They were obliged to stay till the end of the ceremony and as soon as soon as it finished, he could be seen bolting out of the door.
He couldn't speak to his friends or his parents. His life's dream had been ruined, and he just needed to be alone.
Due to the town's layout of the ocean on the east, the forest on the right and the town in the middle, he made his way to the east – straight to the forest.
It had many signs warning people from going into the forest, plus the horror stories that were told made even the most arrogant wary of it.
It had deterred Miles every time except this one. He had no reservations about his life anymore.
He ventured in and immediately felt the difference between the town and the forest.
A weird mist surrounded everything, sending warning signals off in his head.
He continued to walk in the forest for what felt like 2 hours. It didn't seem different to a regular forest he had heard about.
Nothing life-threatening unlike what they had been told.
Miles continued to ponder on the ceremony.
He was pissed, he knew that, but he also knew his friends and family would still like him just as much.
He needed the time to get out to ponder his emotions.
Walking continuously for the following hour started to ease some of the worries he had when he got caught up in the moment.
However, as Miles had looked forward to this moment for many years it still came as quite a shock.
Just as he was feeling emotionally okay to head, back he noticed something odd.
He felt a slight pull from his senses. He already felt on edge due to the warnings to not enter and the creepy nature of the place, but it didn't quite feel like that.
It felt as though it was alive and telling him to come over towards it.
His curiosity got the better of him and he had to head over.
He was still surrounded by many trees, bushes, grass, and greenery.
Down towards his right, a few meters away from him sat a tennis ball-sized rock with a weird feeling coming off it.
It was like something was inside of this rock, however, it just seemed like a regular rock you would see lying around.
Miles had to check he wasn't being crazy by turning away but when he looked back it was still the same.
He continued to go closer and closer until he knelt on the ground opposite it.
'I have never seen or felt anything like this before in my life.' Miles had no idea what it was, but he wanted to know.
He wasn't sure if this was a forest thing or maybe, just maybe, his gift would be helping him out.
He continued to stare at it and reached out his hand. As it approached it resonated with him on a deep level.
It felt like he should have done this his whole life.
His pitiful attitude has been replaced by a curious one in hopes of finding a new purpose for himself.
His hand was now just moments away from touching when he heard something. He shot his head to the right and saw a pair of glowing red eyes.
Never in his life had he seen something so terrifying.
If this creature approached just 15 minutes ago, he would've let it take him but now he didn't want that.
He swiftly grabbed the tennis ball-sized rock and ran. This time he knew where he wanted to go. He went south.
The creature he could only describe as a beast was blocking the way towards the town and he knew he would need to get around that.
It had dark scaly-looking skin with 2 horns coming out of its head. It had a large body with smaller legs however that didn't make it look any less frightening.
Running, Miles tried to channel every little bit of exercise he had done into getting away from this monster.
The sound of its growls grew closer as he made his way down south and was hoping that he would be further enough away to be able to make a left and head to the town.
Maybe once he reached the city he would be okay and the city guards could help him.
After 2 minutes of running, he darted left and headed for the city. He knew he wasn't the most likeable due to the family not being in a great financial position, but they wouldn't let this beast run around the town.
He continued running zigzagging around trees and bushes. He knew the beast was faster in a straight line, so he made a note to take a route that was the most indirect.
Now and again, he would reach down and grab a stone to through behind him hoping to do anything to slow the beast down.
The distance from the town wasn't too far due to miles walking a lot of the length parallel to the town meaning a big effort run should help him escape this beast.
He picked up one more rock and threw it behind him and heard a little yelp. He must have got something important, maybe an eye.
Not looking back to check he continued his sprint back to the town.
He thought the beast would stop its chase after the rock however that wasn't the case. In fact, the beast sounded angrier and faster than before as it made its way towards him.
The side-stepping and zig-zagging running wasn't helping him achieve any more distance from the beast as it ran faster than before.
He looks up and sees the city. Miles decides to make a big effort to make it to the city. Pushing with more effort than ever before the power it generated joined him.
As he had made that big last push he left a type of energy surging through him. Unbeknownst to him, the odd feeling the rock gave off slightly dimmed as he sped up.
The beast also makes a pounce and gets very close to scratching him before he swings his arm around hoping to hit the beast. It connected with the bottom of his fist and pushed the beast to the side.
The skin felt rough and coarse with hairiness on top. It was quite hard, with either scales or toughened skin, however, the blow had a lot of force which still moved the beast away.
Miles started screaming as he was only 30 meters away from the city. He knew he could make it to the city before the beast got to him but not much further.
"Arghhhhhhh. Help me now. Get the guards!" Miles shouted trying to get as much attention as possible.
Maybe if there is enough of them it can be scared away.
The beast was approaching again as his legs were giving out from exhaustion. He knew other people were his only hope.
The shouting continued as he made it to the city's edge while the beast also made its way closer.
'Why is no one coming to help, I am being as loud as possible.' His frustration was building as he shouted some more.
He felt as though death would be upon him as he collapsed 10 meters into the city, stone in hand and with no defences.
He waited for his demise knowing this was his end.
He waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Nothing came.
He turned around and saw the beast standing on the outskirts of the forest but no further.
'I guess they can't come into the city.' Alex thought while also wondering why no one said about dangerous beast-like animals out there.
He recognised they were advised to not go out there, but they never mentioned anything like that.
Stone in hand Miles slowly made his way to a building close to him, found a little hiding spot and fell over, completely exhausted.