Chapter7:The Long Hunt
The forest had gone quiet in the worst possible way.
Xino stood frozen between the trees, the red warning from the system still burning faintly in his vision.
Multiple dangers detected ahead.
The message had disappeared, but the meaning remained.
He wasn't alone.
Slowly, carefully, he turned his head.
Nothing moved.
The trees stood tall and silent, their black trunks rising like pillars into the dim purple sky. Thick roots twisted across the ground, and strange pale fungi clung to the bark, glowing softly in the growing darkness.
But the forest felt different now.
Heavy.
Like the air before a storm.
Xino tightened his grip on the branch in his hand. His knuckles were pale from the pressure.
"Alright," he whispered quietly to himself.
"If something was going to attack… it already would have."
He took a cautious step forward.
Leaves crunched beneath his feet.
Immediately, something shifted deeper in the forest to his right.
A low rustling.
Then silence again.
His heart began pounding harder.
They were there.
Watching.
Following.
But not attacking.
He kept walking.
The forest floor dipped and rose unevenly, forcing him to move carefully. The roots here were thicker, the ground damp and soft beneath his shoes.
Another sound came from behind him this time.
A soft crunch.
Too heavy to be wind.
Too slow to be coincidence.
Xino stopped walking.
The sound stopped too.
A cold realization crawled slowly through his chest.
"They're… following me."
He swallowed.
His mouth had gone dry.
Predators chased prey. That was normal.
But this felt different.
This felt patient.
Calculated.
He started walking again.
The sounds returned.
Not rushing.
Not charging.
Just keeping pace.
One to the right.
Another somewhere behind him.
Maybe more he couldn't hear.
The thought made the back of his neck prickle.
"They're waiting," he muttered.
Waiting for what?
The answer came quickly.
For him to get tired.
Xino felt a bitter laugh rise in his throat.
"Smart," he said quietly.
Very smart.
Animals back on Earth sometimes did this. Wolves especially. They chased prey until it collapsed from exhaustion. Then they moved in for the kill.
But those animals had instinct.
These things felt… different.
More aware.
Like they were thinking.
That idea made him deeply uncomfortable.
The sky above the trees had darkened now. The purple glow fading as night crept in.
And slowly, the two moons rose again.
Xino noticed them without really thinking about it at first.
Then he stopped walking.
The branches above had opened slightly, revealing the sky clearly.
Two moons hung there.
One large and pale silver.
The other smaller, tinted faintly blue.
They drifted slowly across the dark sky like silent watchers.
Xino stared at them for a long moment.
"Still weird," he muttered.
No matter how long he looked at them, his brain refused to fully accept it.
Two moons.
Not one.
Two.
Back home, something like that would rewrite every science textbook ever written.
Here it just meant another reminder that he was very, very far from home.
The sound of movement behind him brought his attention back to the forest.
Crunch.
Closer this time.
Xino kept walking.
His legs were already starting to ache. He had been moving for hours now, and the earlier adrenaline had long since faded.
Sweat clung to his back despite the cool air.
His grip on the branch tightened again.
And that was when another strange thought crept into his mind.
He looked down at the weapon in his hands.
It was still the same branch.
The same one he had grabbed when the wolf attacked him.
The wood was rough and uneven. The tip had splintered slightly when he stabbed the wolf, but it hadn't broken.
Which didn't make sense.
He turned it slowly in his hands while walking.
Back on Earth, a dry branch like this should have snapped long ago.
He had used it to stab a creature the size of a small horse.
He had slammed it into rocks.
Dragged it through thick brush.
And yet it was still holding together.
"Why hasn't this thing broken yet?" he muttered.
Another quiet step behind him.
Crunch.
Still following.
Xino frowned at the branch again.
The wood felt… heavier than it should.
Not by much.
Just enough to notice.
"Maybe trees here are stronger," he said quietly.
That was the easiest explanation.
This entire world was different after all.
Different plants.
Different animals.
Different sky.
Different rules.
Still…
It bothered him.
A lot of things bothered him.
The system.
The two moons.
The creatures that hunted like strategists instead of animals.
And the fact that he had somehow survived several days in a place that clearly wanted him dead.
None of it added up.
He exhaled slowly and kept moving.
The predators kept their distance.
Always there.
Never attacking.
The forest seemed endless.
Every step felt heavier now. His legs burned with exhaustion. His throat was dry again.
They were wearing him down.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Waiting for the moment he stumbled.
Waiting for the moment he couldn't run anymore.
Xino clenched his jaw.
"You're not getting that easy," he whispered under his breath.
But deep down he knew the truth.
They had time.
They had strength.
They knew the forest.
He had none of those things.
And the night was only getting darker.