Inside the small, shadow-choked cave, Alex exhaled and let his weight fall against the damp wall. His muscles throbbed with exhaustion. Days without food or rest had worn him thin, but pain had always been a companion. Familiar. Tolerable.
He scanned the cave, his eyes sharp despite the fatigue.
He picked a corner, covered the entry with some grass, and finally, for the first time in days, felt a little safer. He pressed his back against the corner wall and closed his eyes.
Nothing makes sense… where am I? If it were enemies, they would've killed me. If it were allies, they wouldn't have left me alone—they need me. So what happened? And how long have I been here?
He ran through all kinds of logical explanations, but nothing came to mind.
Suddenly, his whole body shuddered. He could feel a strong presence in the opposite corner.
He shifted his eyes—and there they were. Two glowing green eyes, staring right at him.
He looked down at his waist. The only weapon he had… a knife. Its sharpness was mostly gone. Silently, he wrapped his fingers around the handle.
A low, guttural growl echoed in the darkness. From the shadows slinked a massive rat—easily the size of a wolf. Its fur was matted, jagged teeth glistened with saliva, and its claws scraped against the stone floor with sickening eagerness.
A few seconds passed. The creature didn't move.
Just as Alex thought he had a few more seconds—
It lunged.
Alex barely rolled to the side, the beast's claws grazing his back. Pain flared, warm blood soaking into his tunic.
He hissed through clenched teeth.
The rat turned, snarling, and charged again. This time, Alex sprinted to the wall, leapt, and kicked off it with all his strength. Midair, his knife gleamed.
He drove the blade into the side of the rat's neck.
The knife embedded halfway in. Not deep enough.
The beast shrieked in fury, thrashing backward. Alex was flung across the cave, crashing into stone. The impact knocked the breath from his lungs.
He struggled to get up, ribs aching.
The rat was wounded—but still alive. Blood streamed from its neck, pooling on the ground, but its movements were still fast. Furious. Hungry.
Alex took a deep breath. His knife was still lodged in the rat's neck.
It was wounded, but not enough to kill. Now, he had only his hands and legs to fight with.
He knew—if it caught him even once, he was done.
And he didn't want to know how sharp those teeth were.
So began the struggle—between a rat and a human.
Assassins were known for their nimble movements.
And Alex was one of the best in the entire world.
The creature managed only to scratch him occasionally.
Alex used punches and kicks, but they weren't strong enough to seriously injure the rat.
He kept trying to strike the wounded part of its neck, but the rat never let him get close.
As the fight dragged on, Alex was covered in scratches—one deeper than the rest.
But the rat still had only that one wound. A deep one. It had bled a lot.
The beast was getting slower, weaker.
But Alex's movements never slowed down.
Then, he saw it—an opening. The rat pounced.
Alex dodged low, slid beneath its belly, grabbed the knife, and ripped it free.
The creature shrieked. Blood spurted.
Alex climbed onto its back, grabbed the fur at the base of its skull, and stabbed—again and again.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
More.
Until the rat's body convulsed… and then stilled.
The ground was soaked in blood.
The rat was dead—completely, utterly dead