Maxime P.O.V

Freedom wasn't as fun as it sounded. For example, when I escaped a few days ago, I ran for a few hours before stopping at a river just to get tackled to the ground by a bear. I twisted under its huge body and somehow managed to get out. I looked around and saw a few cubs behind it. Look like this overprotective mother thought I wanted to harm her children. Why? I had no idea. Couldn't a gentleman drink from the mouth-watering river in peace? It seemed like when a harmless beautiful being wanted to drink near some babies it necessarily meant that this holy creature wanted to eat those lowly things.

I sighed and shook my head, looking with eyes filled with pity at this poor family. Sometimes the normal people didn't understand the way the special people thought. The brown bear, as if sensing my pity became enraged and charged at me. I quickly tried to dodge the attack but failed miserably with my body reminding me of the event that occurred a few hours ago. I gasped as my eyes blurred for a few seconds and my back collided with a tree, the impact of the bear with my broken body having send me flying into it. My view kept darkening while I laid there breathing in small irregular breathes, looking for the right rhythm. Damn this hurt more than I thought it would. Couldn't it send me flying more gently? Or better, not at all? Such a brute.

I heard the huge beast huff and leave with her annoying cubs. It was all their fault. Such cowards couldn't even fight for themselves.

I tried to get up, but my members didn't want to listen to me. I was just so tired, but my mind kept spinning full force and just wouldn't let me sleep. Why was everything and everyone against me today!? First the pack, then the bears and now my body and mind.

I huffed and decided to occupy my mind to calm it. I listened to the sound of the forest peacefully breathing around me. The leaves rustling in harmony to the wind, the birds singing their own lullaby, the insects looking for food and the animals playing. Those sounds were all complementing each other, calming my agitated mind, and slowly making me feel sleepy.

***

I jolted awake not remembering when I fell asleep. I calmed down my heretic heartbeat as I try to localise what woke me up. I straighten my ears and raised my head. I winced as I did so because my head felt as if a hammer knocked on it a billion times. My vision spun as I turned my head left and right, using my eyes and ears to localize the culprit of my awakening.

The problem was that I couldn't hear any suspicious sounds. Something felt strange but I couldn't put my finger on it and it really bothered me. I hated when there was something strange around me and I couldn't figure out what. It made me feel weak. I huffed in irritation and I suddenly realized what was wrong. The forest was silent, too silent. I couldn't hear the birds' song, neither the wind nor the movements of the species inhabiting this green sanctuary that was the forest. My huff resounded in this silent environment like a rock dropping in a calm river, creating ripples in the sinister peace.

That was when I smelt it, the smell of blood and gunpowder. I knew what that meant, every living creature knew it. It was the trademark of the hunters. Everywhere they went smelt like this, like desolation. Any environment which was previously buzzing with life, full of happiness and peace, was now silent with only the pain-filled scream of the defunds reasoning within the air, making the roots of anyone's hair stand up. Forever haunting the grounds where their blood was unfairly spilled, these poor souls kept wailing and scheming to find a way to take revenge on their merciless grim reaper. That was the ending of every living places visited by the hunters and those gods of death wouldn't make any exception.

And now, it looked like their next prey was this forest.