The silence persisted, growing deeper, more absolute. It was the kind of quiet that screamed of a predator nearby, a hush that fell when the hunter became the hunted. Sun, however, lost in his frustrations and the gnawing ache in his stomach, pushed onward. The potential for a cultivation spot, however meager, outweighed the subtle warnings his dulled senses offered.
Then, behind him, a sound tore through the stillness, a sound that vibrated in his very bones, a sound that spoke of primal hunger and unrestrained savagery.
. . .
"ROARRRRR!"
. . .
Sun froze, every vestige of his weariness vanishing in a spike of pure, undiluted adrenaline. He whirled around, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.
It was colossal. A monstrosity that defied easy description, like a nightmare given flesh. Covered in overlapping, pitch-black scales that seemed to drink the fading light, each scale easily the size of a grown man's shield. Its body was a low-slung, powerfully muscled bulk, at least as large as a small house, moving with a terrifying, reptilian grace. Two eyes, like molten gold set in a wedge-shaped head, fixed on him with an intelligent, predatory gleam. A long, barbed tail lashed impatiently behind it.
"Shit," Sun breathed, the word a mere exhalation of disbelief. "Fucking… more and more bad luck. What in the blighted hells is that thing?"
The monster, clearly identifying him as a small, succulent morsel, let out another earth-shaking roar and charged. The ground trembled with its advance. It moved with a speed that belied its bulk, closing the distance with horrifying rapidity.
Sun didn't think. There was no time for divine contemplation or arrogant posturing. There was only the primal urge to survive. He turned and ran, his legs pumping madly, his lungs burning.
"I can't die! Not like this!" The thought became a frantic mantra, echoing in the screaming void of his mind. "I am SUN! I will not be some nameless beast's dinner! I can't die, I can't die, I can't die!"
But the creature was impossibly fast. It was on him in moments that felt like an eternity and an instant simultaneously.