Phoenix: The nuruk beast.

Chapter Eleven: To Survive

 Aldrich was scared out of his mind. With every step he took, he went further into a forest he was unfamiliar with. The forest was unforgivingly cold in more than one way to Aldrich unlike the giant trees that withstood the biting frost that came with the snowy winds Aldrich swayed many times by its command. Even the slightest sounds from the smallest wildlife made him jump in fright. He remembered his father and realized he must have known of this, why else would he wake up early to present him with—

"The satchel!" Aldrich bellowed excitedly. He knew his father must have kept something in there to help him, and he was right. He looked into the satchel and found it was packed with supplies of many kinds. Packed neatly inside it were some nuts, berries, bread and even flint stones.

He hurriedly searched around the forest for dry branches and the likes. He gathered what he could find and swiftly sparked a small fire using the flint stones. Aldrich had never appreciated the sweet feeling of warmth more in his life. He sat so close to the fire that if it hadn't been so cold, he might have burnt himself. It took him only a few minutes to munch down almost half the ration of food he had stored in his satchel. Aldrich knew he would probably regret this later, but that didn't matter now. With a full belly now, Aldrich finally found his self-control. He waited by the fire until it was but a mound of ash on the snowy ground before he finally got on his feet again.

He wandered the forest in search for any peoples or human activity, but all he realized was the forest was exceedingly large. Even if there were people who might have been there, he admitted the chances of meeting any of them would be very slim. However, to Aldrich's horror, he still wasn't alone in this forest. For what felt like miles to Aldrich, he had only seen small wildlife like rabbits and squirrels within the woods. That was the case until now, Aldrich felt a chill in his bones much different from the one he felt from the snow on his skin as he heard a silent growl behind him.

Whatever had come behind him had done so silently that Aldrich didn't hear it until it had gotten right behind it. He turned around and beheld a creature with flaming red fur and long slender claws it dug into the bark of a tree a fair distance from him and dangled from it. It had long slender limbs much like its claws that made it look like it was being suspended by a red rope. Aldrich felt a turn in his gut as the beast bared its yellow fangs at him and let out a piercing shriek.

"Damn you, Evelyn!!" Aldrich cried as he ran with all his might. The creature dashed with incredible speed as it swung through forest with its limbs looking like a speeding flame moving above the icy ground. Aldrich knew well that it was only a matter of time before the beast will make prey of him. He looked around for something that he could use to fend it off seeing his sword wasn't nearly as long as the beast's limbs. He spotted a tree much smaller than the rest (which meant it was normal sized) ahead of him. He took a deep breath in and charged at the tree with his shoulder first.

He gritted his teeth as he collided against the tree leaning it forward greatly. The impact was so great that all the snow that was once atop the tree had fallen on Aldrich. But that wasn't nearly enough to even make him flinch. He shook the snow off his person and grabbed hold of the exposed root of the tree and pulled with all his might. Within a moment Aldrich had uprooted the entire tree and held it like a mace. He listened for the sound of the creature's weight against the branches as it got louder. And then, at just the right moment, he turned around and swung the tree at the creature like a broadsword. He hit it so hard that the creature thrown high into the sky and soon out of sight.

The tree made a loud thud as Aldrich dropped it at his feet. He turned around and looked ahead at the woods dreading the thought of what more it held within in it. The forest posed many more challenges to Aldrich through the day. In the depths of the forests, he had been hunted beasts of different shapes and sizes, eaten fruits that made him hallucinate and even nearly eaten by a giant man-eating plant. By the end of the day, Aldrich felt thankful for still breathing. Being in constant danger had caused him not to notice the tremendous fatigue he felt, but consequentially, he now found himself barely able to keep himself on his legs.