The next day started as Claud woke up, as always, with a heavy headache. It was still dark outside the cave but the orange, red morning sun peeked out behind a huge mountain, creating a breathtaking view.
He groaned, like a college student making an all-nighter. After a few exhausting minutes, Claud decided to wake up and faze reality.
As he made a common morning stretch, Claud noticed that he couldn't move his left leg. Ignore moving, he couldn't even feel it.
He breathed a heavy courage breather before looking down at his wounded limp.
Breugh
Shortly after, Claud wished he hadn't as he tried not covering himself in his own vomit. His whole leg was purple black and his veins turned green.
He was now sure that he couldn't save it anymore and cried an invisible tear of grief.
As a mean to distract his attention to different things, he looked through his cave for useful things, that will graduated him a better survival chance.
He was currently located behind a giant boulder, blocking half the entrance. Under him was a pile of old, abandoned artifacts, that emitted a ominous aura, probably a power of this world.
On his left side, facing the outside world, was a bunch of books and keys he couldn't use properly because he doesn't know the language.
On the last wall, marking the end of the cave, lean spears with other weapons and armor laying around.
Claud looked at the five pieces of firewood on his lap with a proud look, before thinking about some things.
„My left leg is useless as for now. So I should make a aid for it as to help, straighten it up. Can I melt the front parts of the metal weapons of lower quality and stick them together, to make something like a modern crutch? Then again, it is metal of another world so it wouldn't melt, right?"
He thought for a long time before coming to the conclusion to try it, as it wouldn't hurt him.
Swish
He slid down the pile of artifacts and made his way to his future fire place. But his crawling was interrupted by a loud croak, coming from the entrance.
He gulped down the saliva, that condensed because of his nervousness, grabbed a long-ranged weapon, a spear, and making his way to the exit/entrance, with a mind full of fear that was being pressed down by a little flame out of curiosity and hope.
Coming close enough to the entrance to see the outside, a unusually big carrion crow came to his sight. It has four wings, two heads and three long, reptilian tails.
Aaahhahhheh
Hundreds of horror-like pictures were flowing through Clauds mind, as he remembered the traumatized scene from yesterday.
He would have made a step back, if he wasn't already on the ground.
The grip around his poor-condition spear tighten and sweat formed on his forehead.
Claud went into cover out of fear of being notice, he hid behind the solid rock that blocked half the entrance.
Tik,tak,tik,tak
Claud heard the clocking of an imaginary clock as he waited for the crows next move. His spear firmly in hand. He toke deep breaths, trying his hardest not to make any noises.
The beast, who was still stuck in an self-created crater, noticed Claud as the tip of his spear peaked out of the cave. It couldn't do anything as it was already exhausted from his struggle to escape from the self-made prison the whole night.
Its stuck foot was already bleeding and nearly torn of, only the bone connected the body part with its main body.
Claud saw that the crow was in a state of struggle and decided to try hunt it down. He tried to become the predator of his predator. Truly maleficent.
His shoulder-long, black hair was wet with sweat and blood, sticky and dirty as never before. His simple white shirt that was pierced with holes, is now only a rag of his former form. His light leather armor was almost completely destroyed and the upper half already exchanged with a new, brown one.
His black pants were only a half than before and his black metal armor shoe was alone without its partner.
He crawled closer and closer, gaining confidence with every crawl. His injured leg was giving him a wave of pains all over his body but he tried his best to ignore them all.
The ground behind him was covered with strange bodyprints and a sticky, smelly slime coming out of the skin from his left leg.
When he was close enough for the tip of the spear to attack the crow, Clauds eyes sharpened. He brought all the strength left in his body together, to attack and kill the beast in front of him.
Claud saw the bird now only as mere prey that is going to become his food very soon.
The vulture-crow eats rotten flesh daily but that doesn't mean that its flesh is rotten. On the opposite, Claud heard many special specialties that were made out of the trash of the animals, among them was the meat of this disgusting looking scavenger.
Claud didn't care about the fact that this beast was from another world and completely different from the animals, he was familiar with. He was to hungry to care about it anyway.
the staggered spear slowly made its way to the soon-to-be animal skewer. Claud held his weapon on the very end, making it wobble midway.
He stayed in an self-created safe zone where the beast couldn't attack him.
He was aiming for its head, the spear coming closer and closer but just as it was about to pierce the crow skull, the crow attacked it with its beak, breaking the wooden neck from its opponent.
Claud was stunned as he held the first half of his spear. He shuddered by the thought of it being his neck and slowly made his way back into his base. Making a plan to kill the crow.
After 20min, he managed to reach his pile of rusty, old weapons and searched for a weapon that was robust and solid but also fast and small.
„Hmmmm, maybe? This one isn't it. How about this solid harpe?"
After a lot of struggle and helplessness, he finally found a perfect fit for this job. It was an harpe with black paintings on its blade.
As he came for a rematch, he had a look of absolute confidence with a face saying , I want food. Now!'
The crow shot killing intent at its opponent, making him stop for a short moment but Claud didn't let himself be scared away by the last struggle of a wounded beast, he continued in his tracks without any intention to stop halfway.
The bow shaped blade reflected the shining sunlight and Claud came closer and closer. Before stoping right outside of the range of the bird.
He orbited the beast like a shark its prey, looking for an good opportunity to attack, all while still crawling on all four.
His left leg looked like rotten meat and was only a handicap for him. After about 30min, he stopped on the right side of the crow, not even seconds after he saw an opening, he straightened himself up and jumped of the ground with his not dead leg.
He held the harpe high above his head with two hands and the bird, that was a little late to react, only manage to pierce his left stomach part and leather armor.
Which wasn't enough to stop Claud. His sword kissed the heart of his prey but he didn't stop there and kept pressing the harpe into the crow.
„More!! Continue! Come on, let me get this bastard!"
He roared out loud as he felt the massive pain in his abdomen. He looked the beast straight in its eyes while killing it. And after a death cry, the bird's eyes lost color and liveliness.
Pruh
With a loud noise, the corpse of the crow landed on the ground with Claud on its back.
Cough, cough
He coughed out blood and lay on his back, looking at the morning sky while trying his best to ignore the unbearable pain.
His eyes slowly became grey and his body motionless. Before the light disappeared forever from his eyes, he saw a little purple text, hovering in front of his eyes. He died.
Claud died on an unknown date in another world while trying to declare victory against an alien.
He died for the first time, in many.