Chapter 145 - 146
He managed to reactivate his ocular spell with great effort, working his way around broad trunks and hazardous roots that threatened to send him tumbling should he lose focus for even a moment.
Just like the last time that he had been alone in these forests, he continued running without looking back, though now he was able to rely on his swordsman’s aura to increase his speed by a decent degree, an enhancement that would do little to preserve his safety in the event that the yet-to-be identified predator had decided to follow after him.
Please don’t let it be what I think it is, he thought, adrenaline surging throughout his body. Don’t follow me. Don’t follow me...
He hurried back in the direction of the county walls as fast as he could manage, arriving at the section that he’d branded with his inner energies within a handful of heart-hammering breaths. As soon as he made it out of the forest, Alistar brandished his sword and turned around to stare into the ranks of leafless trees, doing his best to control his breathing as he prepared for an immediate struggle.
This was a bad idea.
A cold breeze ruffled the detritus that littered the forest floor, the trees shivering their spindly limbs as if in an attempt to shake off the cold. Over a minute passed in silence, though Alistar maintained the defensive stance that he had taken up as if something terrible might happen at any moment. During this time, he drew as much water from the frozen earth as he was able to, hurriedly forming three spikes of ice that were slightly larger than the ones from before. After reinforcing them, he directed them to hover in front of his chest as he continued to draw water in the hopes of forming another ladder with which to scale the walls.
Almost there, he thought. Just a little more and I can...
He trailed off as a silent silhouette emerged from behind one of the many trees in front of him, a large, muscular feline with piercing yellow eyes, dark, matted fur and long, razor-sharp claws that left little slits in the frozen earth with each footfall. Its fur thickened around the head and neck, similar to the sketches of the lions that prowled the fields of the continent’s southern steppes.
Alistar’s fears were realized as he connected eyes with the black-maned bobcat, one of the deadliest predators that roamed these ranges during the winter months and something that shouldn’t have been anywhere near Distan. From what he’d read, this beast was far more dangerous than the dagger-mouthed mountain lion in a direct confrontation, though it wasn’t as feared due to the fact that it wasn’t supposed to be able to mask its life signal.
Impossible! He’d never read anything about these animals being able to mask their auras in such a way. How can it be here?
The real question was, why had it followed him? Based on what he knew, dark-maned bobcats were supposed to lose interest in other potential prey as soon as they made a kill. If that were truly the case, then it could only mean that there had been two of these predators present around the long-toothed wolf from earlier.