Hazy Crossroads

The sun had started to set, the bright orange and pinks colouring the sky from the blue hues that had come before. A few clouds were scattered above, but for the most part sunlight still managed to warm up Morgan before it slowly crept below the horizon. The steady gait of his companion was a welcoming rhythm, one slow and predictable as they made their way to a nearby outpost. It'd been only hours since he left another town behind, but it had been in full gallop the whole way until now. The last hunt had been more difficult than expected, and he'd sustained more injuries than he'd been prepared for. Nothing that couldn't be fixed - or so he assumed - but he also preferred to get the hell out of there and find a calm place to spend the night.

It'd been in the middle of the forest, and to be quite honest, so unexpected that for a fraction of a second he had considered bailing and leaving instead. But who was he, if he let a thing like that roam and hurt others? However, nothing could have prepared him for the sheer speed and power he was met with. Barely having time to load his gun, he had only managed to use it as a way to stop the huge wolf from biting down on him. In their fight, the gun had gone off and Morgan had been left with what felt like a broken arm and clawed up chest, as the wolf he fled. He hadn't even gotten the chance to aim, it was over before it even began. 

He was better off leaving anyway, with the state he was in. 

It'd been a peculiar monster though, not one he'd met before. It felt more... intelligent somehow, not as mindless and set on destruction as the monsters that had once been a mage. Maybe he'd go looking for it again sometime, when he was more prepared. But not now. Holding his arm close to his chest, exhaustion was creeping in and he rode by pure instinct. The outpost had started to show in the distance, and as he got closer, he felt more and more faint. Whatever that monster was, it hadn't been weak in its attack and his arm felt like it was on fire and rotting away simultaneously. Not long to go, then he could settle down for the night, so long he didn't fall of from his horse first.