Alex woke with a start, the rumbling beneath him jolting him awake.
It took a second to realize the entire tree was trembling.
His first thought was to look down, and what he saw turned his blood to ice—dozens of beasts, both predators and prey, were charging through the forest in a panicked wave, their eyes wild with fear.
The heavy, suffocating atmosphere pressed down on him, making it hard to breathe.
He clung to the rough bark, feeling the terror radiate from the fleeing animals below. Whatever was behind them was driving them all together, something far more dangerous than any predator he'd ever encountered.
In a burst of desperate energy, he scrambled down the shaking tree, his breath coming fast and shallow.
There was no time to think or even feel—he had to move.
With no solid ground in sight, he leapt into the chaos below, his small frame landing on the back of a massive creature.
The impact jolted his bones, but he forced himself to hang on, wrapping his fingers tightly around its fur.
The beast bucked, but he managed to stay on, carried forward by the stampede's sheer force.
"What am I doing?"
Alex's mind raced as he clung to the creature, his thoughts a frantic mess.
"Mom, Dad... where are you? Why is this happening? I don't know what to do!"
For what felt like hours, they ran.
His fingers ached, his knuckles turning white from holding on, but he couldn't let go—he was caught in a current of survival, dragged farther and farther away from the only route he knew.
His mother's words, the instructions she'd given him, were lost in the rush of adrenaline and terror.
When the beasts finally began to slow, he slid off the creature's back and stumbled away, collapsing against a tree as they disappeared into the shadows.
He was alone.
"I can't do this… not alone," he thought, his heart pounding in his chest.
The silence that followed was almost as deafening as the noise had been.
Alex's chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath, his whole body trembling.
He reached into his bag with shaking hands, pulling out the map his mother had given him.
The crumpled paper felt foreign in his grasp, the lines and symbols twisting and blurring before his exhausted eyes.
He couldn't make sense of it. He blinked furiously, fighting the tears that stung his eyes.
"Why did you leave me with this? What am I supposed to do?"
The panic rose inside him, uncontrollable, and he couldn't stop it—he had no idea where he was.
No idea if he was even going in the right direction.
His fingers tightened around the paper until it tore.
A choked sob escaped his lips, and before he knew it, he was crying—silent, gut-wrenching sobs that wracked his entire body.
He sank to his knees, clutching the torn map to his chest as the weight of everything he'd lost crashed over him.
"I'm so stupid. I can't even read this stupid map," he thought, the anger at himself boiling over.
The burning village, the screams, the last time he'd seen his father's face—he didn't even know if they were alive.
He had tried to stay strong, but now, utterly lost and alone, it was too much.
It was all too much.
"I miss you... I miss all of you.
What if I never see you again?"
His tears mixed with the dirt on his face, and he didn't bother to wipe them away.
His voice was hoarse, broken, barely above a whisper.
"I'm so scared. I don't know where I am, or what to do..."
He could hear his mother's voice in his mind, calm and gentle, telling him to follow the map.
But now it was nothing but torn pieces in his hands.
"I'm sorry, Mom... I'm sorry I'm not strong enough."
The forest seemed to close in around him.
Hours later, he forced himself to his feet, wiping his tear-streaked face with trembling hands.
He couldn't afford to break down, not now.
He had to keep moving, even if he didn't know where he was going.
There had to be something—someone—at the end of this endless forest.
There had to be hope.
"I have to survive. I have to make it, somehow."
He kept walking, driven only by the faint glow of the stone his mother had given him.
Each step felt heavier than the last, and the forest grew darker.
The weight in his chest grew with every shadow that flickered in the corners of his vision.
His grief was a heavy stone inside him, but he had to keep going.
He had to move.
By the time night fell again, he was stumbling through the undergrowth.
His body was exhausted, his mind clouded with grief and fatigue.
He had no idea how far off course he was now.
But he had to keep going—he couldn't stop.
Finally, his legs gave out, and he sank to the ground, curling up against the base of an ancient tree.
He pulled his knees to his chest, holding the glowing stone close for warmth.
He was so tired, so unbearably tired.
The dark forest was silent, save for the rustling of the leaves and his ragged breathing.
He didn't think he could take another step.
Just as he was about to close his eyes, a low growl made him freeze.
His eyes snapped open, and he looked up, his breath hitching in his throat.
There, just beyond the dim light of the stone, stood a creature like nothing he'd ever seen before.
A huge, hulking shadow, its eyes glowing with a malevolent light that cut through the darkness.
The air felt heavy again, the suffocating pressure returning with a vengeance.
Alex couldn't move, his limbs paralyzed with exhaustion and fear.
"What... what are you?" he thought, but no sound came from his lips.
The creature stepped closer, the ground shuddering beneath its weight.
His breath hitched, and he gripped the stone tighter, the small warmth it emitted the only comfort in the overwhelming fear.
The shadow loomed closer, its eyes reflecting his terror.
All he could do was stare, heart pounding, every muscle frozen.
He felt the darkness swallow him as the beast's low growl turned into a deafening roar.