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Scarlett burst through the trees and tumbled through the brush, desperate to put distance between her and the monster that has been chasing her for the last 10 minutes. She should have never disturbed its cave, but only the risky get rewarded in this desolate universe. The lush green branches smacked against her legs as she pushed through the brush and the brambles. The creature was getting closer. The sounds of its snarls bounced through the forest, echoed through her ears, and reverberated in her chest as it mimicked the ragged rise and fall of her own breathing.

She could not slow down. She would not slow down. To slow down was to die. The creature only knew one thing: hunt. And right now she was the only living thing around and has somehow found herself in the position of prey. She was usually so careful. She thought everything through. Always. There may be a thousand different choices and a thousand different outcomes, but she thought through them all. It was both her blessing and her curse. How could she have been so careless this time? What had been so distracting in that cave that she lost track of her own thoughts and stepped right onto the creature’s tail. The sound had been piercing. It screeched through the cave, announcing displeasure and fury like the waves of tsunami crashing into the shores.

Breathe. Think. Look. She could figure out where everything went wrong later. She quickly took in her surroundings as she flew through the branches, using her peripherals for anything that might help her distract it enough to gain the upperhand. Her legs burned with the exertion of running and the roots seemed to reach up towards her legs set on pulling her to the ground. She glanced at her feet, making sure her steps were clear and calculated. The winding vines and broken branches just waiting for the opportunity to twist her ankle.

Breathe. Think. Look. There were clear patches between the vines marking a path that could take her cleanly through the forest. She would out run this! She could do it. She was Scarlett Ferdani and she did not fail. Except for that one time when she stepped on a monster’s tail in a dark and creepy cave causing it to get really really angry, but she was still out running it so technically still not a failure… just a new path to success. She would have to re-enter the cave at some point to retrieve the legendary sword of Geracroix, but maybe once there was no more terrifying monster to possibly kill her. Still not a failure… just a shift in the mission. Kill the creature.

She hadn’t gotten a good glance at the thing before she started running for her life so there was no opportunity to assess her opponent for weaknesses. She could still hear it barreling through the trees like they were small twigs while she bobbed and weaved her way through the assault of trunks in front of her. Every monster had a specific cadence of its steps when they were in pursuit. Or at least that’s what Delamon’s big book of monsters had told her when she stole it from her father’s study without his knowledge. He still thinks he misplaced it one night after one too many whiskeys and extravagant storytelling around the fire.

She needed to get to higher ground so she could better assess the situation and figure out how she was going to take down the threat. There. 20 paces ahead and just off to the left was an evergreen tree with enough cover and branches to mask her from sight… at least for a little while. She narrowed her focus on the path that would allow her to break through the tree’s skirt of branches and quickly calculated how much distance she needed to travel up the tree for an accurate look. She pumped her legs a bit farther to gain a bit more distance and felt the burn of the crisp winter air flow through her lungs. I can do this. I will do this.

She scrambled up to the tree, quickly pushing away the many branches and began to climb. The rough bark scratched against her skin as she pulled her weight upward and upward. The air grew thinner and her head got a bit light headed as she continued her ascent. Stay alert. She moved her foot onto the next branch and it broke with the force of her weight attempting to propel her forward. Scarlett held back a scream as she careened towards her now free falling foot. She tightened her grip on the branch and quickly pulled her chest tight against the branch above her head to reverse the momentum of her fall.

She hung there for a second, not daring to look down. Her hands stayed wrapped around a branch and pulled tight to her chest. Her left foot stretched on the branch behind her, her toes barely grasping for purchase. I am safe. I will not fall. She took in one steadying breath to clear her head and calm her racing heartbeat. There was no way she was going to survive this if she was operating purely in panic mode. Mistakes were made in panic and mistakes got you killed.

She braved a look down to see a branch just below her right foot. Though she would have to release the tension on the branch supporting her left foot in order to reach and slowly lower her body down to the sturdy branch. She looked back up to the top of the tree, spotting a Raven darting across the open sky, and prayed to whatever being might be listening, then released her left foot. Her body swung with the release and the bark scraped against her forearms as they moved roughly back and forth against the surface littered with cracks and pieces of wood just waiting to give her a splinter. Her momentum slowed as she tightened her core and slowly lowered her body down to the branch. When her feet grazed the thick branch, she could feel the relief building in her chest. Her lungs began to clear just a bit as she lowered more of her weight onto the branch and it held.

