Raven waited.
Nothing.
"Predation."
Nothing.
"Authority."
Nothing.
Raven sighed.
"Of course."
Hallucinations never came with instruction manuals.
He sheathed the knife and kept the metal fragment in his hand.
He needed elevation. Water. Orientation. Signs of civilization.
In that order.
He listened to the forest.
Insects. Something vaguely resembling a bird, though its call was far too deep. Leaves shifting in the wind. A repetitive sound somewhere in the distance that might be running water.
Good.
He chose a direction.
And moved.
The forest was alive in a way forests on Earth weren’t.
It wasn’t just the density.
It was the scale.
Everything seemed slightly excessive. Roots formed arches tall enough to walk beneath. Mushrooms the size of dinner plates grew across fallen trunks. A lizard-like creature with six legs and blue-green skin vanished into the undergrowth when Raven approached. Farther ahead, he saw tiny glowing insects clustered around black flowers.
None of those details were particularly important on their own.
Together, they were.
Different ecosystem. Different biology.
Raven moved slowly.
Not out of admiration.
For survival.
Every few steps, he stopped. Listened. Looked. Mentally marked escape routes.
The terrain sloped slightly downward toward the east. The sound of water was clearer from that direction.
He followed it.
After roughly twenty minutes, he found tracks.
Raven crouched.
Four legs. Large central pad. Visible claw marks.
Not feline.
Something canine.
He compared the print to his hand.
Too large.
Much too large.
The tracks were nearly ten inches across.
Raven looked around.
The forest remained quiet.
Too quiet.
He found another mark on a tree trunk.
Four vertical gouges.
Approximately five and a half feet above the ground.
They didn’t necessarily belong to the same animal.
But assuming they didn’t would be stupid.
Raven stood.
Changed the way he held the metal.
Now he kept it close to his body.
Not like a sword.
Like a tool meant for stabbing.
The knife would remain his backup.
He continued.
Five minutes later, he found water.
A wide, fast-moving stream ran between dark stones.
The water was clear.
Too clear.
Raven crouched without drinking and looked upstream.
No bodies. No foam. No unusual discoloration.
He pulled a small chemical test strip from his kit.
It wasn’t designed to detect interdimensional magic, but it could identify several common contaminants.
Acceptable.
He filled the hydration bladder.
Didn’t drink immediately.
Waited.
Nothing emerged from the water.
Good.
He washed his face.
The cold helped.
Then he saw something on the opposite bank.
Blood.
A dark stain across the stone.
Raven stopped moving.
The blood still glistened.
Fresh.
He followed the trail with his eyes.
Flattened grass. Tracks. The same ones.
But there was something else.
A small dead animal.
Raven crossed the stream over the rocks.
Approached.
The creature looked like a deer reduced to half its normal size.
Four front legs. Two rear. Gray fur. Short antlers.
Its abdomen had been torn open.
Part of the rib cage was missing.
Not bitten through.
Ripped out.
Raven studied the wounds.
Large predator.
Very large.
The flesh hadn’t fully cooled yet.
Bad.
Raven took one step backward.
Silence.
The forest had stopped making noise.
Not completely.
But the nearby insects were no longer chirping.
Raven felt something familiar crawl down his spine.
Not fear.
Information.
He was being watched.
He didn’t turn immediately.
That was what a predator would expect.
Instead, he slowly lowered his gaze toward the reflection in the water.
Nothing.
He shifted his weight from one leg to the other.
Listened.
A branch.
To his left.
No.
Too obvious.
Another sound.
Behind him.
Very soft.
Raven spun.
Nothing.
Only ferns.
He backed toward a large rock.
He didn’t want trees directly behind him.
The metal fragment was in his right hand.
His shoulder hurt.
Problem.
He would rather fight left-handed if he needed to absorb any serious force.
But his dominant hand was still his right.
The knife could compensate.
Then he saw the eyes.
Four.
Two above.
Two slightly lower.
Yellow.
Motionless between black leaves.
Raven stopped breathing for a second.
The creature slowly stepped out of the vegetation.
Wolf.
More or less.
If a wolf had been designed by someone who hated people.
Shoulder height: maybe five feet.
Length: over seven.
Black fur, but not uniformly so. Some patches seemed to absorb light.
Four eyes.
Two primary.
Two smaller ones above them.
Its muzzle was too long.
The upper fangs protruded even with its mouth closed.
And beneath the skin of its front legs ran dark blue lines that glowed in rhythm with something resembling a pulse.
