CHAPTER 30: INTO THE FOREST

Serena didn’t need to be told twice. She turned and immediately ran the opposite direction of both the fight and campsite. It was too dangerous to hang around either place now.

Because if her assumptions were correct, that wolf was a beastman. Likely a rootless beastman at that. And there was no way he was alone. This was the work of an organized group.

Serena clicked her tongue in annoyance. This was the worst possible situation happening right now. She was going to have to rely on others to keep the rootless beastmen away while she got away.

Perhaps it was a cowardly move to leave the others to their fate, but Serena had a thick enough skin to not regret that decision like she regretted many other things. This was their safest option.

If she had stayed by Rex, she would’ve just gotten in the way, making it harder for him to fight while protecting her and Kiro. It was the same reason why he led her away from the campsite where the main fighting was going on.

She weaved through the trees, careful not to cut herself on the branches. She needed to minimize anyone tracking her down because who knew what their intentions were.

After a few minutes of running at full speed, Serena felt her body beginning to take a toll. Her muscles weren’t used to this kind of intense physical activity.

She slowed down into a jog, keeping her ears peeled for the sounds of any fighting. Upon confirming she was some distance away, Serena came to a complete stop.

"Kiro..." Serena murmured softly at the trembling cub, her breathing heavy and uneven. "Shift... huff...

and get into the... basket."

As she spoke, Serena set him down on the ground before pulling up the basket. Something she was glad her paranoid self had prepared. She opened it to grab a bone knife she swiped some time back.

She placed the knife down and picked up a shifted Kiro to help him into the basket. He didn’t quite fit with his head and front paws sticking out, but that was fine.

Serena’s goal was to get her hands free. She petted the cub and said, "We’ll... be fine... huff... Hold tight... okay."

Kiro yowled at her in response and Serena gave him one more smile before putting the basket back on her shoulders. They screamed in protest at the heavy weight, but Serena ignored the pain.

Instead she grabbed her knife and started running once more, weaving through the trees to confuse anyone following her scent. It was a foolproof plan, but she needed to do something until she got to a water source to mask her scent.

Hopefully from there, she could follow the water source and perhaps find a village or tribe. After all, water was a precious resource in this world so most villages, tribes and cities built close to them.

As for her bone knife, while she knew it was going to be much help against a beastman, having a weapon in her hands at least brought her some comfort. She was still not fully confident in her beast form and so relied one the one skill she was confident in.

Her weapons’ training.

Serena ran until her legs began to tremble in exhaustion before she slowed down to a light jog. By then her stomach was growling in pain and her throat was completely dry.

She could resist the pain, but she knew she needed to find something for Kiro to eat and drink soon. The cub didn’t need to go through that kind of torment.

Her ears flickered on her head searching for any strange sounds. But all she could hear was some distant animal noises, mostly birds from the sound of it. Of course, it mostly didn’t matter.

The important thing was that she was hearing noise. The moment she didn’t was when she knew she was truly in danger. Because that meant there was a dangerous predator nearby.

Serena slowed down further to a walking pace, her eyes scanning for any familiar plants. However, almost everywhere showed green leaves and Serena couldn’t tell what from what.

She sighed, taking a sharp turn to the left. It was then that she heard the familiar sound of running water. Her ears pricked up and Serena hurried back into a jogging pace to get to the water.

Her eyes soon landed on a small waterfall entering a large river. Relief filled her at the sight and after checking that there was nothing near the water, Serena ran to it.

She got down to her knees at the river bed, eyes scanning the clear water. She spotted a few fish swimming, but otherwise it looked safe.

Serena set down the basket and Kiro immediately hopped out, heading to the water. But before he could go near it, Serena put a hand in front of him.

"Wait..." Serena coughed in a rough tone.

Kiro paused and watched as she pulled out the water skin she’d been given. She drank the last remaining droplets of water in the skin, licking her lips in relief as it quenched her thirst.

She then carefully placed the water skin into the water, keeping a sharp eye on the fish. They scurried away at her movement, confirming they weren’t flesh-eating predators.

Once the water skin was filled, she handed it to Kiro who had shifted into his human form by then. He took the water skin from her, but Serena didn’t let go just yet.

"Drink slowly." Serena ordered with a stern look on her face.

She didn’t need the cub getting sick because he drank too fast. There were too many things she had to worry about that she didn’t want to add a sick cub to the list.

Kiro nodded his head and Serena let go of the water skin, turning her attention to the waterfall. It was on a small rocky hill and when Serena looked at it closely, she couldn’t help but smile.

It seemed she had found them a good shelter to rest at for the night.