Chapter 79-The dark forest (3)

Chapter 79: 79-The dark forest (3)

Maisa stared into the darkness, every instinct screaming at her to run, it warned her of the dangers ahead and urged her to get a move on.

Then another instinct rose above the fear, it was a strong wish to survive because this time, she had something to live for. It was the instinct her father had spent years carving into her bones.

She slowly reached toward the flower-shaped mark above her heart. Usually, even when she couldn’t see it clearly, she could feel it; a warmth beneath her skin, a faint pulse that told her when one of her mates was near, angry, frightened, or hurting. Now there was nothing emitting from it.

There was no warmth, no glow and no whisper of emotion. The flower was completely dormant.

Maisa swallowed. Hard. She couldn’t feel her mate similarly, she was sure her mates couldnt feel her. They didn’t know that she was in danger and she had no idea what was going on with them.

The realization was frightening, but it also gave her one advantage. Whatever this forest was doing to her, it had severed the connection enough that her mates couldn’t sense her danger so they wouldn’t be dragged into her problems.

She couldn’t call them or wait for them and she certainly couldn’t stand there hoping someone would rescue her. "I have to fight my own battles. Not just now but in the future too... enough being the protected, its time to be Maisa Everheart again."

Her father had never taught her to be a damsel waiting for someone to arrive. He had taught her to become the reason someone else needed rescuing.

Maisa turned fully toward the creature. The animal stepped into the moonlight and she finally saw what she was up against.

Her breath caught, the beast was enormous in size. She saw it clearly, a black panther stood between the trees, its sleek body almost disappearing into the darkness except for the strange red crescent markings scattered across its hide.

Those markings glowed faintly, like embers beneath blackened stone. Its eyes were fixed on her, and its lips pulled back to reveal rows of sharp teeth.

It was a sanguine-shadow panther but Maisa didn’t know its name yet. However, she knew exactly what it wanted, her.

Maisa’s gaze swept across the forest ground. There were no weapons, no blessed blades, no bows or anything useful that she could use.

Then she spotted a broken metal rod lying among the leaves and relief washed over her face.

The rod wasn’t much but it was her hope and it would have to be enough. She bent down and picked it up, taking a fighting stand.

The panther lowered itself and Maisa tightened her grip on the rod. Her father’s voice seemed to echo through her memory.

"Never let a predator dictate the distance between you and them, Mai," she heard her father’s lesson in her ear. It rang loudly.

The panther charged towards her a great speed, Maisa didn’t give it the advantage, she charged too.

The enormous creature crossed the space between them with terrifying speed. She threw herself sideways at the last possible moment, feeling the rush of air as it passed her. She rolled across the ground and came up on one knee.

The panther spun around, locked in on her position. Maisa was already moving towards it, she remembered the lessons and training.

"Don’t fight strength with strength, child. Make it miss, always have your enemies turn again and again... make it waste energy to gain an advantage," her father’s words kept ringing in her ear, pumping her up and guiding her.

She ducked beneath another swipe, brought the rod upward, and struck. The creature recoiled, snarling.

Maisa stumbled backward, her arms shook and her body hurt from the heavy force of the strike she landed on the beast but she didn’t stop.

The panther attacked again and she dodged. The panther came at her again and she blocked it, using the rod to take most of the hit as her body was shoved backward by the force.

Another charge forced her to continue going backward, and Maisa barely managed to get out of its path. She stumbled over a root, caught herself, and swung the rod with everything she had.

BAM!

The blow connected with the panther and the beast staggered. Maisa stared at it for half a second, "Aah!" She clutched her ribs which she only noticed as the adrenaline was slowing down, were wounded.

Then something inside her snapped. It was not fear but pride. She was proud of her herself for hurting the beast that was trying to kill her. She lifted her head, feeling fearless despite also being hurt.

"I am Maisa Everheart!" her voice rang through the trees. The panther snarled like it couldn’t care about what her name was. "Daughter of Luriel Everheart!" She continued,the name gave her strength.

Her father had survived vampires stronger than this. Her family had walked into territories where death waited behind every tree and she had been trained by people who considered monsters like this part of their profession.

She wasn’t going to die because three spiteful students had decided to play a cruel game with her life.

"I can’t be killed so easily!" She boasted and lunged at the panther again.

The battle became a blur of movement. Maisa relied on everything she’d ever learned from her footwork, timing, misdirection and patience.

She used the trees to limit the panther’s movements and refused to give it a clean opening. Every time it lunged, she made it miss. Every time it turned, she struck at it hard.

The creature was stronger but Maisa was smarter. Eventually, after one final desperate exchange, the panther collapsed down to the ground.

Maisa stood over it, barely able to believe she had won. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Her clothes were torn in places, her skin marked with scratches and bruises, and her hands trembled from exhaustion. She wiped at her face with the back of her arm, leaving a dark smear across her cheek.

She had survived. "I am Maisa, I am a survivor!" She said, it was more like a vow than mere words.

For several seconds, she simply stood there feeling proud that she had succeeded in winning against the panther.

Then a twig snapped behind her. Maisa spun around, her weapon came up immediately as her heart sank.

Another one?

She wasn’t sure she could fight again. Her body was exhausted, and whatever had stripped away her vampirism had also taken away the supernatural endurance she’d grown accustomed to.

"Don’t back down, Maisa. You survived one... you can survive another," she gave herself a pep talk.

She waited for the creature to come out and fight her, but to her surprise, when a figure emerged from the trees, it was not a beast but a boy.

He looked around her age, perhaps slightly older, dressed in worn clothes that seemed completely out of place in the ancient forest. His expression was one of disbelief as he stared at the fallen panther.

"You killed a sanguine-shadow panther?"

Maisa kept the rod raised. She looked down at the dead panther and one thought raced through he’d mind. ’So that’s what it was? Doesn’t matter anymore, it’s dead.’

The boy shook his head slowly. "You must really want to die. No one kills the beasts in this forests or the people either. Its common knowledge... it’s the only way to survive the suffering in here."