Raven looked at those lines.
Then the eyes.
Then the legs.
Estimated weight.
Three hundred thirty pounds.
Maybe more.
Unknown speed.
More than enough strength to tear him apart if it landed a clean hit.
Raven had a knife.
And a piece of metal.
"Of course."
The animal growled.
It didn’t sound like a wolf.
Deeper.
There was a vibration beneath the sound.
Raven moved half a step backward.
The creature took one forward.
It was measuring him.
Raven was doing the same.
Predators on Earth generally avoided unnecessary injury.
He had no idea whether that rule applied here.
The creature tilted its head.
All four eyes moved slightly independently of one another.
Interesting.
The upper pair probably provided peripheral vision.
Maybe a reduced blind spot.
Raven moved sideways.
The eyes followed him.
All of them.
Unfortunate.
The monster bared its teeth.
Raven adjusted his grip.
"We can do this two ways."
The creature kept growling.
"Yeah."
Raven nodded.
"Figured you’d pick that one."
The wolf attacked.
No warning.
One moment it was still.
The next, the ground exploded beneath its paws.
Raven barely had time to move.
He threw himself left.
The jaws snapped shut where his torso had been.
CLACK.
Teeth against air.
Raven swung the metal as it passed.
The edge caught its side.
Cut fur. Skin. Little else.
The creature landed and turned immediately.
Faster than expected.
Much faster.
Raven didn’t try to create distance.
That would be useless.
He moved toward it instead.
The wolf raised one paw.
Raven saw the shoulder move before the claws did.
He dropped his body.
The claws passed over his head.
Raven drove the metal fragment upward.
It struck beneath the front leg.
The creature roared.
The metal penetrated.
Three inches.
Maybe four.
Raven pulled.
The jagged edge opened a line through flesh.
Dark blood.
The paw swung sideways.
Raven took the impact on his left shoulder.
The world changed direction.
He went flying.
Hit the ground.
Rolled.
Rocks against his back.
Air ripped from his lungs.
He stopped near the stream.
He didn’t stay down.
Never stay down.
One hand against the ground.
He pushed himself up while inhaling.
The creature was already coming.
Raven threw the metal.
He wasn’t expecting a kill.
Just an interruption.
The fragment spun through the air and struck the creature’s muzzle.
The wolf jerked its head.
Half a second.
Raven ran toward an elevated root.
The creature behind him.
Raven jumped onto the root.
Planted one foot.
Changed direction.
The wolf tried to follow.
Too much mass.
Its shoulder slammed into the trunk.
THUD.
The tree shook.
Raven already had the knife in his hand.
He attacked the neck.
The blade went in.
Not deep enough.
Thick fur. Muscle.
Raven twisted his wrist and pulled downward.
Hot blood spilled out.
The creature roared and struck backward.
Raven released the knife.
Good decision.
The paw would have broken his arm.
He retreated.
Now he was unarmed.
Worse.
The knife remained partially embedded in the animal’s neck.
The wolf shook its head.
The blade flew free and landed among the leaves.
Raven saw where.
Twenty-five feet.
The creature positioned itself between him and the knife.
Of course.
Blood ran down its neck.
The wound was significant.
Not fatal.
The wolf opened its mouth.
For the first time, Raven saw something inside.
Light.
Blue.
Very faint.
Gathering between its teeth.
Raven didn’t wait to find out what it was.
He moved.
The creature barked.
No.
It detonated.
A blue shockwave tore through the space between them.
It struck the rock behind Raven.
BOOM.
The stone fractured.
Fragments flew.
One sliced across Raven’s cheek.
He ducked behind a tree.
"Magic."
He said the word aloud.
It helped him accept the stupidity.
The wolf appeared from the other side.
Raven pivoted around the trunk.
Another bite.
The teeth caught fabric.
His jacket tore.
Raven felt one fang scrape skin.
He pushed against the muzzle with both hands.
Trying to win through strength would be a mistake.
So he didn’t.
He used the creature’s momentum.
When the wolf pushed, Raven gave way.
Turned to one side.
The creature passed partially by him.
Raven slipped one arm under its neck and used the animal’s own weight to drive it into the raised root.
He didn’t take it down.
But he disrupted its balance.
Raven kicked the wounded leg.
The wolf snarled.
He kicked it again.
Same spot.
The limb gave for half a second.
Raven ran for the knife.
Three steps.
Four.
He heard paws behind him.
Dove.
His hand closed around the grip.
Rolled.
The wolf came down on top of him.
Raven raised his legs.
