The wind howled within his ears as he plummeted towards the body of water. His cheeks flapped as air currents barrelled against his pale skin. Medea's voice resounded within his head.
"Master brace for impact!"
Aligning his body into a diving position, he breathed in the fast-moving air. The water rushed up. Bang! The force of the fall drove him to the seabed. With his remaining strength, he kicked forth from the bottom. Elderond's body shot to the surface, seeking essential oxygen.
His head broke the surface, taking a deep breath. He survived the fall; however, his nemesis's whereabouts were unknown.
Almost as if acknowledging its owner, the hound broke the surface, a wounded growl emerged from its twitching lips.
"Damn, this hound is sure persistent."
"Well, of course, Master love is a powerful emotion: it is almost like a drug. You merely dazed its companion; yet, it follows you like a bee to nectar."
"This is why I don't let a woman get into my head."
"Funny of you to say that Master... aren't I in your head? He-he."
Gritting his teeth, Elderond swam to the pool edge, which connected to the forest floor. Grabbing onto a loose root from one of the gigantic trees, he hauled himself up onto the embankment.
"One day, I will make you silent after a comeback Medea."
"Really, when? Maybe after I've stopped functioning perhaps!"
Joyous laughter resounded within his head, contrasted by Elderond's grumbling expression. This interface was insufferable.
Nevertheless, important matters were at hand. Elderond had to choose his next course of action: to fight or continue running. In contemplation, Elderond finally came to the most logical conclusion. He needed to improve his combat prowess. He needed a weapon.
An idea came to mind. The hound's reach was longer with its long limbs and sharp claws; but, its hide was weak against sharp-like weapons. To keep it at bay and ensure survival, he needed a type of weapon that was both sharp and long: a spear.
He was in a forest it was impractical to locate a spear; so, he had to make one with the materials at hand. To find the materials and create a weapon that he needed: a fundamental concept was required. Time.
Thus, his strategy was to run, create distance between himself and the injured hound to return prepared. He would finish this clash between predator and prey.
The undergrowth churned under his boots as he ran, trying to locate some form of clearing, which may have loose rock or fallen branches. If he got lucky, maybe he'd find some broken staff a hermit used.
The hound lay at the side of the riverbank, recovering from the pain. Its side had hit hard against the rocky outcrop of the seabed. Resentment burned within its eyes. That boy had come unscathed; but, it had not. The hound growled it would tear the flesh from the boys' bones as compensation for lady luck's negligence.
Panting hard, Elderond finally came to a stop. Ahead of him lay a rocky outcrop in a clearing within the dense undergrowth. Loose rock spilt out from the broken statue that resembled some form of a ruler. Broken torch shafts sat on either side of its base, cracked beyond repair, the wooden shafts worn away by nature's elements.
Even though Medea thought it was pointless, Elderond attempted to lift the broken torch shaft out of its holder. Just as his hands gripped the damp wood, it withered away into nothingness, forming dust on his black shoes.
"I told you that would happen, Master."
"Tsk, still worth a shot. Not all things are what they seem."
"You seem to be sounding more and more like some old man Master."
"Maybe I will grow old and wise one day."
"Yeah, old and wise… pff more like old and alone."
Mocking laughter echoed out in his empty mind, only to be silenced by the sound of a shoe slamming into a trunk.
"Damn you, Medea!"
"Oh relax, Master, it's merely character building."
After his typical banter with Medea, he went off to search for any broken fragments of rock that were from the edge of the statue: since these fragments would naturally be sharper than the rest.
Briskly walking around the clearing for five minutes, he scanned the tall weeds around the circumference of the statue. A triangular-shaped piece of rock caught his eye, its edge chipped but lethal. It would have to do. He didn't know how much time he had left till the hound fully recovered. There were still two elements required for the spear.
Before he left, he picked up some thin shards of rock around 15 cm long in diameter as Medea watched curiously through his eyes.
