Winston ran like his life depended on it because it literally did.
every muscle in his body screaming, his lungs on fire. Behind him, the horrifying screeches of the monstrous rat echoed like war horns through the twisted forest. Acid hissed and sizzled as it struck trees, the acrid smoke clawing at his throat. This wasn't just some overgrown rodent—this thing was a freak of evolution, the cursed spawn of nightmares and radioactive waste.
Then the thing that he was running away from suddenly appeared in front of him.
He ducked down and rolled on the forest floor .
No it did not came in front of him for now there were two of them. And they collided with each other.
Bam!
Both rats hissed at each other but then realised they were chasing after the delicious looking prey.
Winston didn't care for their dialogue and ran ahead.
' Great now there are two of them'.
He thought he was done for. That was, until a deeper growl rolled through the air like distant thunder.
Another predator.
He froze. So did the two rats.
From the shadows appeared a black wolf slightly larger than the rats. Its fur shimmered like obsidian. It narrowed its yellow eyes glowing with a terrifying intelligence on Winston then the two rats which made it change its expression. Now the wolf was focused on the two rats. It new the humoniod creature was too weak to pose any threat to it and it could deal with it latter.
Winston eyeing the three beats locked in a standoff decided to slowly back away from the side.
The rats could only helplessly watch the prey which was now sliping away from their grap and yet were cautioned against the wolf, not daring to make a reckless move.
The two rats were making screeching sounds to call more of their companions.
And from afar the sounds of running rats could be heard. The wolf new it needed to act fast and longed at one of the rat grabbing it by the throat while the other clawed at its thick coated neck but anable to do any serious harm to the wolf.
They clashed with a fury that bent trees and shook the earth. Acid clashed with fang, shrieks with snarls. But what froze Winston in place wasn't just the violence—it was the fact that more rats appeared. A whole pack. Not just one nightmare, but a collective.
The wolf, fierce as it was, was being overwhelmed.
Winston turned and ran, ducking beneath branches and leaping over roots.
'I won't die like that, not when I am not even a side character '.
That's when he saw it: a cave.
A shadowed mouth in a stone hill, half hidden by moss and bramble. It screamed "bad idea" like it was auditioning for a horror movie, but honestly? Outside was certain death. Inside... maybe delayed death.
He had to make a decision and fast, he had to rsik it. His heat pounding louder that he might be going into a den if another predator , entering the house of death but yet he felt an urge to go in.
'And that's how people get killed in those horror movies' he thought.
'Damnit' and he ran in after hearing the sounds of beats clashing behind in the forest.
Bracing for the smell of blood or the gleam of eyes in the dark. But it was quiet. Just the sound of his breath echoing off damp rock. As his eyes adjusted, he spotted, in the end corner of the cave, glowing stones—small ones, faintly pulsing with light. Beast cores. He recognized them from novels and games. But that wasn't what froze him.
It was the tiny shape curled in the back of the cave.
A wolf pup.
Alone. Eyes shut, chest rising and falling.
The dots connected in an instant. The giant wolf fighting outside wasn't just defending its turf. It was protecting this.
Which meant if she survived—and no matter how bad it might sound he hoped she did not or she'd be back.
'I can't be emotional here, I need to prioritise my survival '.
"Or i would officially step into the 'misunderstood intruder gets mauled by grieving mother' part of the fantasy story arc." Winston muttered.
He backed against the cave wall, careful not to wake the pup. The silence was louder than any growl.
His mind spun. "This is insane. I mean, where's the overpowered system? The god-tier cheat codes? The talking scroll that tells me I'm the Chosen One?"
Nothing. Just the pup. The beast cores. His bruises. And a rising sense of dread. With each passing second his heart beating louder and hands freezing.
He need to think, a source of power, something because if the beats out there were real then hoping for something defying science was not out of question.
His hand drifted to his chest, where the pendant hung—warm, silent, deceptively calm. That stupid heirloom. Passed down from his great-grandfather, through generations. Supposedly a symbol of "strength and protection."
Yeah? Where was that energy now?
He stared down at the tiny dragon-shaped pendant, its gemstone dark and dull.
Then he sighed. "Well... you got me out of a bear's claws once. Don't suppose you've got another teleport or a dragon mech hidden in there, huh?"
No glow. No hum. No answers.
Just silence, a pup, and the heavy reality that Winston was powerless in a world that clearly didn't care.
But for now, he was alive. And that meant he still had a chance.
The pendant might not be talking yet, but something told him it would. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking.
Either way, he had a moment. He had cover. And if nothing else… he wasn't the only orphan in the cave.
And as the wind howled outside and the faint sounds of the battle faded, Winston tightened his grip on the pendant and whispered, "Please… anything."
The gem flickered.