Cathie calmly but cautiously took step after step forwards. The forest was a harsh place at the best of times, but now of all times, she could not afford a single misstep. The world was not the forgiving type. She’d learnt that the hard way. She was older now, around nineteen at her best guess. Her fiery red eyes sharply focused like a hawk. Her ears and nose finely tuned. Her footwork as light as a feather. Like a cat on the hunt, she was ready to pounce at a moment’s notice, but also ready to run. The prey she was after was no simple beast after all.

The forest was rather dark despite it being daytime. Rare rays of sunlight pierced through the thick and motionless leaf canopy above, but Cathie was doing everything she possibly could to avoid stepping into the light. There was safety in the darkness. Safety from being hidden from view of the sky.

She came to a slow stop and turned back to check on the man a few paces behind her. Cathie had certainly changed a lot from her youthful self. Her arms were seemingly pure muscle, her legs too. She looked strong enough to lift three fully grown men at once. The man behind her, was her complete opposite. Thin, spindly. He looked like one good gust of wind would carry him into the sky if he wasn’t careful. She watched as he perfectly mimicked her earlier footsteps. He wasn’t as good at hunting, but his sharp, intelligent eyes picked up everything she taught quicker than most.

Sam was the thinker. Normally the one who’d keep to the safety of the cave, rather than to be out here risking his own neck alongside her. She was the hunter. These forests were her bread and butter. Sam was smart, arrogant at times, but not even he could question her effectiveness out here. He gave her a reassured nod as he caught up to her last footsteps.

Both of their ear’s suddenly twitched as a single rumble echoed throughout the deadly silent forest. Both of them instinctively looked down at their own feet.

“Guess it found us.” Sam quietly muttered as he removed a fine crafted wooden bow from his shoulder and knocked an arrow immediately.

“Definitely an Earth Dragon then.” She responded in the same low mutter, “Look for a perch. I’ll watch the ground.” She then ordered.

“Aye.” He obeyed as his eyes shot up to examine the low branches of the nearby trees. A particular branch caught his attention, and he vanished into the shadows without a trace.

Cathie pulled out a two-handed blade that had been sheathed on her back. Her eyes fixed on the ground. Her entire stance then subtly changed. Instead of her catlike light-footed stance, she placed her bare feet flat against the dirt of the forest floor. She focused almost all of her attention on her feet as she then positioned them perpendicular to one another. Her eyes narrowed as the ground began to ever so gently shift.

She instinctively switched back to her light foot approach as the vibrations quickly began to overwhelm her senses. She leapt into the air as the ground suddenly exploded into a teethy mass that snapped shut just shy of her toes. Her bare feet planted themselves on the rock hard, armoured snout of a giant serpent creature.

Sam gave a small sigh as he eyed the creature from a high up branch. Four legs of pure muscle wrapped in a bone like armour that was thick enough to stop a sword at full swing with nothing but a small scratch. Each leg boasted vicious claws that could dig through the ground as if it were paper. The armour also covered the beasts back and skull. With small eyes but a mouthful of teeth that simply meant death should you get caught in them, the beast also had a long tail with a boulder like formation on the end made of the same armour that coated most of its body. A beast well known to the humans of this world. A beast that under these sorts of circumstances, it would be a death sentence to do anything but run and hide. A beast known only as an Earth Dragon.

Sam unleashed his first shot at the beast. His arrow pinged off the armour just beneath its eye. He quietly cursed to himself as he loaded a second arrow. The dragon seemed to immediately notice how close it had come to losing one of its eyes and turned its attention his way. Cathie pushed herself off the beast’s snout and landed completely unscathed back onto the forest floor, “Over here ugly!” Sam yelled as the dragon seemed to narrow its tiny eyes towards him.

Earth Dragons liked to live underground. Therefore, their eyesight was terrible, but it made up for its lack of vision with its terrifyingly accurate vibrational perception. The beast could see everything that moved even slightly upon the ground, but up in the trees it had to rely on its eyesight alone. Sam was not safe, however. His eyes widened with fear as the dragon’s mouth snapped open and aimed directly at him. He’d not expected it to get such an accurate shot already. He winced as he prepared to be killed right then and there.

