Huff. Huff!!
Will's breath came out rough and uneven as his legs carried him forward through the dense, blackened forest.
Every step sent a dull pain shooting up from his right ankle, the wound there still raw and not fully healed despite the potions he had consumed earlier.
His lungs burned, not from lack of air, but from the constant tension that refused to leave his body even for a moment.
[Calm down, host. They cannot see you. They can only hear. Just stay silent.]
"You are not helping at all," Will muttered under his breath as he forced himself to slow down.
He crouched beside the thick roots of a twisted tree, pressing his back against the bark while trying to steady his breathing.
The bark felt rough and warm, still holding residual heat from the earlier fire he had unleashed. His chest rose and fell as he tried to suppress every unnecessary sound.
He was being chased.
Not by something he could clearly see, but by something that never let him go.
