Shhhhhhh!"

A loud shriek suddenly tore through the forest, sending resting birds flying in all directions.

"Ohh already? I guess that's our cue, bye, Ken," Amethyst waved at the bare-chested man on the ground.

"W-what, wait," Ken called out, already scared out of his mind by the previous sound, but the mysterious duo had already turned away, the air before them distorting before tearing into a spherical hole in reality.

"WAIT!!" Ken found himself screaming as he watched them step through, but no matter how he tried he still could not get to his feet.

And so he could only watch the hole close as silently as it had appeared. Unfortunately, he was not alone.

"Pat! Pat! Pat!"

The repeated pitter-pattering of padded feet drew his attention, getting closer, (clearer) with each dawning moment.

Something was rapidly approaching him, and in response to this impending threat, Ken scurried as best as he could, putting his back to a nearby tree and facing the direction of the sound.

Meanwhile, from the creature's point of view, the world was a bizarre mix of scent and vibration. The sound of its padded feet hitting the ground amplified and sent back to it, giving the creature a rough understanding of its surroundings before its eyes could even bother to see.

The creature's vision was blurred, myopic, the world a distant haze. But it did not need to see; it could hear it all, smell it all.

The smell that rose from the damp earth into the humid air, the scent of dried leaves, the scurries of smaller prey, the rot of fungus.

But all these were secondary to the scent that wafted into its nostrils, something new (something that cut through the forest's mundane aroma like lightning).

What was that scent? Was it sweat? Seawater? City grime? Blood?

No, it was something else, something that made the creature's multiple hearts beat faster (a scent it knew, a scent it was compelled to find, a heavy medicinal tang assaulting its senses).

The creature could never ignore it.

"Bam!" The dirt parted as it moved through the forest, weaving through the monolithic trees like the animal it was, its four powerful, panther-like legs carrying its grotesque form with unnatural grace.

"Whoosh!"

The wind tore past as the creature suddenly changed direction, pinpointing the source of the scent, a location made inaccurate by the wind's interference.

"Bang!"

With another powerful leap, it launched itself from the forest floor, its six impossibly long, thin arms grasping at low-hanging branches to propel itself forward like a projectile, closing the distance with a series of silent leaps.

---

At the same time, Ken clawed at the dirt, his heart pounding in his chest, as even though the sound of footsteps seemed to be growing further and more distant, he knew he was in danger.

He tried to stand, but every attempt to push himself onto his feet ended in a humiliating collapse, his legs wobbling like those of a newborn fawn.

The limbs felt useless, like foreign appendages that were not part of his body.

The stinging, fiery pain across his back was a constant reminder of the witch's work, a pain so piercing that it made his vision swim.

'I have to hide. Find shelter,' he thought desperately. But at that moment, the air grew still. Too still.

'Did da beast go away?' Ken thought to himself, but the feeling of profound wrongness that festered in his chest spoke otherwise.

"Shii"

A sudden rustle sounded out from the canopy above. It was too heavy to be from a bird, too deliberate to be the wind, and as the smell of sulfur overwhelmed his nose, Ken knew that it was too far-fetched for him to be alone

He froze, his breath catching in his throat as he slowly looked up.

And then he saw it: an abomination he barely recognized.

And it saw him.

As though noting his gaze, the monster dropped from a high branch, landing before him with a soft, earth-shaking thud that kicked dirt into the air.

And as he gazed upon it, he did not know where to begin. How would one describe such a nightmare?

Its face had the faint appearance of a galago, but it was stretched and distorted like some kind of sick amalgamation.

Two enormous, glassy black eyes dominated its malformed face, so vast that they bulged out from their sockets, reflecting his own petrified expression back at him in twin pools of absolute stillness.

It was not just its gaze that was still, its body (covered by a patchwork of brown and black fur) also took the same property.

From its torso, six human-like arms sprang forth, facing upwards, then bending to touch the dirt like some multi-jointed insect, each arm longer than its entire body.

Those arms were thin, seemingly malnourished, their fingers twitching and tapping at the dirt as though looking for something.

Ken's gaze then fell to its body: four powerful, feline legs balanced its monstrous form, their claws digging into the earth.

All Ken wished to do was scream, but only a choked whimper escaped him, his body completely betraying him, paralyzed by waves of chemical fear.

The creature took a step closer, its massive head tilting as though it could see his terror.

But strangely enough, those bulging eyes did not seem to be looking at him, but through him.

Slowly, they scanned his trembling form (past his bare, heaving chest, his ribcage, his lungs, his heart) and fixed on his back.

"Gruuuu!" A low, guttural chittering escaped its throat, a sound that vibrated unpleasantly in Ken's ears as the smell of sulfur intensified.

From the creature's dim point of view, a familiar glowing purple insignia was visible on the prey's back, a chill running down its spine at the sight.

"Swoosh!" It suddenly lashed two of its thin arms forward in a movement faster than Ken could follow.

Ahh!" Ken wailed as one of the monster's palms wrapped around his torso, pinning his arms to his side, while another arm coiled around his thigh, lifting him effortlessly from the ground

The instant proved the creature's arms, though not muscular, were impossibly strong, for he was completely immobilized, dangling in the air like a doll.

The creature then drew him closer, its enormous, galago-like face filling his entire world.

The scent of sulfur and damp fur filled his nostrils. The chittering growls of the beast growing louder, more intent.

It wanted to eat him.

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