Fortunately for him, he’d had the sense to bring a trump card to this hunt. Cathie’s bare knuckles slammed against the side of the dragon’s head a mere fraction of a second before it unleashed it’s shot. A massive boulder shot just to the side of Sam, tearing through branches and trees like a full-blown landslide. The dragon shook off the surprise blow and instead turned its attention back to Cathie. It certainly hadn’t expected a human to be strong enough to physically challenge it. Then again, Cathie had caught it off guard. It growled as its eyes flared with anger towards her. She’d certainly pissed it off. She immediately turned tail and launched into a full sprint. Cathie was strong, but an Earth Dragon wasn’t something even she could mess about with. The ground began to thud as the heavy beast gave chase.

Running was a skill that every human in this world either learnt very quickly or died. Cathie was certainly fitter than most, but her strength came at a cost. She wasn’t by any means fast enough to outrun a beast whose legs were as long as she was tall, especially given it was on all fours. The thuds and miniature earthquakes that threatened to interrupt her precise pace continued to intensify as the beast drew closer and closer to her. She purposely waited one more second as the thuds suddenly became consistent. Cathie then smirked.

Full stride. Her eyes snapped to a thin tree trunk up ahead. She outstretched her arm and grabbed it. Her whole body swung around the tree as she then focused on pushing forwards with her feet once more only after she’d turned to once again face the dragon. Her other hand once again unsheathed the blade on her back. She’d avoided striking the armour with her weapon earlier, as it wouldn’t have done much, but this time she would need it for sure.

The Earth Dragon continued its charge as Cathie let cry a courageous roar. The beast eyed her blood red eyes. Determination set ablaze within them. It considered her earlier strike. This human was strong. It intended to strike it down. It wasn’t going to let that happen.

Cathie watched as the armoured beast lunged forwards, launching itself into the air to pounce down on top of her. An all-out strike with the dragon’s entire weight behind it. The perfect opening. She herself pounced forwards like a cat, barely underneath the dragon’s incoming razor-sharp claws. She dove into a perfectly executed combat roll that barely got her out of the way of the dragon’s body as it slammed against the ground. She rolled onto her feet just in time to swing at the base of the beast’s tail. One of not many places it was completely unarmoured.

Her blade sliced through the Earth Dragon’s tail, covering her in cold, thick, blue blood. The beast unleashed a deafening screech of pain as it turned and swiped its claws. Cathie launched herself backwards, but her fur coat was sliced clean through. Before the dragon could swipe again, an arrow whistled through the air to strike the beast dead in its left eye, “Time to go.” Sam’s voice muttered as his hand patted her right shoulder. She agreed. They’d achieved what they’d set out to do. Cathie turned and once again shot into a full sprint, following the sight of Sam’s back as he sprinted just ahead of her.

Despite his build, Sam was fast. Running was perhaps the only physical activity he excelled at, and that’s because no one in this world survived without such a skill, not even someone as sharp and cunning as him. A sudden pain shot through Cathie. Her stride slowed as she clutched her chest with one arm. The source of the pain. She removed her arm to see a line of blood imprinted upon it. A line that followed the slice in her coat perfectly. She gritted her teeth and pressed on regardless. They needed safety before she could do anything about that. She could already feel the earth once again shuddering under heavy footstep. The beast was once again giving chase.

The blur of trees suddenly vanished as Sam continued at full sprint towards the base of a sheer rock cliff face. No matter how many times they’d all gone through it, running full sprint towards solid rock always churned one’s stomach. Sam vanished into the rock, Cathie herself sprinted through behind him, through the rock and into a small, thin cave mouth.

The thuds came to an abrupt stop just behind them. Sam and Cathie both turned back to the open wooden door. The head of an Earth Dragon staring right back at them. Yet, the dragon appeared befuddled. Confused. It turned its head to begin searching the area. Its viciously armed feet tore at the ground out of frustration, like a small toddler who’d just had its favourite toy confiscated. The two of them stood frozen stiff, both heavily panting as they struggled to catch their breaths.

After some time and clear frustration, the beast relented. It limped off, bitter at its inability to pay back its injuries.

“That was certainly a close one.” Cathie quietly sighed as she peered down at the wooden floorboards her bare feet were now comfortably planted on. Earth Dragons relied on sensing vibrations. Sam had ingeniously padded the floor underneath with wood offcuts. That and the illusion at the door made the cave impossible for a dragon to find.

