He did not know how long he had been running, but eventually, Nathan stopped.
Hr had pondered dropping his backpack back then, but didn't. He had banked on the fact the shot disoriented the creature enough for it to lose sight of him.
It worked out, a miracle considerijgnhe ehard the creature screaming not too far behind him for the majority of his time running.
"Hah...hah..."
It was already almost dawn, Nathan could see the faint sun rays glistening from behind the horizon.
He was now in a clearing, he hadn't realized, but he had run in the opposite direction of the mountain.
"Consarnit..."
He mouthed wrily, setting his backpack and rifle down on the snow, opening the backpack and taking out the bottle of water, greedily drinking for a few seconds, before wiping off the rim and closing it.
The blizzard had ended, but Nathan was not relieved, not in the slightest.
"What goddamn sadist...made these tests?"
He was being chased by some kind of Wendigo.
Again, Nathan was being pursued by a goddamn cryptid, one that shrugged off a close range headshot from a rifle.
"...Hah...haha...this is ridiculous."
That thing had been looking for him, specifically for him. He didn't know why, but his gut told him so.
He had seen it's hollow white eyes dilate in glee when it peeked into the cave, saw the saliva dripping from it's bone white chin.
There was definitely recognition in those eyes.
Which meant that the Wendigo clearly had some degree of intelligence.
"You have got to be kidding me..."
Even as he complained, Nathan did not stop moving...he quickly put the water bottle back inside the bag, zipped it up, and put it on, making sure to grab the rifle from the ground and wipe it off.
He then began walking, not forward, not where he came from, but to the left.
He was going to go around...to the mountain.
'Wait, why the mountain?'
The thought crossed his mind, but he dismissed it, he just needed to go to the mountain.
Yes, he needed to go to the mountain.
.
.
.
Some time passed, and it was now mid day, throughout this time, Nathan hadn't stopped walking, eating and drinking on the way.
There was no more blizzard to wipe his tracks, he was certain that the Wendigo was either right on his tracks, or looking for them.
That meant he could somewhat predict where it could be.
There was nothing more comoforting thsn that.
"...Ofcourse, unless that thing is smart enough to predict and cut me off."
He had been thinking while walking, and decided to change his course every so often...sometimes taking thr time to wipe off certain tracks and make fake ones...or simply just creating a crossroad.
Sometimes, he would even loop around an area to confuse the Wendigo further.
After all, it was likely to follow where his scent is, so walking around a certain area left a trace stronger than just passing by.
'This is all based on assumption, though.'
Nathan did not allow himself to stop or grow complacent, he walked with the thought that the Wendigo is smarter than he is.
He made sure to stay aware.
.
.
.
It was night again, but he had succesfully made his way to the halfway point towards the mountain.
This time, Nathan did not stop to find shelter.
He had already encountered the Wendigo's traces twice during his trek, even hearing it in the distance...and both times, he had only managed to avoid it because he was constantly moving.
It was likely getting used to his tricks by now, it might even cut him off any second now.
.
.
.
For a second, Nathan paused as he heard a whooshing sound...before immediately, he ducked.
A tree, an entire tree trunk whizzed overhead, slamming into another tree with enough force to shatter it and bring it down...onto Nathan
Nathan didn't waste a second, raising himself and sprinting out of the danger zone and forward.
'What the hell are you, an Olympic spear thrower?!'
He looked to the side, scowling at the ridiculous feat of strength and accuracy, and when he did...he saw it, a good 500 meter distance away...atleast 8 meters tall, with antlers adding atleast half a meter to that height.
It's lanky arms dangled slightly, seemingly having just chucked that massive trunk of wood at him...accurately, at that.
It's white eyes glowed in the dark as it stabbed it's claws into another tree, a smaller one, and ripped it out by the roots, before raising it's hands overhead and chucking the entire thing.
It collided with one of the trees on the way, bringing it down infront of him...Nathan stumbled slightly from the eartshaking impact of the tree hitting the ground, before shaking off the daze and climbing over it to keep running.
No more trees came flying at Nathan.
