Between life and death

"Argh... my head hurts, I shouldn't have stayed up late at the office..."

Liam held the right side of his head as he slowly opened his eyes. The incessant pain threatened to explode his skull into a thousand pieces.

As soon as his vision focused on the unfamiliar surroundings colored differently from his everyday gray office, he knew something out of the ordinary was taking place.

"A forest?"

Liam was startled when he saw trees in the distance capable of towering over the clouds in the sky. Never in his life had he seen anything like it before.

In the opposite direction of these large trees and several kilometers from their current location was a cloud of fire spreading wildly.

"A fire?" Liam wondered with a frown. "These tattered clothes are not mine, and my body is thinner... what's going on?"

He was looking at his significantly smaller body when he noticed an object protruding from his shoulder. Liam saw that it was an arrow. He touched it gently as a wave of pain spread through his entire being.

"Blood?" Liam saw his fingers smeared with red liquid.

"Runs!"

As he thought in confusion as to why he would open a wooden arrow on his shoulder, a loud cry snapped him out of his thoughts.

Liam looked behind him only to see a crowd of people running through the woods.

There were people of all ages, from young to old, men and women. Everyone was running as if they were running away from something...

"What are you doing?! Don't stand still, the slavers are coming!"

An injured old man in ragged clothes approached a confused young man who was kneeling on the ground.

"Slavers?" Liam asked in a daze.

"Young man, you must escape before I…" The old man couldn't finish his sentence as an arrow landed on his head killing him instantly.

Blood stained Liam's face as the latter backed away.

"Hahahaha, where do you think little ants are going?!"

A vicious laugh was heard from a distance.

He looked at the direction this voice came from and saw a group of men quickly approaching on horseback with bows in their hands.

Liam didn't think long before he got up and ran in the opposite direction of the riders. Clearly these people had no good intentions.

The horsemen raised their bows as they prepared another round of attack. Liam ran as fast as his legs would carry him.

His body felt extremely weak. His thin limbs hinted that he was suffering from malnutrition.

At that moment, an annoying and strong itch appeared on his back.

"I have a bad feeling…" Something in Liam's mind told him that danger was drawing near.

Following the guidance of this mysterious sensation, Liam hid behind a tree.

The arrows landed on the ground and on some unlucky victims who failed to protect themselves in time.

After this dangerous moment, Liam didn't stop to rest and continued running.

Seeing that his previous attack had only killed a few slaves, the riders exchanged thoughtful glances.

"Separate!" The team leader ordered loudly as he decided to take a more effective option.

The team leader was a man who was better dressed than the other members and had a large build. He had been working for his boss longer than the others.

The team members nodded before they split up individually to chase after the slaves.

Liam looked back momentarily at the riders who had decided to split up. "This just got more dangerous..."

From the right side of him, he saw a horseman raise his sword in the air before decapitating a boy who appeared to be no more than 12 years old.

This only reinforced the idea of ​​escape in his mind.

"How did I end up in this situation?" he wondered, but at no time did he stop to rest.

"Hehehe, run faster, tadpole!"

A mocking laugh was heard behind Liam as a horseman rode swiftly in his direction with a sadistic smile.

Liam tried to get away from his pursuer by weaving through the trees.

Unfortunately, the horse followed his movements to the letter. It was as if they were trained for these situations.

"Where I go?" He asked himself.

Everything around him was unknown. He didn't even know how he had ended up in this situation.

He had just been working overtime in the office on his computer when it suddenly emitted a bright light and darkness encompassed his mind.

After that strange event he woke up in this place.

Liam was speechless as he deduced that he was most likely killed by an explosion of his computer.

He mentally cursed at the heads of him as he kept running.

Just when he thought his chances of survival were slimming down, he managed to see a ravine in the distance.

The sound of a natural stream was heard getting louder with each step he took.

That's my only option, she thought with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

"Don't even think about escaping, ant!"

Knowing the slave's intentions, the rider rode faster.

Liam felt an itch on the back of his neck and instinctively lowered his head.

The midday light above his head was hidden by the shadow of a sword for a few moments.

The horse whipped past him before skidding to a halt a few feet away, blocking his only path out of the ravine.

Liam paused as he took a few steps back with his gaze fixed on the gun in the hands of the middle-aged man in front of him.

The rider looked in surprise at the slave able to dodge the attack from behind him.

"You're so lucky brat, but your journey ends here! You dared to go against our young master's orders! The death penalty is your only punishment!"

The rider replaced his current sword with a long whip before swinging it around and attacking.

The itch from earlier ate up Liam's entire right calf.

Knowing that this feeling had saved his life before, Liam decided to go with the flow.

He jumped as fast as he could to the left of him.

Boom!

Like a flash, the end of the whip appeared at Liam's previous location.

However, he never received the attack that he was fated to get.