How far have I run…
My limbs moved on instinct, slipping through muck and shallow pools. Every footfall was muffled by the soft, damp earth. Behind me, the sound of vines—wet and alive—whipped through the air. Each time I thought I'd gained distance, the forest shifted again.
A deep, cavernous laceration carved into my right shoulder sent a river of blood coiling down my arm.
Just moments ago, an entire tree had come to life, tearing through my flesh with ferocious intensity. It felt like a metallic whip had borne through me. As I kept running, the fissure in my shoulder stretched wider, my bone seemingly trying to greet the world.
The creature wasn't chasing me. Not in the usual way.
Is it, herding me?
Nature itself betrayed me—roots curled mid-stride to trip me, low-hanging branches drooped like arms trying to embrace me. The air was thick with the scent of moss and something sour. Decay, maybe.
I snapped again—an uncontrolled jump that dumped me face-first into a shallow puddle. Cold, stinking water rushed into my nose and mouth. I scrambled to my feet, coughing and soaked. Mud clung to my chest and face.
This isn't exactly the mad stalker I had in mind, do I smell that delicious? Surely there's better meat somewhere else.
If there was the creature obviously didn't care.
I kept running, continuing my retreat. Slowly making my way further into the marsh.
I tried to veer left, pushing through a patch of brambles, but they closed like a fist. The thorns moved, contracting toward me as if they'd grown teeth. I stumbled back at the last moment. The thorns nicked my forehead. I felt my heart thudding in my ears.
This wasn't just it controlling plants, no it was much more then that.
It was as if the very forest was its flesh and bones.
It wasn't chasing me, and it was obvious why.
I was inside the depths of its domain.
I pressed myself low, sliding through an area slick with mud, until I reached a pocket of cold water pooled between the roots of a sprawling tree. The air here was tighter. Still. I crawled forward on elbows and knees and eased myself into the puddle. The water was cold and thick with algae, but I sank into it up to my chin.
The reeds didn't move here.
For now.
I held my breath.
Then I heard it again—that sticky rustle of motion. Not loud. Not hurried. Just… patient.
It was searching.
No—it was as if it was feeling.
I peeked through the curtain of reeds. And there it was.
The moss-furred monstrosity padded silently into view, flanked by slow-moving vines that trailed after it like obedient snakes. Its scaled flanks shimmered faintly with wetness, and its tail—which was absurdly long—dragged lazily behind, brushing ferns aside like fingers combing hair.
As it passed, the very forest shifted with it. Trees moved like crabs, scurrying around on their roots, as if jumping to clear a path.
It paused just meters from my hiding spot.
I didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Maybe it'll mis—
Its head turned. Not directly toward me, but close. Its nostrils flared. Then the very reeds that had hidden me betrayed me, parting aside.
Its sickly yellow-green eyes pierced me.
The reeds pulsed with movement, threading out from the small marsh like veins reaching for blood.
Then the roots beneath the water stirred—not dramatically, but enough. One silently ensnared my foot, curling around it like a lasso. It tightened, dug into my skin, and tugged—gently. Lovingly. Pulling me into the depths of mud and water.
And it just watched. Didn't move. Didn't growl. Didn't breathe.
"This is fun for you, isn't it?" I murmured.
As if to answer, its vile maw split into a horrific, monstrous smile.
If you are going to teleport, now's the time—
SNAP.
Pain spiked behind my eyes as I reappeared somewhere new—smashing into a low embankment. The world blurred sideways. Mud. Sky. Reeds.
I felt limp, my body sprawled across the ground. Everything hurt.
I slowly mustered the strength to trudge toward the shelter of the forest.
Suddenly, it moved.
A wide swath of trees just in front of me bent in unison, trunks cracking as they twisted—not falling, but forming, reshaping into a wall. Vines wove between them, threading together like stitches.
A dead end.
I turned the other way.
Across the water, I saw distant canopies of trees parting.
Nowhere to run.
Hahahaha, of course, it's never that easy is it?
I was tired, limp, battered and getting exceedingly desperate. I had no energy, what's the point of teleportation when you don't have control.
I have the perfect power for running, isn't it ironic that I can't even use it at will? All it's done so far is put a couple minutes between me, and death.
Well might as well dig myself a grave.
I started burying myself, until I was half submerged in sludge. The mud acted like a border between the forest and the water, completely devoid of any life.
This was quite literally a last ditch effort.
I watched the other side—the separating trees and foliage slowly drawing closer, creating a deep rustling that seeped into my ears.
I was motionless.
Just waiting.
Reeds started to rupture. I madly dug my body beneath the surface. The mud sucked at my limbs, cold and suffocating, but I lay still.
There was no vegetation. No roots. Just water and sludge.
Seconds ticked past.
Then minutes.
Mud clung to my face, to my teeth. My lungs burned.
I felt hushed vibrations—slow, rhythmic. Maybe above me? I couldn't see. Everything was just black.
The vibrations stopped.
I didn't rise. Not yet.
All I had was a minute. Or maybe just thirty seconds.
Finally, the vibrations continued. Only when they faded entirely did I surface.
My breath came in ragged gulps, the sound of it piercing through the silence.
I didn't cheer.
I didn't smile.
I felt like a crippled mouse, being toyed with by a cat.
And every step I took would only carry me deeper into its territory.