The revenge of the dethroned king

Chapter 10: 9. The start of the hunt



How was this possible? He had already been walking for more than two days, this was his third, and instead of seeing the end of the western lands, which were supposed to be just a border, he was seeing the beginning. 

Three days without food. Three days drinking rainwater and avoiding corpse-eating beasts. Three days trying to heal himself in the hope of finding a real healer among the elves. Three days of hardship where the only thing that kept him going were Ana's words. Three days...

And yet, it was only the beginning. One might wonder if Aris would really survive. His stomach was screaming with hunger, and his physical abilities were diminishing even more because of it. 

Aris looked around him, his gaze desperate. He was looking for a fruit-bearing tree, but he knew very well that nothing could grow in this crazy desert. Soon, his gaze became weak, as if he were about to faint. Bad news kept coming, and there he was, in the middle of the dry, gray land, trying to find a single piece of good news.

He squinted and soon his vision became blurry. Suddenly, he saw a small animal walking in front of him. It wasn't very big, no more than about a foot long, and it was quite skinny. Its orange fur didn't really blend in with its surroundings. This made it very visible. But Aris quickly realized that it was not an animal. Soon, the creature opened its mouth, which was a little too pointed, its jaw almost forming a point, and a long row of teeth appeared.

There were far more than there should have been. At least a thousand small, sharp teeth. Aris wondered if the beasts were just the inventions of a demonic entity.

In this world, beasts were different from animals. Even if they sometimes looked similar, beasts were anything but friendly. Some didn't even have faces, strictly speaking. They were sometimes so ugly that humans avoided looking at them. Their presence was almost omnipotent. Although sometimes very small, beasts were everywhere, even in houses.

Once upon a time, a tiny creature, no bigger than a millimeter, managed to find its way into the human world, where it behaved like a virus. Mistaken for a disease, it multiplied thanks to human blood and killed more than one-seventh of the human population. It was a terrible tragedy, more than just a pandemic. The tiny creature was killed by a remedy created by a doctor who had honestly mistaken it for a virus. Fortunately for him, it worked, and little by little, humanity became immune to the little monstrosity that came to be known as the little devourer.

It was so terrible that no one wanted to talk about it. Doctors later discovered that it was a beast. The tragic difference between this and animals was that the beasts were made up of strange little black threads. Sometimes they were invisible, but on closer inspection, the little threads were clearly visible. Studies had proven that if you see one, avoid contact at all costs if you don't know how to defend yourself.

The beast Aris saw didn't seem to be made up of black threads. It was perfectly normal and looked like a simple fennec fox. It was just strangely ugly, and that's how Aris knew it was a beast. 

But at the same time, his stomach growled at him. The message was clear. This funny little fennec fox was going to be his meal. After all, what else was there in these vast lands but animals and rainwater? The corpses? Aris wasn't going to eat that again. But the fennec suddenly seemed more or less appetizing.

Aris looked at it, confused. His eyes were still blurry, but his mind was clear. His intentions were clear. He was going to catch that fennec.

The monstrous fennec then sensed a murderous intent and looked at Aris. It gaze then fixed him directly on his eyes. It eyes were very light brown, but his gaze meant something else:

"I'd like to see you try."

Despite its small size, the fennec fox seemed completely unfazed by Aris's threatening glare. Aris understood. But on that day, it was to serve as his meal.

Aris moved forward slowly at first. Very slowly. The fennec didn't move. Then he lowered himself into a position where he could grab it. His back leaned forward, his entire weight shifting toward the small animal.

When Aris was less than two meters away, that's when things started to happen. 

The little fennec jumped in the blink of an eye and opened its small mouth full of teeth to bite Aris's neck. 

Aris narrowly dodged it by ducking in the other direction. Following the trajectory of the beast's jump, Aris could see the underside of its belly and its white fur. It was then that he saw more closely that even its fur was really strange. As if it weren't fur at all.

The little fennec landed on the other side while Aris quickly turned to face the beast. He was not in great shape at all. In his condition, he wasn't even sure he could face the fruit merchants. And yet, if he didn't move, he would end up in even worse shape.

The little fennec turned around quickly too and started leaping towards Aris again. This time, Aris saw it coming and just in time, he landed a devastating left hook on it.

The little fennec landed badly and scraped the ground with its orange fur, instantly getting it dirty. 

Aris took advantage of this moment to rush at him, but at the same time, he felt excruciating pain in his left foot. Something had bitten him.

He turned around to see another small fennec fox, slightly larger, biting his heel with rage. Fortunately for him, the remains of his armor prevented the beast from tearing his heel. But he had to act quickly because it wasn't going to hold for very long. 

He shook his leg violently, but the fennec fox wouldn't let go. So he ended up grabbing it with both hands, and that's when the fennec let go of his heel, opened its little mouth, and tried to bite Aris. Drool, if that's what it was, spurted everywhere as its jaws snapped shut more than four times a second. Aris didn't have enough strength to hold it in his hands, so he threw it away.

Unfortunately, during his little altercation with the big fennec, the little one had already stood up. Its jaw hadn't suffered any real damage, and its beastly gaze had intensified. Aris could sense the thirst for blood emanating from it.

"Damn it."

Suddenly, the little fennec bounced back toward him.


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