The Beginning
"Huff. Huff. Uuuugh~!"
There's a phrase for when your mouth goes bone-dry. People trot it out for all sorts of occasions, but for the state I was in just then, I couldn't think of a better fit.
"Hhk—hahh! Khak!"
It had only been a few minutes, and already I was running flat out. My heart had gone past pounding into a pain like it was about to tear clean in two, and the stitch in my side kept snagging every stride. I couldn't even tell whether my lungs were doing their job. I couldn't pull in a real breath, and the world in front of me went yellow, then flared white, then black—I was standing on the threshold of death, no question about it. Stop now, and I'd probably drop from a heart attack anyway.
"Cough! Hack, kek! ...Aaaaaagh!!"
Cold sweat was streaming off every inch of me, and still I was sprinting like a lunatic. The reason...
Any other day, the usual me would've been muttering that I was done for and sprawled out on the ground ages ago. The reason I was running hard enough to burst my own heart...!
"Quit chasing me, you fucking dog!!!"
Skree-ree-ree-reet~!!!
That Aberrant bastard was right on my heels, forcing that bizarre cry out of its long snout. Slow down for even a second and it would spring, sink its teeth into the back of my neck, and drag me straight off to my death. That much was obvious.
The one small mercy was that, forest though it was, the trees weren't especially thick. I wouldn't have called the ground level, but the dirt was flat enough, and there was next to nothing in the way to foul a man mid-sprint.
"Fuuuuuck!!"
Kraaaaaaagh!!
The shout I'd ripped out of pure rage at the mess I'd landed in didn't sit well with that dog of a dog. It barked right along with me.
Shit...! I'm the one who wants to bark like a dog...!!
The injustice of it cut so deep I thought I was going to cry.