Noctis ran aimlessly through the woods. Knocking into shrubs and scrunching on dry leaves unable to keep his composure under the stress.
No matter how hard he tried to lose the pack by changing direction and blending in, they caught up.
It wasn't the smell that they were tracking as he had just came out of the water, so what was it?
While running he suddenly noticed a hound coming from his sides.
'Shit'
He rolled to evade the bite. Standing up he changed his direction and started running once again.
The whole pack was so well co-ordinated Noctis didn't get any chances to break their formations and maybe intimidate them into scattering.
But the chances looked bleak.
Large number also meant they could just starve him if took camp on a tall tree as he still needed to get down if he needed to eat anything.
Noctis was panting heavily now. His feet hurt from the constant running and jumping. Since he hadn't eaten in the whole day, his energy reserves were also bottomed out.
'I'm dead.'
Once again a small team of the pack came towards him from his front. He changed his direction towards left and kept running.
Not too far later another few hounds came rushing from front. Noctis' heart pounded as he realised what was happening.
Changing his direction he tried to get away towards his north-west. Evading a gaping mouth of an incoming hound just by a fraction.
He knew he couldn't go on like this. It won't be long before he got surrounded. He couldn't let that happened.
'Bit what the fuck do I do!? I don't even have any weapon!'
His fears came true in just a few minutes as he saw a team coming from front and the sound of low growls coming from the semi-circular formation with him as the centre from his back.
He could feel himself surrounded so he couldn't try the same manouvre. He knew he wouldn't make it this time.
He stopped and climbed onto the nearest tree. In the blink of an an eye, dozens of hounds surrounded the trees as if a pitch black lake with a tree in the middle.
They didn't bark. They just stared at him with their teeths clenched and showing their razor sharp canine all while taut, waiting for a chance to strike their target.
Some even jumped towards the tree to try and reach him, far from graceful, raw and violently scratching the bark of the tree with their claws.
'How long will this hold out?'
Tired and cornered, Noctis couldn't process any solution to this. He didn't know how long the pack will wait and his stomach was already aching with hunger.
***
Close to an hour passed as Noctis laid on a tall branch of a tree, almost passed out from exhaustion.
Many hounds cricled around the tree with constant attempts at scaling some tree or other to try and reach him.
Noctis looked down from time to time trying to think of any way to break the seige but the pack was ever fierce and alert.
'Why are there hounds in a jungle anyway? Did a hunting party left them after a trip, or… did they die leaving them to fend for themselves?'
The hounds weren't even suited for the hot and humid forest climate. How had they adapted so well?
While he was thinking this he threw a glance downwards. What he saw stopped his thinking in its tracks.
He saw an old but gigantic hound, almost thrice the size of other hounds making its slowly towards himself from the path that the swarm of pack had made by parting in the middle.
Standing at allmost 2m the hound locked its eyes at him as it slowly moved closer and closer to the tree.
Noctis stood back up looking at the incoming hound. Perhaps the leader of the pack?
His heartbeat sped even though he understood their was little the hounds at his age could do,no matter the size.
'Probably.'
'..'
'Hopefully.'
The hounds finally came at the base of the tree and stood close to the truck looking up at him through the canopy.
A canine. An elf. Stared at each other without making a movement.
The elf swallowed his saliva as drool dropped form the canine's.
The canine opened its maw wide and bit the trunk of the tree.
'Huh?'
The elf saw with bewildered as the jaw of the canine tightened gripping at the trunk, with sideways wrench it…. tore through a fist sized chunk of the trunk.
Through the Bark. Through Wet wood. Exposing the pale veins of sap beneath.
Dozens of hounds roared fiercely at the display as the elf became noticeably paler than he already was.
'What in the holy wood fucking god is that?'
The old found took another bite and forceout a layer of sapwood, fracturing bark around it as starts flowing as if the tree had started bleeding.
The rest of hounds after like a dose of adrenaline had been shot into them as they stated jumping around the tree and other lower trees in the vicinity with a renewed vigour.
The hound continued with it's onslaught on the poor tree. Each bite accompanied with full body pressure carved itself into the trunk.
Noctis looked around for some way out in desperation but whenever he could see only hounds dotting the surrounding.
Growling and fiercely lunging towards his position.
He could try swinging through the branches but one bite of a jumping hound would spell his certain death.
But so would remaining at this tree.
Noctis looked down and towards his surroundings debating what to do.
He also had some doubts on whether the hound could really work through the tree or was it baiting him to leave position.
'Fuck! What do I do!?'
As the the hound continued chewing away the tree, it wasn't just biting,it was digging in it with its claws, applying full force of his body weight onto it.
A side was completely gouged out as Noctis couldn't even see the head of the hound.
Seeing this, Noctis made up his mind and started jumping towards other trees through branches.
But the moment he came down a little lower a hound's jaw aimed at his legs came rushing.
Noctis moved it just in time to avoid, however it runined his balance as he slipped into the black lake underneath.