As Jaen was thinking, the noise came again, closer this time. Suddenly he realised that there was only one thing it could be. The Beast, from the fairy tales Jaen's dad used to tell Jaen! The Beast was said to live in the forest and devour anything and everything that dared disturb it. Jaen began to panic. What if the scream he heard was from one of the Beast's victims? Jaen did not know what the Beast looked like. He could end up dead if he didn't act fast. He grabbed his bag and pulled out the pans and the bowl. He needed to make the vag lighter so he could run faster - he didn't know whether the Beast was fast or slow, so he had to prepare for the worst. Jaen pulled out the fold-up pan rack. No. He would keep that. He was proud of that. He decided that the bag was light enough without the tent and the bowl and the pan. The pulled out his dagger and got ready to run. The noise came again, this time much closer. Jaen ripped a hole in the back of the tent and ran for his life. A mighty roar came from behind him, then came the sound of feet hitting the floor - fast. Jaen ran. He had to escape - he couldn't let the Beast get him. He didn't want to die here. He wanted to find his dad before he died. He ran on, sprinting as fast as his adrenalin-pumped body would go. He jumped over a log and ducked under a low branch. He looked behind him. The Beast was real. It was real and it was gaining on him. Suddenly, with a sickening smack, a low branch hit Jaen in the face. Jaen could feel the warm blood trickling down the side of his face - but he had to run on. The Beast was fast, with huge, black, scaly jaws and black leathery skin. It had four legs and a body shape not unlike that of an oversized tiger. It's tail was long and spikey and it waved and bounced as the Beast ran. Jaen's body couldn't take much more and as he approached an upcoming hill, he realised that he was going to die. Suddenly, there was a load bang. A gunshot? Jaen couldn't stop.
See Part 4.