“Yeah… hopefully that’s the only time we’ll need to do that.” Sam puffed.

“And why exactly did you two end up leading an Earth Dragon right to our door?” A third voice asked from behind them both. Both of them swallowed and tensed up like two small children caught mid mischief. They both turned to find Kellan calmly standing behind them.

Kellan was a man built a lot like Sam. Thin figure, sharp eyes. His hair was brown and long, and he was a bit taller than Sam too. He scowled at the two of them and folded his arms. His foot tapped against the wooden floorboards, awaiting an answer. Cathie quietly covered the slice in the front of her fur coat with her sleeve.

“Sam needed dragon blood.” Cathie sheepishly answered as she raised her blade up for the three of them to see. The heavy weapon was drenched in blue, thick blood.

“Dragon’s blood?” Kellan chuckled unnervingly as he walked over to stand face to face with Sam. The laughter on his face vanished in an instant, and Sam quickly found a fist in his gut. He grunted and keeled over as Kellan recomposed himself and shook the slight pain from his hand, “Have you lost your mind?” He snapped, but he was quickly defused as Cathie’s firm grasp tightened around his other wrist, to the point that she could probably break it with a small twist.

“Last time I checked, I had a will of my own.” She quietly growled at him as Sam slowly got back onto his feet, “Don’t blame him for my decisions.”

“You should know better.” Kellan sternly confronted Cathie, yet his tone was noticeably cautious. Unlike Sam, Cathie was more than capable of killing him where he stood. Her fiery eyes alight with a rage he dared not fully challenge, “I’d do the same to you if you weren’t likely to kill me for it.” He bluntly told her, doing his best to keep his point despite her overwhelming advantage. Cathie’s eyes narrowed briefly, then released Kellan’s wrist.

“Hit him instead of me again, I’ll break you just as much.” She threatened in turn. She raised her blade, causing Kellan to backstep from her, but she held it out for Sam to grab off her, “Work your magic Sam, and let me know if we need to hunt some more.” She spoke, her eyes still trained on Kellan, making it clear she had no intention of heeding his earlier warning. Sam took the blade, struggling slightly with its weight in his two arms. He gave a small, awkward nod, before Cathie left with a quiet huff.

She limped deeper into the cave, making sure neither of the others saw any signs of her injury. The main area of the cave was a large communal space. A small wooden crafted table and four stools was the centrepiece, beside a small alight firepit that was the only light source. She walked through the large open room, deeper into the calved-out space they called home. Her room was first to the left. She pulled open the handcrafted wooden door and quickly shut it behind her, plunging her into darkness beyond the faint leaking light that made its way through her door.

She sat down on the floor, curled up into a ball and leant back against the furthest rock wall from the door. She winced as she clutched her still bleeding wound. She uncurled herself slightly to examine it. A clean slash across her lower chest. Shallow, like a long papercut, but it was still bleeding. She pressed her arm against it to apply pressure and curled herself back up. It was painful, but somewhat effective. She closed her eyes, let out a deep breath, and quietly began to nod off.

The time that passed felt like a blur, she wasn’t sure exactly how long she’d been asleep for, but it didn’t feel like long to her. Light blinded her for a short second as a figure walked through her door and closed it behind them, returning the shadows.

“I assume you want my help with that.” Sam’s voice muttered as he calmly walked over to her, with a bag slung over one shoulder. Sam’s bag was perhaps the oddest possession that Sam owned, which was saying a lot. The man was constantly tinkering with small inventions or models that made little sense to her. The bag was deceptively simple. It held things. What was odd about it, was how many things it could hold.

“With what?” Cathie muttered in her drowsy state.

“I understand wanting to hide it from Kellan, but do you really think I didn’t notice you get cut out there?” Sam revealed. Cathie gave a quiet sigh. She un-balled and removed her arm from her wound for him to see. Sam began to rummage through his bag until he found a particular object. A box that slid open to reveal a collection of small sticks tipped with something red. He pulled out a large wax candle as well. He struck one of the small sticks against its own box to produce a flame, and then lit the candle, “This would be easier to treat in the light of the fire.” He added as he briefly looked towards her door.

“And give captain overprotective another excuse to gut punch you?” Cathie reminded him.

