Hardships

Ares was on top of a tree. His body was tied to the trunk by a rope, so he wouldn't fall from that height even if he fell asleep. He needed to take that countermeasure since he would spend the entire night on top of that branch, most likely.

His eyelids were heavy and often he would close his eyes for long periods, but he never fully fell asleep. He couldn't bring himself to relax enough to do that. In truth, he didn't want to sleep. Not when...

'These guys... When will they go away?' He opened his eyes for the umpteenth time since the start of the night and leaned his body to the side, peeking at the place right below him.

There, a pack of wolves was looking at the branch of the tree that he was on top of.

"Damn it..." he cursed out loud, biting his lips afterward.

'If, at least, I could have had outwitted them... But it wasn't possible. They are way too fast. And now I am smelling both my blood and theirs. After I killed one of them, the rest of the pack got so furious that they hunted me down during the entire afternoon and are still waiting for me to get out of this branch...'

Ares didn't know that wolves were so spiteful. They were giving huge trouble to him.

'I need to admit that I am missing the kind people of my village. They weren't exactly the most reasonable people of all others, but they were easy to get along and live with. I passed for too many hardships with them in the past years, but nothing compared to what I am going through right now.'

When Ares thought that he would have time to, at least, meditate a bit by himself, he felt that the tree shook. Some leaves fell from the branches and Ares slid to the side, though the rope helped him not to fall from the branch.

'These guys are smarter than I expected, once I climbed up this tree they began to try to make me fall, but it was a couple of hours ago... Are they trying to make me fall again?' He peeked to the place below him, watching the wolves' actions.

Actually, they weren't intending to make Ares fall, but rather climb up the tree on their own. Unfortunately for the boy, they were achieving what they wanted.

"Damn it!" Ares cursed, widening his eyes and adjusting his body on the branch.

'If they manage to climb up this thing, I won't have any way to defend myself! If I go to the ground again, the others will catch me, and if I stay here, this bastard will make me fall!'

The problem wasn't about facing a single wolf that was trying to climb up, but the risk of being knocked off from that tree. If that happened in the process, he would be gone. If he didn't die by the fall, he would die by the hands of those beasts.

'This battle-axe is way too heavy to swing on top of a branch like this. Also, my body is too weak. I haven't been feeding myself properly for days. I barely can poise it in a proper battle stance.

'Also there is this... this buzzing sound... I am hearing it for a while, but I don't know whether it is something my mind is producing or something else is around me. It is dark now, so I cannot say for sure...'

Ares was starting to think about untying himself from the branch and finding a way to go away. However, as he did so, a searing pain spread through his abdomen. It was so excruciating that he needed to sit again on the branch.

'Damn it... It was getting better, or maybe the adrenaline was lessening the pain, but now it seems two times as bad as before...'

While he was fighting against the wolves before, he got hit on his belly. It wasn't a cut that would take his life, but it got in his way when walking or running.

'I cannot run away from them like this. It will make the cut bleed even more and it will be very troublesome... Besides, the smell of my blood can attract more animals in the way and it will become a huge mess.'

Ares' eyes were closing on their own, but he tried his best not to let them close. If he allowed himself to do so, he would surely faint from exhaustion and blood loss. He was bleeding for hours, after all.

'It has been only two weeks since I departed from my village. Even if I can get out of this situation, it won't last too long until something eats me, or I die on my own,' as pessimist thoughts began to fill his mind, Ares' body got weaker. The only thing that was moving him seconds ago was his willpower, nothing else. Now that he was slowly sabotaging himself, the situation was going to become worse.

The boy watched the wolves again with concern. The wolf that was trying to climb on the tree had climbed half the way until the branch that Ares was.

Ares looked to the west, which was on his left side. He noticed that the first rays of sunlight were invading the forest and slowly illuminating it.

'It is morning already. I am fighting against these beasts for hours...', he thought. 'They won't give up, huh? That's it, then. I think that's my first lesson. Don't give up until you die. That's something to learn with these animals. Every single animal I needed to kill fought against me until their very last breath. I should do the same since I have the choice here.'

Ignoring the pain in his belly, Ares untied his body from the rope and stood up. The world seemed to be spinning around him for a moment, but it lessened as time passed.

The boy drew the battle-axe that was on his back, feeling the weight that it had (which looked like 2 tons right now).

'I won't die right on the start. If I did, it would be pathetic...'

The sun rose enough to illuminate the tree branch that he was on top. Even the sounds around got clearer. The darkness of the forest could confuse someone's mind.

Ares looked up, then saw the last hope that he had to win that fight.