Chase continued to sprint through the Dark Forest: running between the massive trees and hurdling any obstacles that stood in his way.
He had to maintain the direction that he was going; he could not stray off course at all; otherwise, his already long and impossible trip would only grow longer.
He sidestepped a large spider that was feasting on the corpse of an unidentifiable monster. Chase cursed as he quickly ran past the beasts.
Suddenly, as Chase ran, an eerily warm heat hit him from behind. He did not turn to risk a look and instead continued to run as faint violet lights could be seen from the corners of his vision.
He clenched the dagger in his left hand even tighter, as he could feel his own blood dripping down from his other.
As he ran, the monsters slowly grew quiet; however, the purple light did not fade with the noise.
The terrible feeling at the bottom of his stomach never disappeared either.
Chase closed his eyes only for a second, as his tired and ragged body sped through the maze of trees.
He opened them to see nothing but darkness, just as he expected.
What the hell, Chase thought.
He had thought that he had perhaps seen something in the distance, but he had just assumed it was some other monster minding its own business in the Dark Forest.
Well... damnit, Chase thought as he took one big stride forward, only for his foot to meet nothing but air. A terrible realization dawned on him.
The Dark Forest was certainly not a flat and level area; in fact, it was mostly mountains, caverns, and valleys.
So Chase should not have been surprised that he was now falling...
He began to panic as he plunged forward into the darkness of the empty abyss that he had fallen into.
He clutched his dagger, holding it out away from him, so if he survived the landing, he wouldn't accidentally stab himself.
His breathing grew panicked and shaky as he fell. His vision blurred (not that he could see anything anyway).
This was it...
If Chase was going to die, it was going to be now.
The wind howled in his ears as his body plummeted through the darkness, the ground threatening to meet him at any moment. For a second, time seemed to stretch, and all he could hear was the frantic beat of his own heart.
He thought of his father and friends as he made a mental note to apologize to them in the afterlife for not making it.
Tears began to build up as they leaked from the boy's eyes.
I don't want to die...
...
Chase landed with an explosion of pain in his back as he began to violently roll down a steep hill of some sort.
As he rapidly stumbled down the mountain, he collided with rocks and mud, ripping and tearing through his skin and brutally crashing into his bones.
Pain seared through his body like wildfire, each new jolt more excruciating than the last. Every time his body collided with the jagged rocks, it felt like his very soul was being torn apart.
Chase's body finally began to come to a stop as he opened his eyes...
The sight that he was greeted with was probably the worst possible thing that could have happened.
He was now seated on a vast, open space covered in a dark brown mud-like material. There was plenty of light as he looked up to see the large stone roof of the massive cave that he had fallen into.
He scanned the horizon of the cave, and not too far away: positioned oddly in a corner sat the terrible monster he had seen on one of the first nights in the forest.
It was curled into one large ball of slithering tentacles, and what Chase had assumed was its chest was breathing heavily underneath the layers of its own limbs as it slowly inhaled and exhaled.
Chase was about to stand up when a terrible scream of pain threatened to escape his mouth.
He quickly covered his mouth with his right hand, revealing a wide-open cut that spread nearly entirely across his palm.
However, that was not the worst of his issues at the moment.
He looked down to see his right leg had been brutally twisted and crushed. His knee had most likely been dislocated, and the sight of his shin made Chase want to just simply cut it off and never look at the mangled bone again.
Chase tried to move his leg, but a wave of dizziness overtook him. The sight of his mangled limb sent a cold chill down his spine, and his stomach twisted into knots.
There was no more clothing on the boy's leg, as the skin and lower half of the makeshift pants had been completely shredded, turning to crimson-stained flesh.
He tried his best not to pass out, considering he was inside the lair of one of the true beasts of the Dark Forest.
Through shaky breaths, Chase put his left hand on his knee. He shut his eyes and clenched his teeth.
POP!
He stifled another scream as he violently pulled on his knee.
It was back into place; however, there was no doubt that his knee would not be usable for a while.
Chase's ragged breaths filled the air as he quickly thought of a way to get himself out of this terrible mess.
Suddenly, an idea popped into the back of his mind—a terrible and agonizing idea. But it was an idea nonetheless.
He truly had no other choice...
He set the handle of the blade in between his teeth, clenching the blade still by closing his mouth.
He pulled his mangled leg onto his other leg, using it as a temporary table. He bit violently into the soft fabric handle that supported the topaz dagger.
Tears flooded Chase's eyes as he realized the pain was only going to get worse from here.
He reached into the center of his core and brought forth a steady flame on the finger of his left hand.
Chase bit into the handle even harder, drawing blood from his own gums.
He slowly reached out to his leg with the flame as many different pains radiated through his tired body.
His body screamed for rest, for a reprieve, but Chase knew there was no time to waste. The Dark Forest had claimed countless victims, and if he didn't act quickly, he would be another forgotten soul.
What would his Father think if Chase had failed to survive the forest? What would Mr. Dane, and Chase's two good friends think if he just gave up after reaching this far.
Suddenly, he could not help it anymore. He screamed violently through his makeshift gag.
However, he kept his eyes open as he shakily burned his own skin in a desperate attempt to cauterize his mangled leg.