Guara

'Shit!'

Trevor was not amused by that.

Not just one, but several furry four-legged creatures appeared behind him!

In total, there were four mutant monsters that looked similar to wolves, but Trevor knew better: those things were in fact Guaras¹! This creature had orange fur almost all over its body, with this creature's slender legs being one of the exceptions: they were black as coal, it was almost as if the animal was wearing a pantyhose.

As the most iconic creature on the Central Plateau, the green-eyed lad would need a brain the size of withered olives to forget about these famous deadly monsters.

These things were so famous that several nations and organizations in the region used them as a national symbol. Being able to wear the skin of such a beast meant having status. As such, it was not surprising that its story was also preserved with some integrity.

Before the global cataclysm that destroyed ancient civilizations, reports from researchers indicated that the Guaras were solitary omnivorous animals: they looked like foxes, but were the same size and shape as wolves.

But the mutations threw it all into the abyss!

These animals became more aggressive, intelligent and bigger.

Worst of all, they abandoned their former solitary behavior to form small bands like the one in front of Trevor. All that intelligence, aggressiveness and size came at a cost in the form of an insatiable need to eat.

Trevor pulled from his backpack a simple spear whose tip was forged with iron, the item had been inserted into the water bottle pocket. 'Using knives here is asking to die, this shit is too short to guarantee that I will do damage without dying in the process!'

The danger of dying was real, leaving the young man tense. Every cell of his worked its best to produce as much energy as needed for his muscles to move smoothly and fluidly!

Trevor roared, moving to the right. The act led to the Guara that had launched himself on him to miss the bite, making him fall in the same place that Trevor had been moments ago.

That mistake proved to be fatal!

The instant Trevor had heard the hysterical laughter while he was laying on the ground, he'd already taken the opportunity to create a makeshift trap in mere moments: burying his poisoned kitchen knife in the mud.

Hearing the mournful moan of one of their companions, the other three Guaras snarled and advanced. This time, there were no traps. Trevor did his best to see the figures in the darkness, thrusting the spear with both arms.

In the next moment, the wooden handle trembled along with Trevor's arms.

One of the Guaras was hit, but another soon appeared on his right side.

As soon as it moved, it would be able to chew Trevor's neck apart!

The orange monster moved forward unabated, savagely.

"Aaaahh!" Pain assailed Trevor's mind.

Trevor almost lost his head, literally!

He sacrificed his left arm at the last moment.

The Guara that he hit backed away after being hit in the throat.

But the problem was still before his eyes, as his left arm was inside the mouth of the iconic Central Plateau monster.

The spear advanced in the direction of the Guara's head.

The monster wasted no time and dropped the bone.

Trevor didn't hit anything but feeble winds.

"GHhhaaaaarrrhh!!"

His left arm was full of bite holes, completely destroyed. Blood leaked from these many holes and stained the floor a bright scarlet color. Trevor felt pain like never before. But there was no time to shed tears.

'Where is it?' His green eyes stared at the monster who seemed to be smiling grimly at him, but his mind was elsewhere.

'Damn monsters!'

Trevor cursed these intelligent creatures.

'They want to kill me by making me bleed to death!'

Trevor needed to risk it, even if it killed him in the process.

From the beginning, time was his enemy in this battle. His stamina could be exhausted even before he managed to go unconscious from the loss of blood.

'Very good! Very good! You all want to kill me, but also want to preserve as much energy as possible.' Trevor grinned at death and lunged at the monster!

The blood-stained spear moved against the Guara, making the air cry so fast the weapon moved. The Guara did not expect this explosive speed and was caught off guard.

Blood eroded into the air like an erupting volcano when the Guara had its right eye split in half. Trevor had hidden his strength like a sewer rat, feigning weakness and even sacrificing his arm for it in the process.

The creature recoiled.

But would Trevor let that happen?

He ran towards the partially blinded creature and lashed out with his spear.

Puddles of blood formed on the ground as the Guara's muzzle was destroyed. Pieces of Trevor's left arm fell to the ground due to the brutality of his movements. That damn thing up front was close to death, but Trevor's heart didn't feel the slightest hint of happiness about it.

'Here you are!'

A figure appeared behind him.

It was the Guara that was missing!

Trevor gritted his teeth. He didn't stop chasing the almost wounded Guara in front of him.

The monster behind him howled and used everything he had to reach him. In no time, the one-eyed noseless creature made a lethal mistake: the animal had stumbled over the uneven ground, sinking its legs into the dry mud.

Without missing any opportunity, Trevor stepped forward and made that place the monster's grave by ripping its neck to shreds. Behind him, the Guara also didn't let the opportunity pass, attacking his neck directly from behind. Trevor responded with something bold: leaping up while using his backpack as a shield.

The impact launched him forward like rocket. The young man fell and rolled on the floor like a rag doll, the Guara behind him came right away. Fortunately, the time this bold action gave him more than made up for its costs.

As long as he was alive, there would still be hope!

Persevere!

Resist!

Fight!

Trevor roared again, advancing with his spear against the Guara.

