I’m not running( Part 1)

Suddenly, the wind began to pick up. The sudden gust caught Rumius unawares, and he lunged to hug the tree in a panic. His grip on the smooth bark slipped and Rumius slid down several branches, coming to an abrupt stop as he landed on one of them. Pain erupted from his sensitive areas, causing him to curl up. He groaned agony, gritting his teeth. His legs were numbed out from the impact. 

" GRRRRRRRR" 

Rumius looked down, and miraculously , all the pain seemed to just disappear.

An intense fear took its place instead. Rumius had never been near one of these before, but he had never wanted to. It was a bear. A giant mass of muscle and power that seemed to swim and ripple with every motion. It coat was as black as the approaching night and twin yellow moons looked up straight at him from the darkness. 

' It must be at least 5 metres long…' he thought with horror. Oh my god this creature was as tall as a two-story house! It only took a single look for Rumius to know.

Rumius's knuckled whitened as his hands tightened into a death grip on the little branch which he sat on.

' Am I..g-going to die here?' He thought, his throat drying up faster than water in a desert.

The bear roared. The guttural sound echoing in Rumius's ears and in that moment, Rumius was the most scared he had ever been his entire life. Not even that encounter with the Princess came close. 

He didn't want to be dinner. He didn't want to be dinner! HE DIDNT WANT TO BE DINNER! 

' I DONT WANT TO BE EATEN!!! I NEED TO GET UP! GET UP!!' GET UP!!! GET UPP!!!' 

Rumius jumped to his feet, nearly slipping off the small branch in the process . He scrabbled slightly and grabbed onto the main trunk of the tree, and pulled with all the brute strength he had. Up was the only way. The only way to get away was to go up. He had to get up. That was the only…

Rumius turned his head around just in time to see the 5-metre tall bear jump, its maw open wide, revealing teeth as long as knives.

' Move..' a voice whispered in his ear. It sounded urgent.

The world seemed to slow down. The bear's teeth were getting ever closer. 

' MOVE..' it whispered again. 

' MOVE GODDAMMIT MOVE!!!' 

The bear's jaw clamped onto small branch with a sickening ' CRSSSHHH'. The wood instantly broke into two pieces from the force and the bear pulled the front half of the branch, which it still had in its mouth with it back to the ground as it fell. 

But Rumius was not there. He had used the trunk as a pivot and jumped. Swinging around the trunk with his arms, ending up on the other side of the tree. Now, he was desperately scrambling back up the tree to reach the top. 

The bear roared again in anger and jumped, but this time it couldn't reach him. 

Rumius didn't dare look down until he was back at the very top. The bear was staring at him with hatred in its eyes. Its gaze met his head on and they held each other's gaze for a moment of silence.

" GrrrrrrRRROOOAAAAAARR!!!!!!!" The bear bellowed its fury. In an instant, Rumius's heart jumped up to his throat. He could feel it hammering away. The rhythmic pulse beat rapidly, like the footfall of running prey. The fear suffocated him like a noose.

He didn't dare make a sound as he stared at the beast, who was no doubt frustrated that its prey had gotten out of reach.

Slowly, the animal turned, making sure to give Rumius one last look before walking away. Its heavy footsteps faded away until it went out of earshot, leaving Rumius on the tree, terrified and panting. 

Rumius hugged the tree for as long as he could. The forest had returned to silence, save for the ragged gasps that his breath was still coming out in. Rumius didn't know how much time had passed before he looked down for the first time. When the second came he was still panting, but it was a little better.

The thought occurred to him that, hey, at least he was still breathing. Still alive and kicking. It brought a small smile to his face.

Collecting his thoughts, Rumius looked down for the third time. He surveyed the area around the tree thoroughly.

As before, there was nothing. He couldn't see or hear the bear anywhere, but it didn't matter. The mere thought of going down there was like playing a gamble on whether he would live or die. Rumius couldn't make the choice.

But he knew he had to before long. The sky was only minutes away from dusk. The later he delayed this, the worse it was going to be. Once night fell, Rumius knew that he probably wouldn't be able to see anything at all, and that would make it a thousand times worse. 

And now that the adrenaline had mildly worn off, hanging on the tree was no longer an option. His arms were burning hotter than lava and if he placed anymore weight on the little branch which he used to support his feet, it would break. And if the fall didn't kill him, the bear definitely will. He sucked in deep breaths.

' Tch…I need to think. Come on, come on…'

How else could he get out of here? The plains were just a few hundred metres away, but that also meant a few hundred metres which the bear could catch him and kill him with.

' What if the bear has left?' He thought for a moment, but quickly dismissed it.

' I can't assume that. It's too risky to not take the bear into account.'

The only way something could logically travel was by air, water or ground. Since there were no water sources here, especially none that he could assume to be safe or leading back to where he wanted to go, movement by ground or air were the only options.

" Air huh…..' he thought bitterly. If only he could use that flying spell that his mother used all the time. Wracking his brains, Rumius tried his best to remember if Maman ever said a chant before using the spell. Maybe he could puzzle out how to use the spell if he had the chant?

But Rumius knew inside that it was a futile hope. The chants were all readable to him, but without first understanding the essence of the spell, the underlying concept would evade him and the best he would manage would be to float for about a second before burning out all his mana. It was terribly mana-inefficient to try to brute force a spell. 

His other options, scratch that, his other option was to escape through land, running along the ground where the bear could get him. He could use all the mana he wanted to boost his legs but he was sure that the bear would catch up. And that was if it didn't pounce on him the moment he dropped down from the branches. 

Then what about trying both? Rumius gazed down at the little branches under his feet. They were not the strong oak branches that he knew existed on trees around his house back home. These were much, much thinner. And a lot easier to break. Rumius let out a long sign.

It was dangerous 

' There is no way out of here, save for "dangerous".' A voice hissed to him. It was his own voice, of course. And he had to agree with it. 

There was the very last option waiting for Mistress to come get him but…..Rumius highly doubted that rescue would come until morning.

' And I wouldn't survive through the night. It'll be cold afterall. And who knows, there might be some birds around looking for easy meat and…' The excuses died in his throat. Not because the worries were unfounded. No! They made sense…, Rumius knew they made sense! But deep down, he knew that this wasn't the real reason. 

Her last words still left him fuming. 

' No talent?'

' Nothing she could do?'

It was like something was lit under him. 

Rumius growled. It was ridiculous and illogical and probably the last thing that should be on his mind right now but…he still wanted to show her that she was wrong. Even here when death was at his door. 

' But getting away is still the first priority.' He affirmed to himself but there was just no stopping the pumped up smile that came to his lips. ' Showing her up is just a bonus.'

' Heh, let's do this.' 

Rumius smiled nervously. Then seemingly in an instant, he loosened his grip on the smooth bark and stepped off the high branch which he stood on. Instantly, he had slid down a dozen metres. Halfway down the tree, Rumius clamped down on his grip and twisted his body to slide to a halt, his feet catching onto a nearby branch. 

His hands, which should be screaming with pain from the splinters and burns, didn't seem to hurt at all. Rumius set his feet against the side of the trunk, angling himself as if he were a projectile. His legs were pumped so full with mana that it was basically humming. The physical enhancement had been forced to the max.

Rumius jumped and his legs launched him through the air like a torpedo. The trees on the other side rushed to meet him.