Doeg laid still. Not in the kind of way that one laid to win a party game, but suffocatingly enough that made him understand that his slightest motion was all it would take to end his life.
He became the embodiment of the saying 'become one with nature'. His skin was coated with mud, wet leaves littering across his body and his nostrils assaulted with the smell of rotten vegetation, pungent water and the metallic scent of blood that nature had failed to mask.
He had dug himself into the ground as best as he could, using potential energy to push along with gravity, sinking himself deeper in the soil, at a snail's pace.
Breathing was too dangerous to be executed even when his lungs spammed for air. His chest rose, slowly, painfully slowly, with each breath diffusing before it fully scrapped in. He did not blink, he barely thought, afraid that those actions were too noisy.
He could not fear because fear had a trail, and he could not remain brave knowing that fearing could be his end. Back in the regular world, he had liked paradoxes, but now he found himself unable to appreciate this one.
The forest around him was quiet too. No insects buzzed, no wind rustled through the trees and bark strangely stopped creaking.
Everything had integrated into mist, all but for the oppressive aura of an apex predator. The weight of its lethality grew closer every second, like a count down to something he dreaded thinking about.
His body trembled despite all efforts to steady himself. Sweat ran down his back even as the forest was damp with humid mist.
' Don't breath, don't move, don't exist.'
The words recycled themselves in his mind, becoming more meaningless and frantic as the seconds aged into minutes.
Besides him, somewhere else half sunk in mud and roots, two others survivors laid unmoving.
Three people, out of twenty four.
***
Doeg had been condemned to death by a law above any court, by his weakness. He had woken up confused, drained and abandoned, the forest around him dripping with a hunger to consume his blood.
He hadn't been there at the moment of Ronan's and Khalifa's betrayal, but the forest had narrated it to him through the hardships in the days that followed.
For days he dreamt of nothing greater than surviving into the next day. Anything and everything could kill him and he had to be wary of which tree he leaned against.
When the members of the Chamber had found him, they had been reluctant to let him live and initially just wanted his battle seed. But through a series of relentless pleas, they agreed to indulge him and access him on his usefulness.
The assessment was quite comprehensive, but he had been passed the moment they found out that he could mask his presence and the presences of a select few from detection by any of the five senses.
And just like that, he had been admitted into one of the, or the strongest faction among the forest's entrants. Infact, it was the only thing worthy of being a faction that he had since.
Comprising of about seventy five people, the Chamber was a disciplined force with abundant cores and measly amount of battle seeds. They had specific tasks for each member to ensure that they were not caught unaware by any event, and that they continued to grow effectively.
And to no one's surprise, Doeg had been designated the role of scout.
He was quickly recognised for his stellar performance, especially since he didn't have to worry about his visibility as searched for trespassers.
Eventually, he discovered a beast that was creating an artificial scarcity of predators, by killing all beasts before they stumbled into the path of the Chamber's hunters.
When its strength was accessed, twenty-four of them were sent to combat it, and if not kill it, hopefully drive them away.
They had started the hunt with confidence, believing that they could all return after slaying the predators.
That believe had been ruthless dashed seconds after the beast had locked unto them.
It was a tiger. But that word barely captured the abnormality of it. It was massive, almost on equal terms with the size of an elephant and had fur so thick it could probably deflect blades.
It moved through their ranks with hate in its steps, swiping their heads off as if swatting flies. They had made the unspoken unanimous decision to retreat. But it was easier said than done.
***
And now, after mere minutes of trumping at it with confidence, only three of them remained.
They had been the lucky ones who could retreat, but the tiger had tracked them relentless in the end. And now, it was barely twenty metres away from them. The distance was all that stood between their dirty necks and a maw that could snap metal.
It stood with muscles wound up like a high tension springs, sniffing the air and ready to lunge the moment it found their scent. Its golden eyes scanned the forest through, its radiance piercing through mist. The same eyes the owl had. The same eyes of wisdom now turned murderous.
It inhaled, its draw of breath louder than clapping hands. Slowly it turned, three of its senses peaking out for a moment.
Its eyes brightened, its nose widened and ears twitched. And then, from three different receivers, he caught a signal.
Doeg stood his head, except that he didn't shake it at all. He was pained. And worst of all, he was too powerless to change anything.
The tiger exploded with motion that made the forest seem like it was on pause. One moment it was still, staring at the spot one of the survivors laid, and in the next second, it was mid-leap.
It slammed into the rock that had curtained the man from its view. The entrant had gotten barely enough time to react. But even when he knew that the beast was going to attack him, he was still too slow to act according to the telegraph.
The predator's claw sliced across his gut, parting his stomach in ways that made death grin.
The man rolled backwards, avoiding the claws from sinking any deeper into his flesh. The illusion of safety shattered instantly.
"RUN!"
Before their brains had turned the sound into something literate, they had all moved. Their feet barely grazed the as they ran with every iota of strength remaining in their blood.
The distance between the hunter and the hunted dropped down by more than half even few seconds. But their only saving grace was the fact that Doeg's invisibility ability could disorient its chase whenever he used it. Although he couldn't maintain the ability for long, the momentarily off grid movement was enough to buy them time.
But definitely not much.
And Doeg knew for a fact, that death was not going to be left absent in this occasion, it was just late to the party.
***
The feeling of being force feed was the first thing that hit him,then the scent of the juicy berries. Soon after that, the ghost of pain joined in.
He wasn't reeling from agony anymore, but was in no means comfortable.
He was laid on the ground, bandaged up with leaves that soaked up his numerous wounds. The feeling of drain that the Combat Class gave went it slept after a fight was there, but washed pale by the passage of time.
He turned to his left and beheld Saul sitting on a log. His face was still a perpetual grimace, but his steeled will was coming back.
He had healed a lot faster than any of them had expected. And for the most part, Pluto was happy about it.
He didn't speak yet, he didn't let Saul know he had woken up. Instead, he just closed his eyes and enjoyed the silence.
***
The girl with the second mark could not remember the last time in days she had stopped to rest. The greatest form of respite she had experienced was running at a slower pace.
Her sore muscles screamed, with each individual molecule protesting against further motion.
Her fatigue had pushed all her senses far from her, leaving her with nothing but the feel of the claw marks the predators had inflicted on her.
Behind her, the forest rustled violently with the chase of several predators. The mark on her arm kept beaconing her location, and kept instilling more rage into them.
The sound of pursuit grew closer and closer. And just as the first beasts burst from the bushes behind her–
She saw someone. Standing ahead on the path. It was a female.
It was Mira.