Day 1

"A FREAKIN DRAGON!" He exclaimed as he hurried away from the beast and pressed up against a tree.

After a couple of minutes of sweating and heavy breaths, he finally stood up to get as far away from this monster as possible.

Thankfully it looked as if it was asleep, so he took this opportunity to slowly walk away.

However, before he could leave, he noticed something. Right under the chin of the dragon, on the throat to be precise, 3 giant lacerations which looked like they were from a greater nightmare presented themselves.

The dragon wasn't asleep. It was dead.

Seeing this, Isaac walked closer to the dead carcass and poked at it a few times. After confirming that it was indeed dead, he let out a sigh and started to inspect it further.

The blood on its wound seemed fairly new, it hadn't even dried up properly. As if the battle had taken place not too long ago.

The dragon had two giant horns which were about 2 feet long. It also had scaley spikes protruding from its spine. However, what was most peculiar was that it had no arms. More specifically, its arms were connected to its wings, like a bird.

"It's a Wyvern!" he deduced.

Isaac was somewhat knowledgeable about mythical beasts. On Earth, he enjoyed playing games which had many of these fictional beasts.

As he was about to open the closed eyelids of the wyvern, he heard something.

His eyes quickly darted behind him, only to be met with a demon from hell.

A lion but not a lion. It had wings and a scorpion tail. It had a mighty mane that showed its stature and truly screamed 'King of the jungle'. It had small horns that were hard to see due to its mane, and its wings looked like that of a devil. But its face… it had a human face. It had the face of a grown man, making its appearance all the more strange and terrifying.

As it breathed with its mouth wide open, one could see the rows of sharp teeth that were beckoning to chew on something.

Before Isaac could recall the name of such a beast, he froze. He was terrified. The man-lion creature stared at him, as its mouth dripped with saliva.

Isaac's legs wouldn't move. Every cell in his body was telling him to run, but his body wasn't listening. All he could do was fall on the floor as he waited for his throat to be ripped out. As he fell, his palm was scratched by the assorted broken twigs in the vicinity.

The small blood that dripped from his hand seemed to be noticed by the animal as it went mad with hunger. As evidenced by its uncontrollable drooling and heavy breathing. All he could do was wait for my end.

But after a couple of minutes, nothing happened. Isaac was confused. He thought he'd have been dead by now, why was the lion hesitating?

After calming down for a second, Isaac noticed that the Manticore, which he had recalled was its name, was acting strange. Its eyes kept darting to the side.

As Isaac followed his line of sight, he noticed that it kept looking at the still Wyvern that was lying in a foetal position.

"It's afraid!" he thought.

That would be the only reason why the Manticore wasn't approaching and also sparing a few glances at the corpse.

"It's scared of a dead Wyvern? Does it not know that it's deceased? No. It does know, it just doesn't care. It goes to show the kind of creature the Wyvern used to be."

After realising this, Isaac leapt over the body of the Wyvern. He was hoping that if the Manticore lost sight of him, it would leave him alone.

He noticed one of the spikes that came out from the spine of the corpse, lying beside him. Picking it up, he decided to use it as a weapon. It was the size of a short sword and looked fairly sharp, it was going to prove useful.

Because it had no handle and would cut him in he put force into it, he decided to rip off his sleeve and use it as a hilt. Now all he had to do was wait.

A couple of hours later

After what he was assuming to be a few hours, Isaac peeked over the corpse he was hiding behind. Only to see that the Manticore decided to have a seat and get comfortable. All while keeping its stone-cold eyes on its prey.

"I'm going to be here for a while," concluded Isaac as he too started to make himself at home.

As sunset started to approach, Isaac started to hear rustling behind him. Assuming the worst he jumped into action, with his spike in hand.

Only the manticore wasn't about to attack. It was leaving. It turned around and disappeared into the dense forest from which it first emerged.

Isaac let out a heavy sigh, finally relieved that he wasn't going to become lion food.

Before the sun fully set, he decided to scan his surroundings. After a couple of minutes of contemplating, he decided to take a couple of steps out of the clearing he was in and try to look for food, since he was feeling a bit famished. He left in the opposite way the Manticore left, he was looking for food, not the opportunity to become it.

He hesitantly stepped out of the clearing, with his trusty spike in hand. The first thing he noticed, which he hadn't before because of the dense bushes and trees, was an abundance of beautiful plant life.

Purple-leaved trees, various mushroom-like plants that grew to 2 and 3 feet in height, enormous trees that coated the sky and looked as if they were never-ending. The moss on the tree branches grew to the point that they looked almost mystical.

A multitude of bushes covered the forest floor. They had different coloured berries growing out of them. Red, green, blue and even purple.

Forgetting all of his worries and anxiety, he stepped closer to a particularly interesting-looking plant. Its thick leaves coiled around each other as if it was protecting something inside.

He slowly unravelled to see what was inside. Only to be met with a condensed slimy substance.

Without thinking he decided to touch the mysterious goo. It had an off-putting feel to it as if you'd never be able to wash it off. However, the worst part about it was its smell. It had a horrid stench that involuntarily made him gag.

While fiddling with the slime, it reached the small wound on his hand. He noticed this when it started to sting a little. Assuming the worst, he pulled his hand away thinking that his wound would be infected.

However, the effect the goo had on his wound was the opposite of what he was thinking. Instead of causing him harm, the slime appeared to be closing the wound and helping it heal.

Looking at this for a couple of seconds, Isaac stood up.

"I hit the jackpot!" he exclaimed as he was overjoyed. It was no secret that he was going to get injured multiple times, if not die. Something like this was like gold in his eyes.

He broke the plant from its long stem and started to collect as much as he could find.

As he collected his findings with a wide grin, he came across another strange-looking bush. It was green and spherical. It had tiny tips protruding from it.

Completely forgetting the fear he felt from the forest a couple minutes ago and seeing as how it had done him some good earlier, he decided to touch it.

As he approached the peculiar bush, he felt a sense of unease wash over him. Something about it seemed off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Suddenly without warning, the bush sprang to life. In the blink of an eye, a 3-foot spike shot out from its centre, piercing through his hand and pinning him in place.

Pain seared through his body as he tried to pull away, but the spike held him fast. It was only a few centimetres away from his eye, and he could feel the cold metal-like material pressing against his skin.

His heart pounded in his chest as he struggled to break free, but the more he fought, the deeper the spike seemed to sink into his flesh.

For a moment, he thought he was going to die. The bush seemed to have a life of its own, and he was powerless to stop it. But just as suddenly as it attacked, the bush retracted its deadly spike, and he collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.

Shaken to his core, he laid there for a moment, staring up into the small gaps in the trees and into the small bits of sky that were visible.

The previously settled worry and dread he was feeling had returned only 10 times worse. He knew that he had narrowly escaped death, and he couldn't help but wonder what other horrors laid in wait for him in this mysterious and foreboding forest.