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Chapter 3 by CBandit CBandit

Does the calm last?

No

Not even a minute after she changed her clothes, Misty's confidence was questioned by what she saw in a small clearing up ahead. The rest of the forest had a certain natural, untouched harmony to it, like everything has been growing untouched for decades, but this was the first time she saw signs of anything other than plants. The ground was torn up with slashes and deep gouges, like there was a titanic struggle here. As she got closer, she could see splinters on the ground, and as her eyes followed their trail, she spotted a tree completely split in half, shattered and leaning against another, much larger tree. Her eyes went wide as she took in its diameter, whatever broke it must have been huge, and immensely strong. She cautiously crept into the middle of the clearing, trying not to make a sound as her ears perked up to listen for any movement among the sounds of the rain. Looking at the pointed fragments of wood jutting out from the tree's stump, she saw a dark reddish brown liquid had covered the largest and pointiest pieces. As she got closer, she sniffed it and she was met with a strong waft of iron.

"This is blood..." she trembled to think, and her eyes returned to the forest floor again. Amidst the tan wood splinters, the dark brown dirt, and the torn green grass and moss, there were matted tuffs of dark green fur scattered all over, seemingly emanating from the broken tree. "Was this recent?"

Her mind wandered back to think if she heard anything out of the ordinary within the last few minutes on her way to this clearing. She walked here, which was after she tied up her clothes, and she heard nothing too strange. Before that, she was hurrying, so she wasn't really listening for anything, and she was hurrying because....

Just when she thought her terror couldn't get any worse, she remembered that mere minutes ago, she set off that plant which screeched out loud enough for her to still hear for hundreds of feet away. That was still relatively close by, and if this happened recently, then whatever did this might have heard her, and if that's the case then it could be on its way back-

Grooooowwwwwl....

A deep, gravely, powerful growl started from above her, quiet enough to be barely heard over the pattering of the rain, but to Misty, it might as well have been directly in her ears. Slowly, her head tilted up, her chest heaving as the rest of her body was frozen in fear. As her gaze ran up the large tree on the other side of the clearing, she saw liquid dripping down out of the branches, liquid that was far too dark to be rain. Finally, she saw it, a dark shadow, a looming figure up in the thickest branches of the tree. She didn't know what it was, but it was unmistakably huge, and despite the total blackness that cloaked its body, its green eyes glinted and pierced directly into her soul. She had never felt smaller, more afraid, and more in danger than when she looked into those eyes. They were large, sharp, and wide open, like they were focused on every inch of her body and just begging for her to move. She knew what would happen if she did, but she had no other choice, so Misty spun around and began to sprint.

Does she escape?

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