The creature struck the stone floor with enough force to crack it, landing on all fours in a violent spray of dust and torn silk that burst outward from the point of impact.
Nero leapt backward immediately, boots scraping against stone as he created distance. His knife came up in a tight defensive guard, held close to his body rather than extended. He did not rush to assess. He let his instincts take over while his eyes worked.
The thing before him was large, its body stretched long and low like a hunting beast poised to spring. Multiple limbs unfolded as it rose. The movements were not fast yet, but they were terrifyingly subtle, and that subtlety spoke of its danger. Its torso was unmistakably humanoid in structure, though elongated beyond proportion. The ribcage pressed visibly beneath stretched, pallid flesh, expanding and contracting as it breathed.
Its lower half was worse.
