The beast suddenly let go of him and fell to the ground, dead. He stared at it for  a moment, and bracinged for another attack, but it never came. Breathing heavily, he warily turned away warily and sat down on the ground, exhausted. Blood dripped from his face.
    What was that? He had been walking through the dense forest, just like the past… how many days? Oh, he was so lost… and out of nowhere, that thing jumped on him.
    He took off his torn jacket and pressed it to the wound on his head, wincing.
    Really, what was it? It certainly wasn’t a bear or any other type of large creature that you would expect to find in dark, tangled woods like these; it was… he wasn’t sure how to explain the beast’s appearance, but it was huge and almost as tall as him, which was saying something.
    He moved his hand back and brought his jacket into view; part of it was drenched in his blood, which was mixed with a strange dark substance.
    Was that from the beast?
    He sat in silence for a few minutes, holding his jacket to his face. His quietness was interrupted by numerous bird calls, some shrill, some low, some warbling, and some clear and smooth. All of those birds were completely ignorant to the fight that had just occurred, to the blood that had been spilled, and to the terror he had rid from the forest. They were ignorant to what he had just been through. Leaves and branches rustled overhead, and sunlight contentedly poured through gaps in the trees, also blissfully unaware of what had just happened. He sighed.
    I wish I could be unaware, too.
    Eventually, the rush of blood slowed and faded to an ooze. He grabbed the sword he had dropped and stood up. The falchion dripped with a weird liquid that somewhat resembled thick, spoiled onion soup. He presumed it to be the beast’s blood, and it stained much of him and the ground where the fight had taken place. True, he wasn’t very squeamish around blood, but this was plain morbid.
    Disgusting.
    He doubled over and held his head, a wave of dizziness smacking into him amidst a sea of pain. Crisp, bright pain. He inhaled sharply.
    After a while, the dizziness disappeared and he stood tall again, towering over the beast’s body at roughly seven foot. He looked at the hideous creature in disgust, both because of its appearance and because of what it had done to him.
    These wounds are definitely going to scar.
    He looked down at himself. Deep, oozing gashes were spattered about his chest and lower body. He sighed again and turned to walk away into the dark forest, spotted with puddles of sunlight shooting through the green film of leaves overhead.
    There was a noise behind him.
    He felt something land heavily on his back.
    He hit the ground with a thud.
    A piercing shriek directly behind his head.
    Pain suddenly exploded underneath his neck.
    It wasn’t dead.
    His world disappeared.