Where monsters roam

I plastered myself against the wall, ignoring the searing pain in my chest as I struggled for breath. A small snapping noise made me freeze. The monster must have been closer to me than I expected.

I licked a finger, and held it up to test the wind. It seemed to be travelling in front of me, and as I dared to sneak a peek back behind the wall, my dark hair rustled backwards. That was a good sign. I was downwind of the monster, meaning if I had amazing senses I would smell it, and not the other way around. I quickly ducked back behind the wall, contemplating my next move. If I made a break for it now, it would see me, and follow. But if I stayed here too long...

I heard the snap of another twig, closer this time, and made up my mind real quick. With a scrape of my hands on the wall, I pushed off, pounding my feet against the dirt of the forest floor and heard a low growl behind me. I ducked in amongst the ruins of an ancient city and sprinted for the metal fence I could still see in front of me. If I could make it to the fence and over it, everything would be okay.

I was five steps away from the fence when I heard two things. One, a slight buzzing in front of me, and two, a loud growl from behind. I skidded and whirled, eyes bulging to take in the whole atrocity before me.

The monster reared above me on hind legs, black with bulging muscles and a row of teeth that seemed to grin at me. It looked like a leopard that had learned to stand like a human, only made out of shadows instead of muscle and bone. I tripped over my own feet, desperate to get away from the claw-filled paw it raised, and suddenly my back was against the fence.

I heard a hissing noise and felt a sudden current surge through me. So that’s what the buzzing noise was, I thought. I could hardly believe my luck. As that paw swung through the air towards me, I grabbed hold of the fence and outstretched my other arm.

Crack!

The energy flowed through me, slamming straight into the beast with a blue-white flash. It flew backwards with a scream and hit the ground a good fifteen metres away. I saw it start to move, but instead turned to the fence, ignoring the smoke issuing from my burning clothes. Scaling the fence, I almost laughed out loud from my good luck. I leapt over, and hit the ground running.