“Good point.” He sighed as he brought the candle close to her chest and carefully lifted up her wolfskin coat to reveal her bare skin, “Shallow. Lucky.” He noted as he took a moment to examine the wound himself. He lowered her wolfskin and again turned to his bag. This time he produced a finely woven bandage.

“Don’t use something as precious as that on me.” Cathie quietly protested as Sam unravelled it.

“Last time I checked, your far more precious than this.” Sam remarked as he ignored her protest and shifted her forwards off the wall so that he could wrap the bandage around her, “Do you want to die to a wound as feeble as this?”

“No.” She quietly huffed while he fluffed up some herbal padding and applied it to the inside of the bandage.

“Then less fussing and more helping.” He teased with a small grin. He raised the bandage, ready to begin wrapping. She rolled her eyes and lifted up her wolfskin. She winced and quietly cursed to herself as he tightened the bandage around her.

“A bit tight, isn’t it?” She complained.

“That’s the general idea.” Sam answered, “Now no taking it off until its healed.” He sternly spoke, although with his kind and rather unthreatening face, it felt more like Cathie was a lion being bossed around by a mouse, “And let me know if it becomes bloody. Last thing we need is to lose you to your own stubbornness.”

“No promises.” She sighed, “At least tell me the dragon blood we got was useful in the end.”

“It was.” He answered, “But for now get some rest. My work is days from producing real results.” He shot down before she had the chance to ask any more questions. He picked up his bag and blew out his candle. She watched as he walked over to the door, opened it, and left her be.

As Sam closed the door behind him, his yellow eyes turned distant and cold. The clean, emotionless and sterile sharpness of intellect glistened in the firelight.

“Happy?” He quietly muttered as his gaze shifted over to Kellan, who was sat beside the firepit, putting another large log onto the fire to keep it alive. As the main source of warmth and light for the entire cave, it was important for such a flame to remain alight.

“How bad was it?” Kellan asked him, refusing to turn to address him, his eyes lost in the dance of the flames ahead.

“Shallow cut. She’ll be fine.” Sam answered with a sigh. He walked over to the table, lifted a stool, and placed it down beside the one Kellan was sat on, close to the fire.

“This time.” Kellan remarked as Sam sat down beside him, “I wish she wouldn’t hide such things from me.”

“Probably tied of your endless lecturing.” Sam responded. Kellan shot him a sharp look, but unlike last time, Sam’s cold expression remained unphased, “As I once warned you.”

“In the very same conversation you told me this wasn’t your fight, or have you changed your mind on that?” Kellan threw back. Sam’s face lit up in a slim, fake smile designed to offend.

“Pointing out your mistakes doesn’t make me a player in this crusade of yours.” Sam answered him, “I’m still very much of the opinion that humanity is already over.”

“I’m sure my desperate quest to disagree has you just as tired of my lectures.” Kellan sighed. Sam gave a small chuckle as he slowly got to his feet.

“The group elected you leader. I’m not dumb enough to deny the will of the collective, but your status relies on Finn’s continued support and mine and Cathie’s indifference.” He explained, “Continue to slam your face headfirst into the immovable object that is Cathie, and you’ll find yourself powerless in no time.”

“And what would you do, if such a thing were to happen?” Kellan asked him as Sam turned to walk over to his room.

“My goals don’t require the group.” Sam answered, “But having you lot around makes surviving easier. Provided the pro’s out way the con’s, I’ll be here tinkering away as an onlooker.” He answered as he pulled his door open.

“I’m surprised you lack the ambition to try and usurp me, since you disagree with my methods and motives so strongly.” Kellan bluntly stated. Sam hesitated as he moved to close his door. His cold, calculating eyes turned back to look at Kellan.

“Other people irritate me at the best of times.” He responded, “I’ll leave the monkey wrangling to you.” He added as he swung his door closed. Kellan sighed as he continued to watch the flames before him dance away.

“The leader of the four last humans of this world.” He sighed to himself, “And I’m stuck with a loyal friend, a sociopathic smart arse, and a borderline suicidal last woman.” He listed. Even he had to admit, with such a complicated collection of individuals and relationships, perhaps Sam was right after all. Perhaps humanity was doomed. He closed his eyes and collected his spiralling thoughts. Humanity had one chance left, one last hope to progress further in legacy then their individual lifespans. He turned to lay his eyes upon Cathie’s shut door. As long as she lived, humanity had a chance.