The animal roared back and continued running toward the thin human in front of its muzzle.

5 meters…

4 meters…

3 meters…

2 meters…

The human stepped deep into the ground. Both of the lad's legs twitched to give his upper body strength. Trevor retracted the spear back before charging it forward with all his remaining energy, causing it to explode with speed.

A row of white teeth greeted the young man. The Guara's eyes glowed with hatred and resentment, determined to put an end to that feeling even if it cost him its own life. Just the monster's cruel mouth was enough to make many shiver.

The impact happened!

The spear pierced the corner's eye.

The cruel mouth bit into the shattered arm.

The Guara cried until his brain was pierced by the unstoppable spear.

It ended.

Trevor smiled.

In this battle, Trevor successfully killed his fierce opponent!

In this conflict, Trevor successfully defeated the Guaras pack!

The black-haired lad collapsed to the ground beside the monster's corpse. His left arm was lost: it was torn off at the last moment when the Guara realized its imminent death and tried in every way to retract its head. Trevor took a deep breath, sweating bullets.

'I need to get up. If I keep this up, I'm going to die for sure.' The effort to get out of there wasn't pleasant. Even maintaining consciousness just because of the pain was a problem, not to mention the incessant loss of blood.

Trevor was feeling tired as never before. Every cell that had worked tirelessly to power him now begged him for rest. His skin was all dirty, torn in several places. The very person who suffered so much didn't even remember how many times he rolled on that rough ground.

To all this suffering, he made deaf ears.

Trevor walked to where his backpack had fallen. Or rather, what was left of this thing that could once be called a backpack. What was in front of him now was just torn cloth, with supplies stretched across the red terrain.

The lad approached this mess and investigated with his eyes the item he was looking for. It didn't take long for his gaze to rest on the first-aid kit Liman had left inside his backpack.

'What a cruel man.' Thinking of this man made Trevor uncomfortable. Even the poison Liman had impregnated into the knife seemed to contain traces of his true demonic nature. Unfortunately, that poison could not be removed from the knife: it was trapped inside.

Trevor didn't understand how Liman did it, but he knew that getting that poison out of the knife had a high chance of ending up in failure, breaking his most lethal weapon at the moment.

'Who would believe me if I said that a kitchen knife could kill an entire Guara?' He sighed as he remembered the incredible scene. Trevor never expected him to be able to take out one of his enemies so easily.

The first aid kit has been opened. In it, various items such as bandages, gauze, antiseptic creams and scissors made up most of the medical supplies. Trevor sat on the floor and had to use his mouth as a support, since he had lost his left arm.

As a doctor's son, it would be shameful, at the very least, for him not to know how to use a first-aid kit. It took Trevor a long time to treat his serious injuries. Time had passed and the dark sky began to gain more light.

Trevor stood up, looking around. What was left of his left arm was bandaged, covered with gauze that allowed the passage of oxygen: preventing anaerobic microorganisms from reproducing as they pleased.

'I lost so much in all of this.' The items and supplies he had were wasted. Having no method to transport all of this, Trevor could only let his less-needed resources rot out in the field.

The other Guara that Trevor wounded in the neck had disappeared, as for the bodies of the remaining three, he decided not to do anything about them. Just thinking about how to get these monsters' coats off without damaging them would make him waste energy, something Trevor wasn't willing to see happen.

'It would be nice if I had some ways to preserve my arm…' Without the necessary means, Trevor had to dismiss these fanciful ideas aside and let his left arm rot along with the Guara's corpse.

The black-haired lad took the torn rags left over from his backpack to create a makeshift basket. Inside, he placed the dried meats and water bottles, leaving room for only a few remaining items. Trevor decided to spend that remaining space to put in a lighter, four maps, kitchen salt, and the medical kit.

Trevor was ready to leave, and he wasted no more time. His walk was now faster than before, since both the lack of heavy load to carry and the brighter sunlight allowed him to move more easily.

The surroundings looked as boring as before. However, something suddenly changed: some gnarled trees appeared in Trevor's vision, bringing with it familiar memories to him.

Trevor bit his lower lip.

.

.

.

"Dad, where are we going?" A small, black-haired child asked.

"We are going to a very special place." Beside this small child, a grown man walked the streets of the busy city while holding hands with the first one.

"Serious? That's cool! It must be something that makes you very happy then, doesn't it?" That child was Trevor. In these memories, he was even younger in age than in the earlier memories. His height was barely more than 1.5 meters. As for the man beside him, he was undoubtedly the illustrious Dr. Cow Hand.

"Yes, it makes me very happy." Jake smiled lovingly as he looked at his youngest son.

It didn't take long for the pair to reach their intended location. After walking through the streets of the busy city for about 10 minutes, they found themselves in front of a green park in the middle of the gray city made of concrete.

In front of both of them, a yellow-leaved tree with gnarled and withered branches lay.

At the foot of this tree, a rectangular stone kept company with the plant on its side.

Into this man-made rectangular grey stone, words have been inlaid.

The young Trevor squinted his eyes to read what was written.

[Rest In Peace - Cecilia Herona]

It was his mother's grave.