The creature crashed onto him.
Brutal weight.
Raven felt his ribs protest.
The muzzle descended.
He caught the neck with his left forearm.
Teeth stopped inches from his face.
Hot saliva.
The smell of blood.
Four eyes stared down at him.
Raven drove the knife in.
Side.
Pulled it out.
Again.
The creature thrashed.
Raven’s forearm began losing ground.
The teeth came closer.
He stabbed again.
Looking for the heart.
He didn’t know where it was.
Bad gamble.
Change target.
Eyes.
Raven pulled the knife free.
The creature saw the movement.
Tried to turn its head.
Raven struck one of the smaller eyes.
The blade went in.
The wolf shrieked.
A high-pitched, unexpected sound.
It twisted violently.
Raven was thrown away.
This time he hit the stream.
Freezing water.
The current dragged him several feet.
He stood, coughing.
The wolf paced in circles.
One of its four eye sockets bled.
The knife was still embedded in it.
Raven had lost another weapon.
Incredible.
The creature turned toward him.
Furious now.
That could help.
Angry animals made mistakes.
Humans did too.
Raven looked around.
Metal.
Where?
Near the tree.
The piece he’d thrown.
Too far.
Rocks. Water. Trunk. Roots.
The creature opened its mouth.
Blue light.
Raven looked at the water.
An idea.
Probably a bad one.
It was all he had.
The wolf fired.
Raven dropped into the stream.
The blast passed overhead.
Hit a tree.
Wood exploded.
Raven climbed out on the opposite bank.
The wolf jumped after him.
Raven ran upstream.
He couldn’t outrun it.
But he wasn’t trying to.
The creature crossed the water.
Its front paws landed on a patch of smooth stones.
One slipped.
Only slightly.
Enough to confirm it.
Raven changed direction.
The creature followed.
Another blue blast began gathering.
Raven counted internally.
One.
Two.
The creature opened its jaws wider before firing.
Three.
Raven moved behind a rock.
The blast struck.
The rock fractured.
The creature needed several seconds between attacks.
Good.
Raven ran toward the metal fragment.
Picked it up.
His right shoulder was starting to respond more slowly.
His breathing was too fast.
His ribs were probably injured.
He couldn’t drag this out.
The creature approached.
Bleeding more heavily now.
Still faster than him.
Raven looked at the fragment.
Then the wounded eye.
Then the neck.
He needed depth.
Not a cut.
The jagged point of the metal could penetrate if he had enough momentum.
The problem was getting it there without those jaws tearing him in half.
The wolf charged.
Raven ran toward it.
That seemed to confuse it.
For an instant.
The creature opened its jaws.
Raven didn’t dodge completely.
He turned.
The mouth closed around his left arm.
Pain.
Immediate.
Brutal.
The teeth punched through his sleeve and into flesh.
Raven grunted.
He didn’t pull away.
If he pulled, it would rip his arm apart.
Instead, he pushed.
Inward.
The creature hadn’t expected that.
His arm went deeper between its teeth.
White-hot pain.
Raven used the distance.
Now the muzzle was fixed in place.
He raised the metal fragment with his right hand.
Aimed.
Primary eye.
Struck.
The point went in.
The creature convulsed.
Raven screamed this time.
The teeth tore through his arm.
But he didn’t let go of the metal.
He pushed.
Deeper.
Felt resistance.
Then something gave.
The fragment drove deep into the eye socket.
The creature roared.
Raven pushed with both hands.
Used all his weight.
The point continued inward.
Bone.
Something hard.
Then soft.
The wolf’s body shuddered.
Its jaws clamped down one final time.
Raven felt teeth touch bone.
Then...
the strength disappeared.
The creature collapsed.
Raven went down with it.
For several seconds, neither moved.
The stream continued flowing.
Leaves continued shifting overhead.
A drop of water fell from somewhere and struck a stone.
Raven breathed.
Once.
Nothing.
Again.
Pain.
Good.
Pain meant he was still here.
He pushed against the body.
It didn’t move.
"Of course."
He used his legs.
The corpse rolled partially aside.
Raven pulled his left arm free from its jaws.
The sleeve was shredded.
Four deep puncture wounds.
Blood.
A lot of it.
Raven immediately sat up.
Tourniquet.
No.
The wounds didn’t appear to have reached a major artery.
Pressure.
Bandage.
He opened the kit with his teeth and one hand.
Cleaned the wounds.
Pain.
Wrapped them.
Tightened the bandage.
Checked mobility.