Hearing Raymond's words, Claude's pupils shrunk to the size of a pinhead. 'Subspace anomaly...? What the hell is it meant to mean? Does this monstrosity have something to do with the subspace from the story before?'
However, the situation didn't give Claude any time to ponder as his attention was soon redirected to what was happening in front of him.
Beside Claude, Raymond, who had been panicking moments before, managed to calm his breathing and fix his gaze on the 'anomaly'. Time seemed to freeze until Raymond spoke again. "Kid... I need you to run away now."
Claude's response came fast, a mix of confusion and shock. "Wh-What do you mean? Do you think I'm just going to up and leave you to die alone?"
His voice broke the tense silence, his words louder than intended despite the gravity of their predicament. He couldn't fathom abandoning Raymond, the man who had been more a father than a mentor.
"STOP HESITATING!" Raymond's shout snapped Claude back to the harsh reality. His gaze never left the menacing entity before them, which seemed to savour the fear it induced in its prey.
Raymond softened his tone, the urgency in his voice replaced by a gentle firmness. "Claude, listen to me. You know I'm old. Much older than the years would suggest. I wouldn't last long, even if I escaped today. I'm already too worn... too tired... Please, just run. Do it for me."
As the beast loomed closer, Raymond's voice remained calm yet urgent.
"Claude, remember, survive! Find the massive tree in the meadow. It's more than it seems. It might be the only thing that can help you."
His words were vague, but Claude grasped at it like a drowning man. As Raymond pushed him away, Claude hesitated, turning to face the man who had raised him, taught him, and now sacrificed for him.
He saw the determination in Raymond's stance, his frail body forming a barrier between Claude and the beast before him. Tears, unbidden, rolled down Claude's cheeks.
"GO!" Raymond's final shout was a command, a plea, and a goodbye all at once.
Overwhelmed with a tumultuous mix of fear and resolve, Claude turned and ran, his steps heavy, his heart heavier.
Every fibre of his being screamed to turn back, yet Raymond's words propelled him forward.
Watching Claude's figure disappear into the distance, Raymond heaved a sigh of mixed relief and resignation. 'I guess this is it. I didn't think it would end like this, not to one of these things.'
The horse-like monster opposite him, finally started to edge closer as it realised that it couldn't simply let one of its prey disappear now.
Without warning, the beast lunged at Raymond. In this once-silent forest, a jarring of sounds came to life; with shouts, screams and cries continually echoing.
A few minutes later, all that was left at the scene was a mutilated corpse, blood seeping from it and dyeing the grass around it a scarlet hue.
The lonesome corpse remained the only thing that could have attested to the bravery put by a rather fearless old man.
On the other hand, Claude was dashing through the forest. He dodged and weaved through the trees and bushes as his mind kept lingering on what was happening behind him.
'Run, Claude. You can't look back now. You know how that old man will act like if you turn back now, screw the monster, he might personally send you into the afterlife...' His jest being a poor attempt to distract him from what might be happening behind him.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
Claude could hear his heart racing, the running and the stress were slowly affecting him as he could slowly feel his legs turn heavy.
Nevertheless, his attempts to calm himself proved futile as he heard something that caused his blood to freeze.
The sound of hooves smashing against the forest floor reverberated in his ears, he could almost picture that monstrosity galloping through the forest as it tried to lock onto him.
However, for the current Claude, the presence of the beast behind him could only mean one thing.
'Old man...'
Realising that he may have just lost his only real family member in this world, a mix of emotions swirled around in his mind.
Rage. Hatred. Despair.
Emotions that he never would have thought he would be capable of expressing flowed through him.
As much as he wanted to turn around and fight that thing to the death, he did not want to waste Raymond's sacrifice.
There also was another reason why Claude kept on running.
If I don't survive this... Wouldn't this mean no one else would be left in this world to remember the old man? No one left to avenge him...?
'Damn it! I can't outrun a normal horse, let alone something like that. Who knows how fast that thing is... Think Claude, how can you survive this... What would the old man do...'
As his mind remained in turmoil a certain memory flashed in his head.
-----
----------
----------------
A slightly younger-looking Raymond and a much younger Claude were taking a walk through this very forest.
"Grandpa! Look over there! What is that doing here?"
The younger Claude pointed his little finger towards something in the distance, where a small bird lay on the ground motionless.
"What do you mean 'what is that?' That is quite obviously a bird. A dead one at that."
Hearing Raymond's words, Claude pouted slightly before replying. "Well, I get that. But why is it dead in the first place?"