"Why are you carrying some loose shards, Master?"
"These shards can sharpen further if I find a large enough stone to use as a whetstone; I will have daggers in my arsenal."
"Intriguing… I didn't know you grew another brain cell Master, congrats!"
"Why you... sometimes I surprise myself with my brilliance."
The sarcastic exchange concluded, signalling the beginning of the search. Elderond needed something to house the triangular-shaped rock and a medium to bind the rock tip and its shaft together.
A few meters in front of him, the bush line of the forest opened up. It revealed a swamp-like setting, riddled with vines. It was getting more arduous as he slowly trudged forwards, the forest floor becoming muddier as he neared the vines.
"Medea, do you reckon this will be able to bind the housing and the stone?"
"Hmm, I suggest you test the strength of the vine Master... you wouldn't want it to come loose after you tie it."
"Good point."
Heeding Medea's advice, Elderond grabbed the vine and hoisted himself upon the vine and waited. The vine strained but held. Perfect. With one of his loose rock shards, he cut two vines down: one to act as the binding agent when building his spear, the other to act like a belt to house the rock shards on his waist. Elderond contemplated cutting a third. He could construct some form of a tripwire to snare the hound after baiting it.
Grinning, he cut down a third vine. It was better being over-prepared than being unready.
An hour had passed since running from the hound. Logically speaking, the hound should be close to full recovery. Walking for another couple of minutes, Elderond spotted a path leading up the side of the muddy slope. Steeling himself, he trudged up the hill as his energy reserves continued to deplete.
With strained effort, he finally reached the summit and looked towards the clearing. The second clearing sprawled in front of him; but, this clearing was different from the first. Someone had been here before. Ashes littered the campfire, footprints led away into the distant tree line, thriving behind a lone boulder; firewood lay littered to the side.
It was Elderond's first outlook on how the people of this strange planet lived. Surprisingly, they seemed normal.
"Enough dawdling Master, check the stockpile of firewood to see if there will be a suitable piece for the shaft."
"Your right... there isn't much time left."
Elderond snapped out of his daze, locking his eyes onto the firewood stockpile. He moved his hands systematically, desperately searching for a long yet sturdy piece of wood.
Nothing. Cursing, Elderond looked around the campsite once again.
"Come on! something has to be here!"
As if to answer his plight, he spotted a long piece of wood. It stuck out of a trough at the edge of the campsite. Bingo! The long piece of wood: was 1.5 meters long in diameter. Miniscule cracks riddled its frame; yet, it stood firm to the touch. At the end of the piece of wood: a feathery type of material grouped in a rectangular shape.
"It seems you've been saved... by a broom, Master."
Indeed he had been saved. Snapping off the end, he placed the feathers on his makeshift-vine belt. Grabbing the triangular rock, he cut an indent into the top of the wooden shaft, creating a triangular housing for his spear blade. Then he placed the triangular piece of rock within the housing, using one of the two remaining vines in a crisscross fashion, fastening the two objects together. This crisscross fashion was one of the methods suggested by Medea, forming a double helix bind.
Satisfied, Elderond took the last vine and attached it to the bottom of two trees which had long weeds growing next to them, naturally concealing the basic tripwire. With a solemn expression, he turned to the boulder, ready to file his spear and rock shards hastily.
The hound rose, howling with delight. Its muscles flexed as it shot into the undergrowth, following the boy's scent. Its eyes locked on the trail that showed its adversary's whereabouts. The hunt had begun.
As Elderond was filing, he heard Medea's voice.
"Master, maybe you should consider concealing your scent. After all, it is tracking you with its advanced sense of smell."
Taking Medea's suggestion seriously, Elderond grabbed the dried ash and smeared himself with it, mixing in the wet mud littered around the campsite. The skin which gave off a unique smell now gave off the scent of the forest.
Positioning himself behind the boulder, he waited, watching the entrance.
The preparations were complete.