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For now, I am free, my path uncertain but my resolve unwavering. I will find my way out of this, I will survive.
The plants, my unexpected allies, have given me this chance, and I won’t waste it.
M’ijel
Reaching the zenith of the alien tree, I come to a fissure in the trunk. Inside, it’s pitch black save for the flickering of a golden light.
The gemstone!
That must be it!
I hasten toward the opening, checking over my shoulders to look for any sign of the other creatures with the glowing red eyes. Not seeing them, I step into the darkness.
It’s impossible to make out anything — even with my vision. Only the golden gemstone — and it is the stone! — offers any semblance of illumination and even it is seemingly constricted by the shadows.
The interior flickers before my eyes, oscillating between the appearance of the dark room and a far less scary regular segment of the tree. The transition is quick — suddenly there and gone in an instant — but I’m sure I saw it.
I check I’m alone before I edge a little closer to the gemstone, discarded and largely forgotten on the floor.
The environment shifts around me once more,distorting, as if hindered by slow motion cameras. I hesitate once more, pausing to check over my shoulders.
But the two worlds, if that’s what they were, have morphed back into this single one again.
Strange.
I creep toward the gemstone once more, less than half a dozen yards from it down. And that’s when I hear it.
The growl.
And not just any growl, but a noise so distinctive it sets my teeth on edge before it even finishes.
I turn, slowly, toward the growl’s origin. My bowels are about ready to let go and spill themselves down my legs.
I’ve never known terror like it — save for that one time I came face to face with this beast before.
How could such a horror find its way to this platform, this alien game?
The presence of the big alien monster becomes undeniable as I come face to face with it. The creature is a manifestation of terror, its form something out of a fevered nightmare.
My past experiences with these monsters flood back, a torrent of fear and helplessness.My entire team… decimated…
Panic sets in. I’m horrified, my body reacting on instinct.
I turn and run, seeking refuge, a place to hide from this abomination.
My heart pounds in my chest as I seek a place to conceal myself, to gather my thoughts and strength. The big alien monster’s presence is a suffocating weight.
I find a small alcove, a temporary sanctuary, and press myself into it. My breathing is heavy, ragged, the fear I feel almost paralyzing.
In this moment of vulnerability, my thoughts turn to Zoey. She’s out there, alone, potentially facing dangers as great as or greater than this.
I whisper a prayer for forgiveness, directed at her. I’mconsumed by guilt for abandoning her, even momentarily, but the terror of facing the big alien monster is overwhelming.
It’s a creature that tore my brothers apart, and I’m unprepared to confront it.
I close my eyes, trying to steady my racing heart, to find some semblance of courage in the face of this terror. But the fear is too great, the memories of past encounters too vivid.
For now, I’m trapped, caught between the need to find and save Zoey and the paralyzing terror of the monster’s presence.
