The Wounded Monster

The bleeding monster stood outside the cavern glaring at the man's sleeping figure. The beast's body was severely wounded and even half of its tail was gone, as if someone had forcefully torn it apart.

The monster was the same Embermane Kai escaped from a few days ago. On its shoulder there was still a visible wound, but it paled in comparison to the injuries the monster had suffered after being attacked by other predators.

Growl...

Unknowingly to the beast itself, a deep growl escaped from its throat.

At first the Embermane went after the human, because it felt strange energy surrounding him, but now it was personal, the monster almost died, because of the wound the human inflicted on its shoulder.

The bleeding beast had to run for its life while other monsters followed the scent of blood, chasing it across the forest wherever it went.

' Hmmm? '

Suddenly Kai jolted awake hearing something growling outside of his cavern. Turning his sleepy eyes towards the entrance he saw a wounded Embermane standing just outside his shelter.

" So you were alive after all... "

Seeing that the monster wouldn't fit through the entrance of the cavern Kai sighed in relief. His campfire quietly crackled in the background spreading heat towards his feet, making him feel cozy even though a monster was standing just a dozen meters away from him.

' Should I kill it? '

Looking towards the condition of the Embermane and the bone spears propped against the wall Kai slapped his cheeks to chase away the sleepiness.

Taking one of the spears he glared towards the beast just looking towards him with cloudy eyes. It was painfully obvious that the monster would not be able to dodge his spear and Kai no longer hesitated, launching the weapon with all the strength he could muster.

Whoosh...

The bone spear flew through the air piercing the beast's chest, directly where the monster's heart was located.

Growl...

Kai could see the monster losing strength as its eyes with anger hidden within them lost their glow.

The Embermane that spent its last few days running away from predators finally died at the hands of its prey.

'Sigh... '

Seeing that the monster is dead Kai sighed in relief. He didn't expect the Embermane to still be alive, hence was happy seeing its unmoving body.

Just in case the beast was only acting death, he waited for another 10 minutes to go by before proceeding to retrieve his spear.

After quickly cleaning the spearhead of his weapon, Kai extinguished the fire and crawled back to the cavern's darkness trying to hide any signs of his presence.

Roar...

Soon monsters gathered near the hill to eat the carcass of the dead Embermane. Kai heard them chewing on the flesh of the beast, but made no movements in fear that it would attract the predators' attention.

The night was very long, from time to time some fights would break out for a tasty piece of the meat, but the monsters would quickly duke it out and the loser would be eaten as well. Kai couldn't sleep, hence just started absorbing Mana into his core, hoping to forget what was happening outside.

' Focus... '

Gritting his teeth Kai felt that the sleep deprivation was getting to him, making him lose his temper.

Rubbing his palms he did some hand movements that should relieve stress and concentrated on attracting Mana particles.

After a few hours the night was finally over and the forest was being slowly illuminated by the sunlight.

Kai didn't even need a mirror, he knew he had black bags under his eyes, hence seeing that the monsters were gone he immediately went to sleep.

...

...

...

The night was peaceful, Kai even had a dream, this time he wasn't thrown into white desert, but into a dream of his past.

It was a sweet dream of his parents taking him to the park and eating some strawberry ice cream.

Unfortunately all good things have to come to an end and so did the dream, Kai jolted awake, because of the warm breeze ruffling his hair.

Looking outside he noticed that it was already midday, hence quickly stood up and approached the entrance of the cavern.

Looking around he noticed visible blood marks on the ground, where the Embermane fell, but the body of the monster was gone. Even the skeleton of the creature was nowhere in sight.

' It was probably dragged away... '

Looking back at the lizard's skeleton, Kai noticed that it was still in its place and sighed in relief. He wanted to make more weapons out of its bones.

Grabbing one of his spears he threw it on his shoulder and started going towards the direction of the pond, today he was planning to catch some fish.

Neatly putting his clothes on the rock nearby Kai went into the water with the bone spear raised above his head.

Looking at the transparent surface of the pond he noticed a group of fish swimming by his legs. It was the same group of Shaedis Kai that tried to hunt the last time. He even saw the big fish with some grazes on its side leading the group.

' This time... '

Tensing up his muscles and aiming at the big Shaedi in the front Kai pierced his spear downwards as fast as he could.

Splash... Splash...

He felt that his weapon impaled something and directing his gaze downwards he noticed that he managed to pierce his own foot.

' Shit! '

Biting his lips, trying to suppress the shout that threatened to escape from his throat, Kai went towards the rock where his clothes were put and ripped apart his t-shirt using it as a bandage.

" How do I even manage to do that... "

Looking towards his arms Kai knew that he was not yet comfortable with the body, but it didn't change the fact that he didn't manage to control the spear and pierced his own foot. His control over the body was that of a child.

Looking towards the pond he noticed a fish floating on the surface of the water. Narrowing his eyes he noticed that the monster had scales that reflected light.

' Shaedi! '

Looking at the dead fish Kai noticed that its tail was severely damaged and bleeding.

" So I haven't completely missed it... "

Looking at his ripped apart shirts with a bitter smile Kai went to retrieve the dead fish.