Instead, came rocks, bigger than his head.
The Wendigo was screaming in anger and frustration, smashing a fist against a rock formation near it and splintering off stone that it then tossed at him with one hand.
"Want to kiiiiillll yooou! Teaaar youuu to pieccceees!"
The distorted male voice of the Wendigo roared as it tried to snipe Nathan with stones...it's one handed aim was abit off, but if a single one hit, his head would be blown smooth off.
So he ran, as fast as he could without tripping.
He could hear the angry roaring of the Wendigo, the loud thumping that signified that it was chasing him now.
"I'llll KIIIIIiiIILLLL YOOOUUU!"
Nathan panted as he ran as fast as he could towards the mountain that was getting ever closer.
He made sure not to run in a straight line, as the Wendigo tried to throw rocks at him from behind...it had grabbed some before giving chase.
'Why the hell is it so mad?!'
The most he did was give it a face scratch with a point blank shot, nothing to warrant this kind of anger.
Was it mad about being led around by the nose for an entire day?
This is certainly an overreaction!
Nathan complaindd in his head as he finally reached to foot of the mountain...contrary to expectation, he saw a visible path up...problem is, it looked slippery. And Nathan was scared of heights...
"Staaaab! RIIIP! Teeaar! Devour!"
Hearing that, Nathan got over his fear of heights.
He dashed up the path, careful not to slip as he tossed aside his backpack immediately, only grabbing the rope he had attached to the side of it...
The Wendigo dashed out of the tree line, moving like a blur as it slammed through a tree on it's way, sliding to a stop as it looked up at Nathan.
"Fleeeiing!!!Peeeest!!!"
With that very important exclamation, the Wendigo stabbed it's hands into the mountain and began clawing it's away up the side of it.
The path was too small for it to use, so it improvised.
'Are you kididng me?!'
Nathan thought as he watched the creature climb up the side of the mountain with only the strength of it's arms, dragging itself up like a sack of potatoes.
"KiiiiiiiIIIlLL!"
"I heard you the first twenty times!"
Nathan replied, his fear replaced by irritation at the beast's perstistence. He ran up the path, booking it with no regard for the slippery ice under the snow.
He ran like that, until he was halfway up the 500 meter tall mountain
Thankfullt, he didn't trip, instead he came face to face with an obstacle oh so cliche.
A hanging bridge.
He could see how dilapidated the thing was even under the cover of the night. Nonetheless, he ran onto it and over it.
He needed to reach the peak of the mountain.
He had to.
His gut told him so.
Unfortunately, the accursed Wendigo finally cuaght up to him, jumping onto the bridge hard enough to make it rattle...right behind him.
"I'll riiiiiiiip!!! Yooooouuuuuuu!"
It was as loud as ever.
"Shut up already!"
Nathan yelled right back as he aimed the rifle at the creature and shot twice, the shots cracked against it's body, staggering it, angering it.
It grabbed the sides of the bridge and began pulling up and down, making the entire bridge creak.
Nathan nearly lost his balance, aiming his rifle at the ropes holding it up and shooting.
He made the first shot, but missed the second, forcing him to reload as the Wendigo stopped approaching.
It paused, noticing the destabilized structure of the bridge and swatted it's hand to block the next bullet that came.
"Motherfu–"
Nathan cut himself off, dashing backwards towards the opposite side of the bridge that was already on the verge of falling.
He msde it, and immediately turned around to cut off the ropes...thankfully, he had put the knife in the pocket of his trench coat, not his backpack.
The Wendigo roared as it tried to jump, but the wood crumpled under it's weight as it stumbled.
It growled, trying to grab onto the ropes fhatbheld the bridge up.
Too late to realize that it was aleady falling.
"KiiiiiIIiiiiILlLL...me?"
For a second, it looked almost like clarity shone through it's pale white eyes, as it went silent and fell down...it collided with one of the mountain's sides, cracking it as the stone crumbled and began falling with it.
Nathan only heard a loud crash, breathing heavily as he turned and began running up the mountain.
.
.
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