Chapter 1

Waking up this morning was a bad idea. Maybe even the worst decision of my life.

Everything that happened after I opened my eyes probably could have been avoided by just staying asleep. I probably would have died, but that's not the point.

I wouldn't have noticed the soft padding steps approaching me. I wouldn't have heard the low growls rising from the beast's chest. I wouldn't have scrambled to my feet and ran wildly in a random direction in an attempt to get away. 

Dying peacefully in my sleep would be preferable, if not one hundred times better, than running for my life.

Isn't playing dead supposed to work sometimes anyway? If I just laid there I might be fine. I don't really know what method you're supposed to use for monsters.

If I get out of this I'm going to write a monster guide. I'll title it, “Everything to Know About Monsters and How to Not Die." 

The ground was actually trembling each time the massive legs slapped the earth. With each step I could feel it right behind me. There was no way I was going to look back to see how close it was, so I kept running, weaving, and dodging. 

What is it called? Serpentine? Does that work on monsters? I have a feeling it's not for monsters, but I don't think I can be particularly picky when I'm about to be mauled to death.

In the back of my mind I know I'm not fast enough or athletic enough to be actually getting away from this thing. That means the monster is playing with me. Getting close enough to nearly pull me down and then pulling back so I think I have a chance. 

This monster was a jerk!

I wasn't going to let that get me down though. I wasn't going to give up. 

“Oh my goshhhh! Just leave me alone you stupid ball of fur!"

Ok, it got me a little frustrated, but I don't think I'm totally unreasonable. It's perfectly reasonable to be a little agitated in this situation.

The sound of its grunts and growls were so close to behind my ear. I got the feeling that it was getting tired of playing. It's toy wasn't entertaining enough I guess.

Running haphazardly didn't seem to be doing the trick.

How did I even get to this point? 

I had been minding my own business sleeping under a fruit tree. All this time, literal months, and I have never been attacked by anything before. I did hear about other people having a hard time, but I thought I was safe. Has my luck run out? 

Looking around the best I could without stopping, I tried to find anything that could be of help. A place to hide? A way to slip away from it? Anything?

Rock.

Rock.

Tree.

Person sitting on a rock?

What the heck? 

I couldn't get a good look at them, but it looked like someone was sitting on a boulder eating food while watching me run for my life!

“Hey! Help! I need some help!" I was getting seriously out of breath from running. Screaming to them made my throat burn.

I veered to the left and saw that they didn't budge an inch. 

What the heck! Were they seriously going to watch me get eaten by this thing? 

By trying to turn to look at them, I slipped and skidded on the ground. Luckily, I didn't lose my footing much, but the monster did. It slid and rolled into a nearby tree, knocking the whole thing to the ground. Its howl shook everything and sent out a vibration that chilled me.

I didn't bother to stop and check if it was hurt. I just silently prayed that it got a giant splinter in its paw and would get up.

New plan.

I turned and ran towards the jerk of a spectator. Let's see how he likes watching me suffer now. 

I could see him pause mid bite and watch me run toward him. Then, his head snapped to the left. His eyes grew big, he must be watching as the monster got back to its feet. 

Its growls sounded more angry than playful now. I don't think it appreciated bowling with the trees.

"Hey! Don't drag me into this! You're the one who wanted to play with a Hellhound." He got to his feet and started backing up from his seat.

“Play? Play! Who's playing? I was minding my own business when this thing suddenly started coming at me! I don't want anything to do with it!" Who on earth would willingly have a beast chase them like this? 

Fine, if this guy was crazy he can deal with it. I scrambled onto the boulder and bounded past the jerk. “It's your turn! Have fun!" 

“Hey. Hey! I'm just a rogue class! I can't do anything about this!" I could hear him scrambling down after me. I was just going to loot your body after you died, I don't want to fight it!”

"Too honest dude, too honest! What is wrong with you?” Talking was getting harder, and every muscle I had was screaming for me to just die already. 

We could feel thundering steps behind us. It was pissed. Or maybe excited? There were two potential chew toys after all. More fun to be had ripping us to shreds. 

“Can't you do anything?" He screamed at me. 

“Nope!" I screamed back. Does he think I wouldn't have already done something if I could?

“Aren't you a mage? Can't you freeze it or something?" 

This wasn't the first time I've heard that one. “Look who's getting desperate. No, I am not a mage!" 

I could barely register everything around me as we ran for our lives. We were approaching a sheet rock face. It was at least thirty feet tall, and I, unfortunately, was not a billy goat, so climbing it was out of the question. If we kept running straight we wouldn't have anywhere to go. Both sides were already lined with large boulders that looked tricky to climb. 

I’m  getting so tired. 

My lungs burn, my vision is starting to get dark, my body feels numb.

My legs were just about to give out, when I felt a tug on my arm.

“What are you doing? Are you crazy? Don't give up now! Don't you see ahead? There's a small cave! It looks like it will be too small for the Hellhound to get through!" 

Squinting, I can just barely make out a small opening to the cave.

Maybe his skill is his eyesight. It's impressive that he can see something so small. It does look just big enough for us to squeeze through. But who knows if it's deep enough, or if there was something already in there.

I started to imagine a creepy tentacled creature or a massive bat pulling us in as we approached, but we charged forward anyway. 

We confirmed that the Hellhound was definitely just playing with us before, because it suddenly howles and sprinted forward harder and faster. It must have seen what we were about to do, because it definitely was done playing now. We could feel its bloodlust and the warm breath right behind us. 

We ducked into the cavern. The rocks scraped and pressed on both sides of us. I could feel them cutting into my palms and hitting my back as I scrambled into the crevice. It's such a tight squeeze with two full sized humans. 

The Hellhound behind us scraped, howled, and barked at us from the entrance. I can hear rocks sliding away and being broken into pieces. It was doing damage to the entrance. I bet it regrets playing and not just eating its breakfast right away. 

We squeezed in further and further into the tiny cavern until we couldn't see the hound anymore and just heard the echoes of its howls.

It’s so tight that I can't even sit or kneel down. Standing there, I lean on the rocks around me, trying to catch my breath.

“Why? Why did you help pull me back up? I thought you wanted to loot my corpse?" The words spilled out of me like a gasping fish's last breath. 

"Why?” I could see his breath was as haggard as mine.

“Good question. Why did I do that? I guess there is still time. I could push you back out?" He smirked and laid his head back on the stone wall.

"Haha, you're hilarious.” 

"No, I'm Fenton." He laughed at his own joke. He was one of THOSE types. “Fenton Whitmore, nice to meet you." He closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose.

I could hear the Hellhound still pounding against the entrance, but it seemed far away now. We were safe. 

I stared at him for a moment. Maybe today wasn't such a terrible day after all? "My name is Faust Tyche. Nice to meet you too.”

A second later we heard a crash and the crevice went completely dark.