Prologue

Ben looked behind him, his eyes revealing both his terror and his determination. He simply had to keep running. He had to escape.

'Dammit', he cursed inwardly, 'Just how far are they going to follow me'. Running through a forested mountain was tricky, even more so when you risked bumping into a demonic beast with every step you took. But how else would he discourage his pursuers from continuing the chase. The threat of them all becoming the food of vicious creatures was the only card he had to play. What else could he, a runaway slave, have to do against their strength. He was only 15 and no one would teach a slave to fight.

Sharp rocks stabbed his feet, but he could only wince and grit his teeth. There was no time to slow down and rub them. Besides, he wasn't used to a life of comfort. It had already been a year since he escaped. Discomfort was his daily companion.

His foot slipped, causing him to tumble onto the ground. Tears filled his eyes from the intense pain coming from his thigh. A four-inch rock had pierced his flesh.

He knew it was dangerous, but he took three seconds to breathe anyway. This was the only pause he had taken in the last two hours. His heart pounded in his chest, its frantic beat echoing throughout his malnourished body. His lungs felt heavy, as if they were full of mucus. 'Fuck!' he cursed. 'Fuck!!!'. It had to be done, so he gingerly held the rock, and pulled. Welp! He had to cover his mouth. He deeply wished he could scream. To scream at this world and its gods.

He looked wrathfully at the offending rock, the blood on it flowed onto his filthy hands. He cast it far from him. There was no time to nurse his wound. If he stayed any longer, they would find him.

The pain seemed to subside as he half-ran half-limped. A trail of blood marked his path. He wouldn't dare to think how far he would be able to continue on like this. Would he end up bleeding out before his pursuers caught him? 'It's only a small wound' he tried to tell himself.

A loud thud caused him to turn his head. Ben froze. A dozen meters to his left, a 30-foot-tall Horned Bear had just landed from a nearby rock. It wasn't at all surprised to see him. In fact, it seemed to have been expecting him to show up.

His mind had stopped working for a few seconds. He looked at the sharp 8-inch-long yellow teeth. The bear seemed to be grinning. Lunch. It opened its large mouth wider and roared.

Blood leaked from Ben's nose and ears. His muscles turned to jelly, unable to support him. He fell on his knees, facing the creature. This was the strength of a demonic beast. Only a trained warrior could stand to face it.

Its two ivory horns stood proudly as the demonic beast walked slowly towards him. This was its territory and he was its prey. One must not rush when eating a meal.

His luck had run out. 'Luck? For the past 7 years I have not known such a thing'. Maybe it was better to die than to continue to run. Maybe he should have died back then when he was 8 and his village was massacred by the Grey Cloud chiefdom, when he and his sister were captured. 'Ah, Laysa' he thought. She was his only light, and even then, it was darkness.

The air felt heavier as the beast took another step closer. Ben's breath would not come out. He did not realize he was suffocating. All he could do was to look into the mouth of this creature. The darkness in there seemed to draw him into its gut. There was no thought of escape.

Whiz!

An arrow pierced the bear's hind leg. Whiz! And then another. The bear turned and roared with rage. Ben thought his head would explode from the sound. He coughed up blood.

Whiz! A thick shaft stuck out of its mouth. The bear bit it off and roared even louder. Ben collapsed and his eyes rolled back. There was a loud ringing as metal struck bone. Through his bloody eyes, he could faintly make out the shape of the bear's head as it fell to the ground. The forest floor trembled as its body followed soon after.