The forest wasn’t much to look at. It was green with occasional spots of color where flowers bloomed. Then there were trees, trees and more trees. Animals didn’t notice her and so far, she hadn’t seen a single beast or monster. The compass hadn’t budged from northeast even though she had walked for two days straight. The only difference was an increase in incline to the north, like she was walking on the side of a hill. She hoped she didn’t need to climb a mountain.

Sometimes she wondered if it was broken and only pointed northeast because it didn’t work. Her gut told her it wasn’t broken but it didn’t fully convince her head. It was too late to backtrack and if it was broken she didn’t know what was wrong with it. When the darkness came she set up camp and tried to make a new compass with the things she brought with her. It was a primitive construction, using water with a leaf, little things to help focus the energy and a whole lot of luck.

The result pointed in the same direction as the compass. She was either getting rusty or she was walking in the right direction. She hoped for the later. She couldn’t accurately estimate the distance she walks because she was zigzagging between a lot of trees and she wasn’t a tracker, she was only a normal person who knew which way to walk. She couldn’t tell if the energy levels were higher here than at home but she still though it was impressive that the energy could travel from so far away.

She yawned, there was no need to put up a candle when there wasn’t anyone around. She didn’t even use her necklace. The worst thing the animals could make her do was to feel hungry. As long as she made sure not to drop her beads along the way there wasn’t any significant risk in camping in the middle of the woods unprotected. She would literally be invisible to them. The ground wasn’t the most comfortable place, but she had slept worse.

The next morning, she continued her walk as she had done since the day she left. She wondered if people could die of boredom. There really wasn’t much for her to do other than look at the scenery, check her compass and look for random opportunities to ask things of the forest. She had collected a lot of stones and made them absorb heat in hopes that next time she passed a stream big enough she could take a warm bath. She had never been one to tolerate feeling dirty, and a bath would be a wonderful break in routine. If she found a lake she might be able to catch some fish.

When the night arrived, she had not passed a lake or a stream of water. She set up the fire but didn’t place the stones down beside it. She would do that in the morning when there wasn’t a risk for the fire going out in the middle of the night. She checked her food inventory, she had enough jerky quite some time, but she had to find a water source to fill up her water bottle soon. She collected eatable plants and ate them as she walked. She could easily hunt smaller animals with ease. She preferred not needing to do it though, she didn’t like seeing the life drain from their bodies, it gave her a bad taste. There was nothing to worry about.

Soon after she had fallen asleep, she woke up to the feeling of something tingling in her chest. She was first confused by it, but she soon realized what it was as it quickly grew into fear. People were rapidly closing in on her from the south and they were hunted. This wasn’t good for her, people that was this far into the forest obviously knew what they were doing and now they were running away from something they couldn’t kill. If they couldn’t kill it, she wouldn’t bet her life on the chance it wasn’t a monster. When she had scrambled to her feet she could hear an angry roar.

She was getting scared as waves of fear and panic gripped at her wanting to tear her apart. All she wanted to do was run away from the horror that was chasing them. She fumbled as she hoisted the bag up on her back and started running. The monster wasn’t chasing her, she should have run to either side and let them pass. However, she wasn’t wearing her necklace and the panic blocked her ability to think. The feelings of the chased had taken over and accordingly she believed she was one of them, running away together.

She could hear them closing in. She didn’t want to die. Her head was filled with thoughts of her village that she would never see again. No one would find her corpse and bury her. She dodged tree after tree, twigs slapping her face as she passed. She jumped over rocks and fallen trees in her way, pushing herself to go faster and faster. She did all that yet still she heard trees breaking behind her. Her muscles ached as she ran but the fear and impending danger fuel her with energy to keep running, refusing to let her stop.

However, the running wasn’t all bad. As time passed her mind slowly settled and the panic faded away. She was still nervous and on edge, but nostalgia had kicked in and it all wasn’t as scary anymore. She had forgotten the pleasure of running, the feeling the wind hitting her face, the warmth rising from within, letting the mind free.

When the panic left, reason returned. She realized her mistake in the beginning, but she couldn’t break away now, they were too close. She glanced backwards and saw figures dancing between the trees. She knew they couldn’t see her, she still had the wooden beads wrapped around her left hand. By the sound of the trees breaking she guessed the one hunting them would be unaffected by the beads. It was starting to get really dark and the trees was getting harder and harder to see. She had to come up with a plan. But the plan had a mind of its own.

Suddenly, the ground disappeared under her feet. She couldn’t help to shriek as she leapt over the edge and plunged into darkness. The cold overwhelmed her when she dived into the water. She fought to the surface and started to swim away. If she couldn’t see the fall, the hunted and hunter couldn’t either. She could hear splashing around her and someone landed on top of her, dragging her back under water. Her head spun, and she wasn’t sure which way was up.

A hand grabbed her backpack and pulled her to the surface. She coughed out a mouth full of water and tried to stay floating.

“Is everyone all right!” She heard a voice yell right next to her ear. She wasn’t turned with her back towards him, so she couldn’t see him. When nobody answered he yelled again.

“Is everyone staying afloat?!” This time he got answers. She didn’t listen to how many answered, or what they said. Her head hurt, and she could hear rocks falling into the water behind her. The hunter had yet to fall and by the sound of it he tried his darn best not to. She didn’t want to be here when it fell.

“I’m fine, let me go.” The hand let go of her and she swam away from the impending danger. She, and everyone else, could hear as the monster grunted and clawed at the stone and dirt. She begged it not to fall on her as she slowly moved further away.

“I can see a cliff we can get up on further in.” Someone yelled. The guy beside her told them to go aim for it. She looked forward. She couldn’t see any cliff, or anything at all but dark silhouettes of the people in the water. They hole they fell down in didn’t provide any light. While her senses could pinpoint everyone’s location, it didn’t make her see environments. She hoped the voice really had seen a cliff for them to get up on, she was getting awfully cold.

Her heart filled up with relief when she saw a silhouette crawl up from the water. As he helped the second one up a roar and a huge splash resounded in the cavern. The monster flailing created waves that washed over her head and she wanted to curse. She reached the edge and grabbed two hands that dragged her out of the water. She moved away to make space for the last rescue.

She didn’t trust her eyes in the dark, so she crawled on all fours further in. She didn’t go too far, only so far that she wasn’t in the way for the others that was fumbling in the dark. She laid on her back and sighed, she had dropped the wooden beads in the collision with the water. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about anything at all. The others made it impossible. They were talking and reassuring each other they could keep going.

She didn’t want to keep going, she was cold and exhausted both mentally and physically. She desperately wanted this to be a bad dream. She perked up when she heard something potentially dangerous.

“It can swim.” She stood up and looked out into the water. The monster was still flailing around, it wasn’t sinking. She cursed inwards. Some of the other’s cursed too. What unsettled her even more was that the monster wasn’t panicking or fearing the water. She didn’t know where the cave lead to, it might even be a dead end. They were trapped down here with nowhere to run other than into an unknown darkness.

She covered her face with her hands, what where she supposed to do. She needed to look for opportunities. Earlier she had panicked and hadn’t used her sixth sense. She opened her mind and was blinded. Through her hands she saw dots of light creating a vortex further in front of her. In the water the monster was in the middle of it. She drew in a deep breath, not thinking about the people around her, and screamed with all her might.

“GO TO HELL, JACKASS!” The others jumped, and her voice echoed. In the water, the monster couldn’t keep itself afloat and started sinking. The dazzling lights faded as the monster drowned to death. In the darkness far away in the distance they heard rocks falling on rocks. She hoped she hadn’t caved in a possible exit for them.