Before answering Claude, Raymond edged towards the corpse and took a closer look at it.
"Seems to have been hunted, though I do find it strange that its corpse is just left here..."
Interrupting his words, a small figure darted out of a nearby bush and rushed towards the corpse before picking it up and running away.
"Ah, it was bait. That makes much more sense. Oy! Claude, what are thinking about now?" Raymond turned his attention to Claude after confirming that the critter had run away.
"I'm just thinking... Why do we not get eaten by big animals? I mean I don't think we can beat a lot of animals in a fight, but we don't ever seem to be in much danger."
Raymond broke into a brief chuckle as he answered, "That's what you were thinking about? Well to answer your question, some unfortunate people do indeed end up becoming an afternoon snack for an animal."
"But you would also have to understand that it is very unlikely to happen to most of us. Have you ever thought how hard it is to chase a person? Like for example when you and your friends play tag around here?"
"We possess surprising agility, thanks to us running on two legs, we can make sharp turns and sudden stops much more easily compared to other animals. With our intelligence, we can make use of our natural surroundings to act as a buffer between us and any wannabe predator."
"Then there's the fact that we have a lot of stamina... Like a lot... Over a very, very long distance, we could outrun most animals like horses for example, though that is a poor example... I mean why would you need to run away from a horse?"
"Of course, this only applies to very long distances. In a short sprint, we are not going to fare too well. Then there are things like our ability to use weapons, fighting in groups etc."
-----
----------
----------------
The memory soon faded from Claude's mind as he now had a much clearer idea of what to do.
'I shouldn't run in a straight line, first of all, perhaps make sharp turns on my way through? Then I should also try to travel through the more forested areas with more trees and vegetation...'
Dashing through the forested landscape, Claude's chest pounded as he could hear the sound of hooves edging closer to him.
'No... no... Why are you so fast?'
Ignoring the burning pain in his legs and the sweat pooling on his forehead, he found himself in abject horror as he could swear he could feel that the beast was right behind him.
Staring in front of him, he soon found an area densely populated with trees to his right. As he turned a sharp right, he felt a strong breeze rush past him as he made out the silhouette of the monster rushing past him from the corner of his eyes.
Not wasting any more time, he continued running. Darting between the trees and over some fallen branches, Claude felt some of his tension leaving him as he could no longer hear anything behind him.
Nevertheless, the fatigue was catching up to him as he was slowly losing feeling in his legs. However, before he could feel his legs give out, he managed to spot something that invigorated him.
'There!'
Looking around he found himself in front of a familiar field, somewhere that once held memories of joy and laughter. Despite all the stress placed on his mind due to his current situation, the sight of this field strangely calmed him down.
In the distance loomed a colossal tree, its towering form stretching skyward with branches that seemed to reach into the heavens above.
The bark, weathered and gnarled, boasted a thickness that could rival that of several grown men standing side by side.
This was the tree most of the children in the village used to mess around on, however, no one knows how long it has been there. All Claude knew was that it had been here for longer than anyone currently in the village.
Whilst gasping for air, he rushed towards the tree before grabbing onto the tough, dry bark in front of him and began to climb upwards.
As he made his way up, his arms grew heavier by the second until he reached a point where he could no longer climb. Exhausted, Claude flopped himself onto a thick branch someway up the tree.
Whilst he was recovering his breath, he heard a now familiar sound that made his heart sink. Well below him, on the ground craning its neck towards him was the horse-like monster.
It seemed annoyed that it couldn't reach its prey and continually smashed its head onto the tree bark. The creature's actions shook the tree slightly but weren't enough to achieve anything else.
Staring at the scene below him, Claude realised something, 'If this was any other tree, wouldn't it already be toppled over?'
Whilst shivering at the realisation, Claude soon found himself feeling drowsy as his exhaustion caught up with him.
Nevertheless, a sudden change took place that rendered him both awed and speechless.
Without warning, the massive tree he was resting on shot out a pulse of vibrant white light into its surroundings before it then fired a pillar of similar colour into the sky above.
On the ground the monster that didn't seem capable of feeling anything other than blood lust immediately tried running away, horrified by what was happening.
Despite its attempts, it found itself being evaporated by the light.
Claude watched on in shock, at the scene before him as the creature that put him through hell today disappeared as if it never existed in the first place.
Nevertheless, a wave of fatigue that washed over him sent his vision into darkness as he fell into a slumber.
'Am I... Going to die?'