I woke up at first light, in fact it was still very dark, but I could see the outline of trees which made it known to me that the sun was beginning to rise. 

Time to hunt some deer.

I got up, and decided not to leave any of my stuff at my shelter which was under the roots of a tree. After packing up and eating some rabbit meat leftovers I started to make my way over to the meadow and spring where the deer could be located which was to the north of me. 

After a nearly hour of walking I made it to the edge of the meadow and I was about 50 yards from the spring  I had found. I set up between two bushes facing the spring. I had already covered myself with mud and leaves to cover my scent and make me less visible.

I then began to wait, hoping that a deer would visit today.

This is the only type of deer hunting I knew. Going to spots where you think deer would go and waiting nearby hoping to catch them as they go by. I know that some people can stalk the deer they hunt but I had never done it yet. I wanted to do this hunt the way I was familiar with. The main problem is the wait, it can be super boring and it is hard to distract oneself because you need to be still and quiet, which led me to fall asleep many times. Also another problem I had before was that it would get cold as I waited.

Luckily I had less problems now because I was focused on surviving and it was easier to force myself awake and though it did get cold at night it was not as cold as it was on the mountain back on earth. This place seemed to be on the warmer side, was slightly humid but it was not like a jungle. For some reason small animals, insects and small plants did not thrive, though they did exist here. I think it might have something to do with the dark tint that everything seems to have, the trees, the bushes, the animals and the haze. 

One thing I had noticed was that the day was longer than I was familiar with. I had my phone and watch, they were useful in noticing this. I had not noticed before because I was focused on the new monsters I had met and surviving. I am no expert, but I did set a stopwatch and the day is about 30 hours long. 

On a side note, my phone now has a low battery.

Oh, I heard something.

After a few hours of waiting as I thought about random things, I suddenly heard something to my right. 

I looked and saw nothing, but I didn’t move and just waited. A few minutes later I heard some more noise and I saw a deer step into view about 100 meters away. It was a big deer, about as big as an elk, but it was definitely more like a deer than an elk. It’s skin was a dark purple with a tint of purple. It had huge antlers. 

The deer looked around, and then began to approach the spring. Soon other deer began to follow. There were obviously female deer and some children. 

They got to the spring and began to drink. The big deer took a big gulp but then paid attention to its surroundings, like a guard. 

I honestly want to shoot one of the smaller ones, because it will be easier to kill and less meat to process, but the range is a bit far for my skill level. I am not super confident in hitting the smaller ones at this distance, maybe I should shoot at the big one because it is a bigger target. 

I debated in my mind, but quickly decided to shoot the big one.

I already had my arrow in position. I slowly drew back, making some minor noise as I brushed against a wet leaf of a bush. 

All the deer raised their heads and then froze, they were listening on alert.

I aimed at the big one. He also was alert but he did not locate my position it seems. 

I centered my sights onto the area where the heart should be. 

I then let loose my arrow.

Whoosh, the arrow flew. 

The big deer turned its head towards me.

Whack! The arrow hit the side of the deer. 

The deer jumped, and the other deer began to run.

The big deer then ran after them, but its eyes never left me as it ran and its horns glowed  a light purple. 

They soon left my point of view.

Again…. the antlers glowed, what strange deer. Well I guess I'll start to follow the blood trail. 

I packed up slowly, I was in no rush. I then visited the spring and filled my water bottle. Then I began to follow the trail of blood, which was a dark purple. This surprised me, I am no expert but shouldn’t the blood be red because of oxygen or something? I was greatly confused, but then decided that it was not important and continued tracking it.

Luckily there was not a lot of vegetation so it was somewhat easier to follow the blood trail. 

After about 30 minutes of tracking the blood I saw the steps of the deer becoming less uniform and also saw more blood. The arrow I had let loose was a special broadhead meant for deer, meant to cause blood loss and  slice through its meat easily. Though if I had hit bone I am sure it would not have worked. 

Shortly after I saw the deer resting  by a tree. The rest of the deer were close by. I was about 100 yards away. 

As I kept approaching the deer and they then looked at me, I could tell they were startled. Then The big deer bellowed a call, and the rest of the deer then ran away. 