Breathe. Think. Listen. Scarlett slowly released one hand at time from the branch above her and wrapped her arms around the trunk of the tree. She had made it halfway up the tall tree before she had made a misstep, putting her in the perfect position to see a decent amount of the forest floor from her vantage point. Luckily, she would not have to climb further and risk more faulty branches. Not a failure, just a different way to realize I’ve climbed high enough.

Scarlett hugged the tree a bit tighter and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and took in the earthy smells of pine from the tree and the crisp scent of fresh air slicing through the breaks in the branches. One. One. One, two, three, four. One. One. One, two, three, four. Slow step. Slow step. Four quick steps. Slow step. Slow step. Four quick steps. There were only a few monsters that walked with that specific cadence. Two of which were quite small ‘mess makers’ that wrecked havoc if they ever got into your home, tearing everything in sight to shreds. But those were no bigger than a throw pillow, which consequently was the first thing they would attack. The other creature that walked with that cadence was a distant cousin of the feather eaters and was much, much larger. The only pictures Scarlett had seen showed the monster with large snarling teeth that dripped with the blood of its last victim and a large towering body with spikes that ran along its back and down its tail. The fur is often as dark as a city sky with no lights and no stars, which would explain how she had missed it as she walked through the cave.

See anybody would have made the same mistake I did. Like I said, just a different version of success, not a failure. We can ignore the part about me not carrying in a light source, but it’s not my fault I wasn’t equipped with one.

The sound of the steps was starting to get closer, she could hear the fallen branches break under its weight more clearly now. Scarlett quickly looked up at the sky to assess the amount of daylight she had left. The last thing she wanted iwas to be fighting that thing in the dark. The sun was just beginning its descent into the west horizon and the sky had just begun to turn a light shade of pink. Plenty of time to kill the beast and make it back home, maybe even enough time to bring her father out here to show him her triumph.

Seems just slightly over confident, but yeah lets go with that outcome. I don’t fail afterall, I just find different ways to succeed.

The raven she had seen earlier circled overhead, calling across the forest, creating a sounding beacon for exactly where she was sitting in the tree.

I guess if I’m going to kill the beast anyway, I’ve got to come face to face with it at some point.

If she was lucky, she had just a few minutes before the beast would find itself at the bottom of her tree, seconds if she was unlucky. She could see its movement in the trees just a few paces away as small animals and birds scattered that were unfortunate enough to come into its path. She bent her knees, her body starting to tingle with the anticipation of a fight.

I need an attack plan here. There’s no way I’m going to strike this thing down if I wing it. Panic gets you killed.

Scarlett bounced up and down on the branch, testing whether or not it would be able to hold her weight, should she choose to do something rash. Although attacking the beast wasn’t one her finer decisions, it was the only decision she had if she wanted to make it out of this forest alive.

She braced her knees as the creature crept closer to the base of her tree and held her breath. Any noise would alert the creature to her location and she would instantly lose the upper hand. She had to jump.

Excuse me? Jump onto the back of that beast with spikes shooting out of its back and a tail that clearly knows how to be wielded to perform maximum damage. You’ve got to be insane.

There was no other option, if she climbed down the tree it would give the creature time to prepare for an attack and she would basically be walking into the open jaws of death. She bent her knees, engaged her core, and leaned forward slightly onto the balls of her feet. She jumped

She bent forward slightly and eyed the demon’s predatory stalk towards the base of her tree. Her knees ached with strain of keeping herself upright in the tree, but adrenaline pushed her mind to a killing calm. She jumped

EXCUSE ME! THIS IS NOT GOING TO WORK!

Who, me?

Yes, you! The one forcing me to jump onto the back of a clearly savage beast who wants to rip my limbs apart.

Well how else are you supposed to use the element of surprise? It’s not like you could shimmy down the tree gracefully. No one shimmies gracefully.

What if I just jump to another tree and climb back down? I still have a sword on my belt that you have failed to mention. Also extensive training in combat as well as many many hours of research on the monsters inhabiting these woods.

I know that… I gave you this knowledge and created it…

Well then tell me why we aren’t using it! But are instead jumping into the jaws of death again with no mention of the mythical sword strapped to my belt, the twin to the one that got us in this mess in the first place.

I… don’t… know… I’m just stressed, there’s a lot of details to remember! Why are you yelling at me!?

BECAUSE YOU’RE ABOUT TO KILL ME!!

You only die if I say so…

Touché… as you were.

She jumped.