I woke up early in the morning, birds were chirping all around me. Only charcoal left from my yesterday’s bonfire, by seeing a smoke coming from it, I reckoned that it burned through the whole night. Looking around I saw dozens of goblins’ spears stuck in the ground everywhere. I figured, that they can go out of the caverns only at night, but they were too afraid of my bonfire and that is why they couldn’t get close to me. When I stood up, I saw that goblins stole my rabbit hide, but it wasn’t a big deal, because after that I checked my traps and all of them successfully caught three more preys, two of them were rabbits and one was a partridge. I disemboweled all of them and prepared an easy breakfast. Also, I plucked the bird, feathers were perfect for making arrows. Warm south wind promised a good day for scouting the region.

‘First of all, I must find a source of fresh water...’ were my thoughts.

I had to wash rabbit hides so I could work with them properly and also, I was dying from thirst. I recalled that Wido told us that at least two big rivers were flowing between Eastern and Western Montserrat, but I hoped to find a small spring somewhere near me so I could get fresh water not disturbing anyone. I thought that if I get to big rivers, eventually someone will encounter me and I didn’t want to interact with anyone. It was enough for me to have Hina, Senka and Wido in my past to realize that I can’t trust anyone in this cruel world.

While searching the area for fresh water, I was making a hunting bow like Nimrod thought me in the Cold Valley forests. For the arc, I used the willow twig and for the string I cut a strait stripe from my underpants and tied it up around the ends of my new hunting bow. I sharpened oak branches to be my arrow shafts, also I used jagged rocks for tips and partridge feathers as fletcher. Now I was much more confident having such a weapon hanging on my shoulders. I have tied up a willow string that I prepared yesterday as my belt, and put the arrows and my pocket knife around the waist.

It was almost the midday when I saw a roe deer passing by me in a few yards distance. She was not afraid of me, I suppose, this roe has never felt human scent before or I already smelled like an animal for her. I decided not to kill her instantly, but follow instead, and as I thought she has led me to the spring. On the ground, I saw a lot of different footprints, I reckon, it was a common place for animals to rest during the day. While she was drinking, I sat near the spring and started washing my arms and face, then took off my underpants and started washing them. I began drinking water a little bit higher up the stream completely naked, because I left my pants on the branch to dry.

‘Hunter and the prey are having such a nice time together… It will be unfair to kill you now, you showed me the spring,’ I whispered referring to the roe deer when we stopped drinking, I started patting her back gently, ‘Sorry for slaughtering your tribe so vigorously… but we have no other choice. Yeah… I know that plants are good for eating and making clothes, but your pelts are so warm in the winter and meat is so delicious… Our family could live a few weeks eating your meat…’

Then she started licking my face and I recalled how goblins wanted to kill and eat us back in those damned caverns,

‘Yeah… You are right, someone is also hunting people down and using them as food. Back in the Cold Valley people were on the top of the food chain, but here… I reckon, Stoyans are the one of the weakest tribes in the kingdom. We have no special traits, even you run faster than us,’

I smiled and patted roe deer’s head. Then she heard bushes whir somewhere and ran away swiftly, leaving me alone completely naked in a hostile forest.

When I came back to the spring for the second time with rabbit hides, I discovered that there were two raccoons bathing in the water. They saw me and ran away instantly. I washed the hides thoroughly, so no blood or meat would have left on them, now the only thing I had to do is to dry them on the sun. Luckily, I had plenty of time before the sunset.

I came back to the Oak that I used as a shelter and started climbing it. This time I will hang hide much higher than before, so no one could get it. After doing that I went on a bow hunting.

I hid myself in the bushes near the path where animals went for the spring and started waiting with bow and arrow in my hands. It didn’t take me long, when the first elk passed by. I pulled the string and pointed the arrow straight to the elk’s neck. Hit! My arrow pierced the prey, but elk was too strong to fall from one arrow. He started running away and I put another arrow into his hinder leg, now it was matter of time when he will fall out of blood loss. I put the bow back on the shoulder and grabbed the knife from the belt with my right hand and started chasing him down the forest.

The sun was already setting down when the elk finally fell and I caught up with him. When I sat down nearby on my knees, I realized that he was still breathing quietly. I took the arrows from his body and started examining the prey. He had huge antlers, they were perfect for making water flask (I lost my previous one in the caverns), also I could make clothes out of his skin. But the most important concern was that this elk was too huge for me to carry him to my shelter. I must skin him on the spot and take him piece by piece, but then again, my oak was too far for me to be in time before night covers the sky with darkness. I decided that, it wasn’t necessary for me to take his meat, because I still had some rabbit left from this morning, but nevertheless I had to act quickly.

I took out the string from my waist and lied down arrows on the ground. Now I could tie around antlers that I took from elk’s skull. Skinning dragged on for a little longer than I expected, my blade already started shining with a dim blue light, but I had to finish with this, otherwise next morning I won’t find anything left from my prey. Finally, I skinned one half of the elk that was accessible and put all the hide under my left armpit and antlers under my right armpit. I took the blade in the right hand and the bow in the left, there were no place left for arrows, so I left them on the ground.

‘I will make new ones tomorrow, but now… I need to survive till tomorrow…’

I whispered to myself and started running as fast as I could towards the shelter. First stars started appearing on the sky the same as first predators started appearing in the forest. I could feel it by the silence that covered the forest. Birds stopped chirping, wind changed its direction and the whole atmosphere became thicker. Cold shivers covered my back, sweat started dripping from my neck. Knife’s blade in my right arm was shining with full brightness already.

‘I see it!’

There were few yards left before the lawn where the huge rocks covered me from the forest. When I stepped into the circle, I heard something growling behind me. Wild beasts respected the territory of their enemies. They were afraid to step into the lawn where my scent covered every inch of the space. I figured, that predators behind me had no idea what traps lie behind the rocks and decided to retreat.

‘They played themselves…’ I whispered to myself, grinning.

I had no traps and no weapons to fight someone stronger than a roe deer or a rabbit. It was a small victory, but the second time they will be wiser. Eventually, they will discover that I can’t defend myself even in my shelter and then will come to kill me.

I dropped my loot under the oak and began making fire rapidly. Bonfire was my single line of defense against goblins and wild predators. I had to think of anything that could help me survive in these horrible circumstances.

‘I want to live… I want to see more… That’s not enough…’

I was repeating these words to myself, while trying to keep bonfire burning. That night I was too afraid to fall asleep.