Chapter 25: Empty Plains

I ran as hard as I could,

faster than I ever ran before!

In the distance I could still feel the tremors as the beast didn't gave in. Cracks were forming around the puddle breaking the ground around it...

I had to get away... far away from here!

I ran... ran... and ran some more, until I tripped over something which seemed to be blocked my path.

That was when I finally calmed down and realized, I wasn't in a familiar area anymore, in my back faint hints of the scorching area I had been roaming around in while on the other hand... An open area?

Roots? Where had I run off to?

I tried to stand up on all fours when a sigh of relieve escaped my lungs.

*sigh*

I had escape death in the nick of time, unable to grasp what I had seen my mind began to ramble on.

What was all that? Wasn't I at the deepest part of the dungeon? Did it go even further down the rabbit hole?

And... what did I see? An entire city, under water thriving with life? Maybe the beast that I saw in the depths of darkness could have been the guardian who protected the city from harm...

Or maybe it was just some insane monster who was out to get me? I might never know... 

The thought of getting caught made me sick.

But I couldn't stay still, I had to find a way out,

if I wanted to survive!

I looked behind me, the enviroment clearly showed signs of the scorching hot area. The roots which looked like a border between the previous area and the next, consisted of roots which had withered away because of the dry air. Some were even scorched by fire, leaving nothing but charred wood in its wake.

I knew there was nothing positive waiting for me back in the scorching enviroment which is why I climbed over the roots and into the unkown area...

Here the air was colder, chilling even... compared to the hot and dry air from before, it was as if I had arrived on another world.

The ground was different even thought it was still dry, the air had become more humid. The dirt on the ground had a different look and feel as it felt like it could be kneeded together. Upon entering the unkown area the roots which seperated both enviromemts looked like they dugged into the ground.

Only to resurface and sprout serveral leafless trees within the area. Not much life could be found, the area itself quickly began to feel like a wasteland...

It wasn't even to much of a stretch to say that the trees all had similarities to that of bones...

As I ventured deeper into the wasteland something struck me as odd. I mean, the ceiling of the scorching area was rather high, but this... I couldn't even see the end of it as the ceilling literally vanished into the depths of darkness...

On the other hand it had given me one certainty,

Which was the fact that there eas actually a ceiling above me. Other than the fact that I had decended down serveral layers to come here, there really had to be a ceiling. Why else would there be sharp looking rocks hanging downwards, which allowed water to travel down with them.

One thing was for sure, this area was gigantic!

Even larger than the last! It almost made you feel like it were seperate dimensions all together...

But thinking that would be to far fetched I went on without a care in the world. Unaware of the fog that creeped up on me the further I ventured into the open plains.

Before I knew it, it became almost impossible to see deeper into the surrounding area. Now... only the trees in my direct parameters could barely be seen.

The only logical explenation which I could think of was that the hot and cold air collided with each other which would correspond with the sudden appearence of the fog. But never would I think that the fog would be so thick.

As I tried to venture true it,

the feeling of being looked at creeped up on me.

but... because of the fog, I couldn't find the source. But there was definitely something there,

lurking within the fog. I kept walking and all the trees looked the same to me, but then suddenly out of nowhere one who didn't look the same crossed my path. A tree, just as white, but one who had not lost its leaves.

Something was peculiar about it, because as I passed it... A gust of wind began to lift them up.

As the rustled in the air, they began feeling magical in their own right. The darkness within began revealing serveral colors, almost making it look like the tree had become a moving rainbow.

Not wanting to think much about it I quickly passed it in the hopes of finding the other side of the open plains. And that was when, the feeling of being watched suddenly intensified.

Quickly I looked behind me, to find that nothing was there... nothing but the liveless tree I had just passed.

Wait... liveless? Wasn't the last tree I passed fibrent with color?! I knew then and there that shit hit the fan.

Quickly turning around to go on my way,

I knew that whichever had covered the tree before had the capacity to blend in with the enviroment.

"Camouflage?"

The moment I realized what it had been doing,

there was only one thing I could do...

Use my own capabilities to stay out of sight,

even thought I knew it... whatever "it" was,

had me already locked in sight.

The fog began to lift slightly... becoming thinger the further away from the fibrent tree I got,

when suddenly... a small black shillouette brushed by in the distance.

I tried to follow it with my eyes as much as I could, but quickly lost sight of it.

After a few moments a hollow high pitched cry could be heard from behind, now I knew... I wasn't alone anymore...

Did the cry call out to me? I wws certain I had been seen, but... could it be, it too had lost sight of me within the fog?

Rustling could be heard in the distance, but there was nothing to see... As I kept moving for what felt like forever, I arrived at a similar sight. Was I back at the beginning? Why was there another tree like this?

Questioning what I saw, the tree began to move?

As I got closer. Again... the black leaves moved with the wind, revealing all kinds of colors.

But the thing that true struck me as odd,

was the feeling... the feeling of being stared at...

I just couldn't shake it off. Last time I avoided eye contact with the tree for some reason,

but this time I was determined to find the cause of this feeling. 

What I found when I did... was truely dreadful...

As it all became clear as the deep blue sky.

While cursing my curiosity as well as the fact that I instantly regretted what I saw...

The magical flowing leaves which danced in the wind, had revealed their truely horrific nature.

The leaves scales coated by hair, multiple legs as thin as a twig, which were also covered in countless little hairs.

But... What truelly shocked me to the core was that I now knew why it felt like I was there was such an intense feeling of being stared at all the time, underneath all those short hairs a gigantic eye which covered the entirety of their body,

was fixated on me, as it directly stared into my eyes, our eyes met face to face. That was when one of the beasts seemed like it blinked.

As I saw this happen I bolted away, taking what little chance I had to escape the confrontation. 

But this would not last. Within seconds it became clear there were more, numerous ones... unable to count them al, they slowly began to surround me, closing in on me and looking at my every move.

I was unable to evade the confrontation as I knew there was no other way than to fight...

As I prepared myself for the worst possible outcome, even within this situation I could help but smile, and even taunt those who could be seen in front of me.

Annoyed by the way I reacted a few started their assault as they closed in on the attack,

they had taken the bait...