Dammit. He'd miscalculated. The boy was armed. However, even in this dim lighting and with the small distance between them, he could see it.

The way the boy gripped the dagger handle so tightly.

He was terrified.

Good. That was good news for him. When people panicked, they tended to rush attacks, leave sloppy defenses, stuck between their fight or flight response and ultimately, end up freezing.

Lorcan raised his hands to his chest, crunching his knuckles loudly as he smiled wider, an almost genuine smile of excitement as he stared down the other boy.

"Not bad for a lizard hugger. But who am I kidding? I fight and KILL dragons. YOU'RE NOTHING!" He bellowed, suddenly lunging forth as he swept himself down low to the ground, aiming to knock the boys legs out from under him as he quickly recovered behind him.

"Tell your girlfriend I send my best regards. And maybe next time... Don't go playing babysitter. It's a terrible look for you." He sing songed, his great fist clenched tightly and raised, preparing to deliver a devastating blow that would certainly knock his lights out.

Lorcan didnt waste anytime lingering to gloat or taunt the boy further. He was running on a time limit, and the longer he spent around here, the higher the chances he'd find himself in a serious predicament.

His footsteps thundered along the boards as he dashed through the small cottage, the layout unfamiliar to him. He was used to the warm rocky cobble of his villages houses, the scent of smoke and metal. Each house was often adorned in dragon scales and horns mounted on walls like trophies.

This place held none of the intense atmosphere he was accustomed to.

It was quaint. Soft. Scarcely decorated yet it still had a homely feel about it.

Disgusting.

He carried himself out through the front door, barely catching himself in his haste to get out of this dreadful place as soon as possible. His palms lightly scraped along the ground as he caught himself, pushing himself into another sprint. He could feel eyes on him. Whether they belonged to a person or a dragon, he wasn't sticking around to find out. Tempting fate was something he did often given his line of work, but today, he found himself fresh out of that cocky confidence.

That girl and that blasted dragon would only be gone for so long, and after her earlier display, he doubted she would be so merciful. Especially not with the little present he'd left for her in her cottage basement.

The trees of the nearby woods grew closer as he pushed himself further, faster, focused on getting the hell out of this place. The trees gently swayed in the soft afternoon breeze, birds chirping... Giant ass shadows swooping in overhead.

"Fuck me-!" Lorcan swore under his breath, his boots sliding uselessly down a dirt bank thick with moss and roots. He landed roughly at the bottom with a heavy thud, letting out a deep groan as he stayed there for a moment.

This was going to take forever.

He had no idea where he was. How to get home. But he knew how to survive. And until he worked out the better half of his plan? It'd have to do for now.

He slowly sat up, wincing slightly as he pushed himself back up onto his feet, dusting off the dirt and leaves that now clung stubbornly to the fabric of his clothes.

He decided to save some of his energy, opting for a slower traveling pace instead of the frantic sprinting he'd so stupidly gone for earlier.

It was quiet in the woods now.

The birds had quieted.

The shadows no longer passing overhead.

Just him, the crunch of the leaves beneath his boots, and... The wind.

'Left... Straight... Right... And-'

The same tree that he'd come across several times already, the bark carved by X's everytime he came this way.

What the hell was with this place!? Every tree looked the same, an endless stretch of trees in every direction like a neverending hell. Lorcan threw his head back, letting out a shout full of his building frustration.

"For fuck sakes-!!! How the hell do I keep looping on the same goddamn tree!? It doesn't matter if I go straight forever, left, take any other turns, I still wind up back here-!!! UGH!!!" He ranted out loud, picking up a sizeable rock as he lobbed it directly at the tree in question. It bounced off with a resounding thunk, before falling to the leafy covered ground with a heavy thud.

Getting mad now wouldnt solve anything. But he still wasn't familiar with anything in this place. He was used to reading the stars at night, using them to guide him on, but down here? The trees were all the same. The rocks the same. Even the damn moss was the same. He had no way of telling where he had come from, or where he needed to go to return home. These woods were like a labyrinth, taunting him into endless circles like some lost puppy.

This place was a curse on him. On his already short temper. And his reputation. If anyone from his village ever heard of him getting turned around by simple woods, he'd never live down the teases and humiliation he was sure he'd receive.

He let out another groan, this one more of exasperation than frustration as he ran both hands through his dark brown curls, pushing them back as he tried to steady his breathing.

His first idea had been simply to run off in the one direction and hope he might come across something familiar. But he didnt have the stamina nor the resources to go on like that. He needed to reserve his energy.

Which led to his second idea, of leaving small crosses etched in the wood of trees he passed like a guideline. Honestly, it should've ideally worked out. But soon, after taking 3 separate paths and still coming across those X's he'd placed all the same, he felt the helplessness and anger starting to settle into his veins.

It would be night soon, and he had no food. No water. No shelter. He didn't even have his axe, OR HIS CROWN.

'Fuck... I... Really lost it all this time. Didn't I...' He cursed internally at himself, his footsteps coming to an abrupt stop as he decided to take a quick break.

His back met the bark of the tree trunk as he slid down to the forest floor, heaving a deep sigh as he brought a single knee up for him to rest an arm over.

"...The hell am I supposed to do now..." He whispered, his voice soft, quiet in a way it hadn't been in a long long time. Lorcan had always prided himself on being the strongest hardass out there. Someone immovable, like a mountain, fiercer than any predator out there.

But now? He was a hunter, without a weapon.

A leader without people.

He was alone. And that... Scared him.