This big deer then stood up, and it began to huff, breathing loudly as it looked at me. I almost thought it was snarling at me like a dog. 

I was about 30 yards away when I stopped. 

I guess I will wait for it to die of blood loss. It does not look happy.

The big deer let out a breath and its horns began to glow.

I wonder if that intimidation tactic works.. wait didn’t it work the first time I saw deer like these ones? So I guess it does.

Then something totally unexpected happened.

The deer raised its head completely. The glow of its antlers intensified until it was a bright, yet oddly dark purple as it emitted a lot of light. Then purple lightning came out of its antlers and traveled between the antlers like an energy coil. 

I was stunned and didn’t know what to think and the deer did not give a lot of time.

It then lowered its head and angled the antlers towards me.

The fu

My thoughts didn’t finish as purple lightning shot out from its antlers and hit my abdomen on the left side.

I flew backwards a few yards hitting and rolling on  the ground. My vision blacked out. 

For a few minutes after I was not sure how I felt, I knew it was painful, like needles all over my body were stabbing me. However, my vision was also extremely blurry and black like I was close to passing out. 

After a few more minutes, my thoughts started to catch up to the situation as the pain lessened and my vision started to come back.

What the fuck was that? Lightning?

I slowly started to sit up, it was painful, really painful. 

After a bit more I finally succeeded in sitting up. The first thing I did was check on the deer.

It was lying on the ground a few yards away from me and its breathing was long and shallow. 

It stared at me, and I could tell its eyes were full of anger and contempt. Its antlers were still glowing but it was slowly losing its light.

I was a bit shocked and relieved. Shocked at the look in its eyes and relieved that it looked like it could not use that lightning attack again. 

We just stared at each other as we both breathed long breaths, panting and struggling. However, only one of us had their breaths get more labored as time passed.

Finally the deer stopped breathing but its eyes still looked full of anger but now they lacked life and focus. The antlers then lost their glow and returned to normal. 

I kept panting a bit more and then a sting from my abdomen reminded me that I was hit by lightning. I looked down and saw that there was a hole in my clothes and it sizzled. My skin was broken, but I was not bleeding because the area was burnt. This area is about as big as my thumb. I felt pain, but I also felt numbness, it was odd. 

I started to get up, when I suddenly felt something coming out of my throat. I quickly spat out a few mouthfuls of blood and I felt a bit faint. I also felt extremely thirsty and sleepy. 

I knew I could not sleep because predators might smell the blood and come. I needed to get what I could from the dead deer and then leave.

I wiped the blood from my mouth and drank some water. 

I then made it to the deer. I noticed that it was really close to me.

I guess after he shot me with lightning it approached me to finish me? Then it collapsed before it could reach me.

Screw that, it is not important, what the hell was that lighting? It came from the antlers, I thought the glow was the intimidation but no, it was the prelude to that lightning. There has to be something on the body that did that. Was it the antlers? or something else?

I eagerly began to process the deer. I took some back loins and other good strips of meat but I knew not to try to take the entire deer, but I cut up the entire thing to investigate the source of that lightning.

Again… a second heart. The rabbit I caught did not have a second heart but the chicken and this deer did. 

The deer had a heart slightly smaller than my head, This heart looked normal, maybe a bit darker. The second heart was smaller and was a dark purple, almost black. The two hearts were closely connected and may even appear to be one organ. The smaller heart had a crystal attached to it, just like the chicken. This crystal was a clear purple. 

I quickly took out the crystal I found on the chicken. It was red, and it was not clear. It was like the deer crystal was an empty purple glass bottle while the chicken one a glass bottle full of red liquid though I knew there was definitely no liquids in these crystals. 

Is the second heart of the deer the source of that lightning or is it the antlers? Or is it this crystal? or is it all of them?

I am deeply curious, but I need to go.

I was still sleepy, feeling faint and the pain was growing. 

I quickly finished and then left.

Soon I found a place to hunker down. My temporary home was a hole under a huge rock. Luckily there were no signs that this was occupied by a living monster. I was so tired and hurt that I went straight to sleep.

 

Author Note: I realized that the chapters before were a bit short so I decided to add this one on for today, I hope it is well received. I will try make the chapters a bit longer. Please feel free to share any thoughts about the story, the writing or anything so far. Thanks!