Crunch

Ves snapped her eyes open upon hearing the sound. How long had she been out? She hadn’t intended to fall asleep.

Crunch

The sound echoed. It was close. Like something was eating. Slowly, carefully, she sat up. Just enough to see over the grasses she lay in. She could feel her bones and joints creak with each motion. Ahead of her, down by the shore, was still the body of the dire wolf. The source of the sound was a beast feasting on the remains. It was a bear, a massive one. The creature already dwarfed the wolf several times over. Unable to stop herself, Ves let out a gasp.

The bear froze, only to lift its head away from the meal. Its snout was soaked with blood that glistened in the midday sun. Turning in Ves’s direction, the two locked eyes. Ves could see the great beast tense as it sized her up.

After staring for what felt like an eternity, the bear turned back to the wolf. With great effort, it tore a leg from the remains before slowly limping away with its prize in its mouth. Its own back leg was a twisted mess, like an old wound that had never healed.

Only after the bear was no longer in sight could Ves breathe again. That the bear left her alone shocked her. Though after looking over her current state, she could guess why. All the minor scrapes and cuts were gone, but her limbs were still severely gaunt. Like the starving beggars she often saw in the city. Honestly, being so emaciated that a predator didn’t want to bother with her should have been her most significant concern, and it was. Until she looked at her right arm, that is. 

Her arm, from just above the elbow down, was encased in a sickly looking dark gray fleshy sack. Horrified, she went to poke it. She could feel where her fingers brushed across its surface.

It was part of her.

She had lived through a lot, but this? This was too much, even for her. So she lurched over and heaved, not that there was anything left in her to come up.

Panicked, she lashed out with her remaining hand. She clawed at the grotesque tumor, at least she tried to, but she was too weak to do anything aside from mildly scratch at it. That she could feel pain from the limited damage she inflicted sickened her even more. Which caused her to retch again.

Flopping back down in the grass, she shut her eyes, trying desperately to hold back the tears. Even for her, this was too much. So she tried to remember how she had ended up in this mess. She knew she was initially in the forest as part of a hunting expedition. One of the many servants brought along to serve her bastard of a master and the other nobles who accompanied them. The trip was largely uneventful, with her managing to stay out of trouble. The only item of note was that a knight accompanied them. One who served the temple. It was obvious she was a foreigner, as they seemed uncomfortable with the high volume of slaves among the staff. Or, contracted as her homeland of Kohdessia liked to put it in a poor attempt to avoid the stigma that came with the S word.

She tried harder to remember. She recalled her master’s frustration that the trip extended longer than planned. They had gone deep into the Fangswood, far deeper than was generally considered safe. She had heard the knight was hunting something specific. Some monster that they had tracked across the continent from the far north. After that, her memories got blurry. She vaguely remembered some sort of attack and an egg. Then, the next thing she knew, she woke up alongside the river with something living inside her…

Something she could oddly tell was sleeping. That she could tell at all disturbed her. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t continue to lie there. She needed food desperately, and in her weakened state, she was left with one option. 

Sluggishly, she pulled her husk of a body back to the water’s edge. Greeted by the wolf’s mangled remains after the bear ate its fill. Ever thankful that the beast didn’t kill her, it looked to be a dire bear, which were often very territorial.  

After a few moments looking around, she found a jagged rock she could use as a rather poor excuse for a knife. She planned to cut away several strips. She had helped butcher plenty of livestock during her life.

As for cooking them, she had seen her master’s men start fires all the time. How hard could it be?

Lifting herself to her knees, jagged rock in hand, she leaned over the corpse. The smell of the blood assaulted her. The flesh itself smelled putrid and sour. Yet instead of feeling sick, her stomach rumbled and her mouth watered. In the back of her head, she knew she should not react like this to a waterlogged corpse, but the longer she stared at it, the more hunger overtook reason.

Even with the body already torn open, it took all her strength to cut into the wolf. Her hand was so weak she could hardly hang on to the rock, let alone cut with it. Still, she persisted until she held the first slice of meat in her hand. It looked delicious. Unfortunately, she still had to cook it, so she went to set the strip to the side before she paused. It would be so much work to gather the wood to start a fire. Could she even do it in her state?

Staring at the raw slice of meat in her hand, she asked herself.

Did she really need to cook it? 

It already looked irresistible. 

Surely, she could take a risk and just eat it now.

Eat it raw.

With a trembling hand, she lifted the flesh to her mouth. Just a whiff from this close made her drool. Unable to resist any longer, she took her first bite. It was bliss. The meat was like nothing she had ever tasted before. This had no right to taste this good. It was flesh from a dead, mangy beast that had been sitting in the sun all afternoon. It should be disgusting. She should feel sick even being near it, let alone consuming it.

And yet she loved it, devoured it.

Looking at her now-empty hand, she glanced back down at the dead wolf. Grabbing the rock again, she frantically tried to cut off another slice. The rock was hardly even sharp. It had taken all her strength just to cut off that first piece. 

It was taking too long! 

And she was so hungry.

She was already filthy and covered in blood. All she could think about was how hungry she was. How wonderful the meat tasted! Tossing reason to the wind, she leaned forward, pressing her mouth against the gaping hole made by the bear. She paused for only a moment before shoving her head inside, then feasted. 

By the time sanity returned to her, the sun was almost set. She felt grotesque. Her entire body, hair, and what little remained of her clothing were soaked in the wolf’s blood. More importantly, she noticed how little of the wolf remained. 

Looking down in horror, she could see her stomach engorged. To the point she looked like she was with child. A human should not be physically capable of eating as much as she had. Yet, the meal was blissful. She couldn’t remember anything she had eaten in her entire life that came close. Feeling full was almost unheard of for her. With rare exception, she always went to bed hungry. To be full, she marveled at how wonderful such a simple thing could be.