The monster raised its fist with a playful expression.
It wasn't an instinctive strike — it was deliberate. Sadistic.
He wanted to savor the fear in Kaelion's eyes.
With his back against the wall of stone, Kaelion couldn't move.
Tears and snot streamed down his face, mixing with dirt and blood.
His hand trembled around the useless knife.
"I knew I shouldn't have listened to that crazy old witch…"
he thought bitterly, as the shadow of the gorilla's fist blotted out the sky above him.
This was it. His life was about to end.
Then — a sound.
A sharp, distant impact, to the gorilla's right.
Kaelion turned his head, confused.
All he could catch was a blurred image, something like a white streak in motion. A ghost with speed.
Then… the gorilla was gone.
Flung through the air at a speed too fast to follow.
Kaelion stared, stunned.
He turned again toward the source — and there it was.
A tiger, enormous and majestic, with white fur striped with deep violet.
It stood on top of the gorilla, its massive fangs aiming for the monster's neck.
Muscles rippled beneath its mystical fur.
Its eyes — burning with a violet glow — showed no fear, only focused, primal fury.
The gorilla howled and hurled the tiger away, but it landed gracefully, almost like sliding on glass.
With a roar that made the entire forest tremble, it charged once more.
Kaelion saw it — his chance.
It didn't matter who won.
He just needed to run.
He turned and bolted in the same direction from which the tiger had come.
It might be its territory. It might be safer.
It might be anything but here.
Behind him, chaos exploded.
Branches shattered.
The ground quaked.
The fight between the two monsters shook the forest like an earthquake.
"They must be the apex beasts of this region,"
Kaelion thought, dodging roots and low branches,
"I have to get as far away from here as possible…!"
His legs burned. His lungs screamed.
He didn't care.
He ran.
—
Five minutes passed.
The tremors stopped.
Either the battle had ended…
or he had gone far enough.
Just as Kaelion began to slow his pace — snap.
The sharp crack of a branch.
His heart seized.
He ducked behind a large, moss-covered boulder and covered his mouth with one hand, suppressing his gasps.
"Please… let it not be another one…"
He peeked from the edge of the rock.
And what he saw chilled him.
Three tigers.
Each with white fur streaked with violet, much like the one that had saved him.
But they were smaller — more slender.
Still, their glowing eyes showed the same predatory awareness.
They weren't normal cubs.
They were young magical beasts — and even young, they were deadly.
Kaelion scanned the area desperately for a way out.
And then — he saw it.
A cave.
Partially hidden beneath twisted roots.
"If I can make it there, maybe they won't follow…"
He moved silently.
Each step measured.
Each breath shallow.
Then — crack.
A twig beneath his foot.
"Shit…"
All three tigers snapped their heads toward him at once.
Kaelion sprinted toward the cave.
No looking back. No hesitation.
He jumped over a root, ducked beneath a fallen log, and dove into the mouth of the cave.
Inside — darkness.
Cold, damp, and silent.
He pressed his back to the wall.
Held his breath.
No growls.
No steps.
They hadn't followed him.
For now.