Entering the forest everything seemed as usual. Quiet chirps and rustling as the wildlife took this as their chance to move around. 

The enchanted forest my father put me in was one of many and served as nothing more than a death trap. Full of beasts of all sorts, escaping this place was nothing short of a pipe dream. Well, for a regular person that is. Unlike the magical monsters of the south, those in this forest possessed extraordinary strength. And so, if someone were simply stronger than the beasts…

Whoosh.

The sound of steady breathing reached my ears. I'd crossed into a part of the forest where the tree canopy was thick enough to block out most light. The perfect spot for beasts to rest.

I approached the clearing. Before me sat a cogulatho in slumber. Known for their strong square body with sharp teeth and claws, I was careful to make as little noise as possible.

Assuring it wasn't awake I struck. Having torn the eyes out of the beast and ducking out of the way, I barely covered my ears in time as it’s scream pierced the air. I had to finish this quickly as this would undoubtedly summon more creatures.

As the cogulatho's eyes filled with red I took the chance to slice into the beast's stomach.

The gray skin barely split open and I leapt back as it crashed down thrashing.

With the second cry more of its brethren showed up, singing the same deep, terrible song.

Multiple large beasts emerged from the foliage. A kalipago, another, then even more cogulathos. Large bulky beasts of later mid-range strength, all with specialties.

'This is too many enemies. I'm not even-'

Before I could finish thinking the beasts vomited their acid. I jumped back and put myself out of range of the newly arrived creatures.

'I need to find a way out of here-'

Slam!

"AH!"

Having leaped within range of the cogulatho it crushed me into the earth.

Raising me the beast slammed me down.

"GAAK!"

My body might be stronger than the average person's, but I wasn't going to be able to take much more of this. 

With the cogulatho raising me again, I attempted to free myself by digging my sword into the paw holding me.

Letting out a terrible scream, the beast began slamming me into the earth over and over.

Blood trickled down my face and my body was immobile. All I could do was wait for the impact.

Looking up for a moment I noticed the sky was dark.

"Sundown. I was supposed to be home already… " It was all I could mutter as I waited for things to be over.

"Brace!" 

Within a moment a blue light shone and the monster's wrist was sliced off.

"Miss!" A young man shouted as he ran towards me. 

The other beasts had been lying in wait for the cogulatho to complete its rampage to finish it off as well as I.

Grabbing my body and leaping up into a tree, the man carefully sat me down on the tree branch beneath us.

"Drink this." He spoke, lifting an open bottle to my blood covered lips. I began drinking and the cries of the beasts reached my ears, angry their hunt was stolen.

As I finished the bottle the man gave me a once over, smiled, and then was gone.

Within moments the beasts were turned into minced meat. Cut limb from limb, head and guts in disarray, oozing into the ground.

Gently landing back on the branch he came closer. I hadn't a moment before to look at him but… He didn't look bad.

A light blue color to his hair and his eyes, all on pale skin. A small, well made uniform for hunting. He wasn't a young man, even, just maybe a year or two older than I.

"A bit better?" He asked. His eyebrows were turned a bit down and his eyes soft.

"Mmn." Was all the response I could give. While it seemed the bleeding stopped, the pain of my torn body still remained.

The boy took out a cloth and started wiping away the blood on my face.

He spoke gently.

"The potion will help keep your injuries from getting any worse. You'll need to head home and rest before you're back out here." He seemed troubled for a moment. “Why in the world are you out here? Even mercenaries do not enter these woods."

"I live here?"

"What?"

Looking up from my wounds he had begun to patch up, we both stared at each other for a moment in disbelief.