Leo knew immediately that it was only a normal wolf. But only was such a deceiving word. He was an undernourished 13-year-old. Even a 'normal wolf' would rip him to shreds. But he didn't start running immediately.
He knew that the wolf would catch up to him in no time. The wolf was standing between the route to the city. The only direction he could run into was the forest, where there were more beasts that could kill him.
However, the forest also had more trees as it got farther from the city. It would make running difficult for him and even more so for the wolf. Leo would have a better chance of escaping the wolf if he ran towards the forest.
He prepared himself for the decision he made. The wolf slowly closed the distance between the two, not making any sudden moves. His hands tightly grabbed onto his knife in response as he took a deep breath. After clearing his mind, he turned around quickly and started sprinting with all his might.
The wolf howled and immediately leaped toward him. The wolf was hot in pursuit, closing the distance between them in a few seconds. To make the route filled with more obstacles, he chose to head towards a path blocked off by a fallen tree.
He leaped across the tree trunk that was in his way and started running into the forest. Even though he kept changing directions instead of running in a straight line to try and throw the wolf off, it was still right behind him.
After running for a short while, his ears heard the sound of crashing water. His legs automatically changed their course till he reached the source of the sound. In front of him was a waterfall.
The water was spilling into a huge lake in front of it. He looked back and saw the wolf charging toward him. Leo was completely out of breath since he had been running for almost three minutes. He took the only option available to him without any hesitation.
The water splashed as he jumped into the lake. He knew the lake had monsters too, but they wouldn't come to the waterfall because of the ripples it makes. At least, he hoped as he swam toward it. As he got away from the shore, he looked back at the wolf.
The wolf was snarling at him, but it hadn't jumped into the lake. It looked in a particular direction in the lake and then turned around. He looked at where the wolf was looking and winced. There was a splash of water there. Something was moving in the water, and it was heading for him.
He started swimming with all his might to the waterfall. He didn't have enough time to make it to the other side and he couldn't go back because the wolf would eat him. Leo pushed the water back with all his might.
When he finally got to the waterfall, he looked back to look at what was coming for him. There was something in the water, and it was very close - only a few yards away. He turned back at the waterfall. Something strange caught his eye. Instead of rocks, he saw darkness beyond the water.
He immediately dove into the waterfall. His body passed through the water and landed on a stone floor. Leo immediately tried to get away from the waterfall, launching himself with whatever strength he had left away from the waterfall.
His body landed on the stone floor, scratching his arm that he had used as a cushion. When he looked at the waterfall that he had passed through, he saw a huge crocodile dive through the waterfall and attempt to bite him.
It almost reached Leo, but it hit a mysterious, invisible wall that knocked it back. The crocodile tried to get across the wall a few more times, but it failed. It glared at him for a minute, and then left.
He saw this happen and couldn't believe his eyes. Somehow, something magical had saved his life. His mind couldn't even distinguish whether it was a figment of his imagination or actual reality.
He took a huge breath and then just collapsed on the stone floor. Being chased by the wolf, he ran for his life till most of his stamina was depleted and then swam from a crocodile with whatever energy that he mustered. Anyone would be completely exhausted after a chase like that.
While he was laying down, he thought about what happened. There was a mysterious barrier that stopped the crocodile from crossing the barrier. With magic like that around him, he knew that the cave he entered had something more complicated than he could imagine.
He closed his eyes, hoping to regain some energy. The minute his eyes shut, he passed out with exhaustion. When he opened his eyes again, he didn't know how long it had been since he had closed them.
He first went towards the waterfall for some water. After drinking some water and washing his face, he washed the scratch on his arm that had started bleeding lightly. Because he cleaned out the dried-up blood, it reopened the cut. He then took out his knife and looked at the cave, making his way into it.
The cave was very long. He had to walk for 5 minutes before reaching a stone door. The door had a lot of engravings on it. He pushed the door but it wouldn't budge. He kept trying to push but it wouldn't budge.
Meanwhile, his arm started bleeding again. He wiped his blood off with his hands and then wiped his hands with his shirt. However, some blood was still left on his hands. When he pushed again, the blood smeared into the door.
He took a step back after failing to push the door. The failure made him sigh as turned around, ready to leave. Just then, a low rumbling noise came from behind, making him look back. The stone door was moving all by itself.
The engravings that were previously dull like the rest of the stone were now shining in a golden color. The doors slowly opened into a huge open space. He gaped as he entered the opened room.