the deer slowly went limp. The wolf then turned towards me. Its coat was mostly brown but with some blood speckled onto it from the previous fight. Glaringly a red spot was in the area where the neck and back begin, it's eyes glowed red as well, but they didn't look naturally red.

The wolf swam from the creek back onto land and began to approach me. I stood tall and acted cautiously. In books I'd read when encountering wildlife you present yourself as large and threatening but don't make any sudden actions. Slowly the wolf kept approaching. I can't run or it has a great target to attack, I must hold my ground and hope it leaves to eat. The wolf lowered its body towards the ground. I remember from playing with dogs that this means it's going to charge and jump onto me. As its legs began to move I ducked quickly and the wolf jumped over me straight into the tree. It's stomach was all red, not blood red, but the red tint. I breathed in quickly and gathered all my strength into this one punch. I delivered it straight into the wolf's stomach. The beast yelped loudly and quickly ran into the forest.

<You'll need to do better than that to survive in this world Avery Smith.>

As I laid on the ground a small textbox appeared within my mind. There was only this phrase typed into it. This is all too exhausting. When this dream ends all will be back to normal.

<Go on Monster Killer. I've bestowed upon you a few gifts. Use these gifts wisely or die painfully. Become an acclaimed hero or a notorious villain.>

I'm going to follow this stream uphill and hopefully run into a settlement. There's too many explanations I need. Monster Killer? I can hardly defend myself, how am I supposed to kill such beasts? I'm lucky there's quite a bit of daylight left. If the sun sets before I find somewhere safe I'm a dead man for sure. Dream or not, dying is incredibly overrated.