Drahid paced back and forth inside a small cabin. His discoveries at the Giantgemo herd were not the only ones. Before he had made it back to his cabin he had encountered more injured animals. A Balruiner with a bloodied snout and chunks of its tail missing and a Bulliedo, a bull like creature with armoured scales, which appeared to be ensnared in a giant web. Bulliedoes were freakishly strong but it could not break whatever substance the web was made of and its panicked cries still rang in Drahid's ears.
Once back in his cabin, Drahid had found that others in wild country had been encountering similar mysteries. While Drahid was alone in his cabin, he kept in touch with other like-minded individuals through a long range vox. Currently there were a dozen researchers like Drahid across the continent all studying the various kinds of wildlife wild country had to offer. Many had left messages detailing what they had seen.
Taheen, a woman very interested in the birdlife of the northern Tizcanna Mountains had left a message that new flying creatures had emerged from the caves. Afraid for her safety she had hidden herself as these new 'multi limbed, flying reptilian creatures' as she described them began systematically destroying anything they found. She also described the same kind of dead grubs that Drahid had found falling off the Giantgemo. Except for her they were falling from the sky along with anything that wasn't the new flying reptiles.
Gerard, a young man who spoke with a fast and nervous high-pitched voice had recorded that he couldn't shake off the feeling he was being followed or 'hunted' as he put it as he studied the wildlife in the continents south west jungles. While Davin a brown coloured and gangly man like Drahid, said he was finding very strange vegetation that was obviously non-indigenous. Davin said in his recording that the vegetation pulsed with a sickly green colour and smelled 'almost as bad as Drahid's mother.' Drahid tried to smile at Davin's vulgar joke; Davin had been the last person to report in and had obviously heard the other recordings. Drahid could almost see Davin's pained expression as he tried to force some levity.
It hadn't worked; Drahid had been pacing for almost twenty minutes after chewing on his nails had stopped being enough. Something was going on in wild country and Drahid had no idea what. He almost tripped on a chair leg and forced himself to stand still and take stock. His cabin, small and vaguely rectangular was even more messy than usual. Papers and folders lay everywhere, evidence of Drahid's frantic attempts at finding some precedent or explanation for what was happening. Picts were scattered around a wooden desk and an unmade bunk bed. Drahid had lied on the bed for a good hour, sifting through picts made by him and previous researchers, searching for something similar to what he had seen and heard from his colleagues. Finding nothing useful, he nervously procrastinated while waiting for others to call in. The last vox from Davin was an hour old.
Drahid moved out of the cabin, seeking fresh air. The sun had gone down a few hours ago but a full moon meant he could still see much of his immediate surroundings. The cabin was situated atop a small plateau that overlooked the Krakenny River to the west. During the day Drahid could see for miles in all directions. The plateau was a good spot for Drahid's cabin as it attracted little attention from anything other than insects and small birds. There was little vegetation other than a few clusters of brown coloured bushes and the ground was merely dirt. A few steps from the cabin lay circular pit were Drahid would sometimes start a fire to cook and stay warm. The buggy was parked inside a tent a few metres away from the pit.
Now that the sun had gone down the temperature had decreased drastically and Drahid was tempted to start a campfire. Normally he wouldn't have hesitated but even isolated on the plateau he felt a nagging feeling that he didn't want to attract attention to himself. He cursed himself at his edginess. He had been studying the creatures of wild country for years, he shouldn't be this anxious. But he couldn't shake off the thought that he was encountering things that he hadn't encountered before. That something had changed in wild country. The insects were strangely quiet and the birds he had seen were behaving erratically. He could have sworn he saw a flock of birds travelling resolutely west over the river only to see the same flock flying back in the opposite direction twice as fast just minutes later. To add to that if he listened carefully he could still sometimes hear the Giantgemo still calling to each other in the distance, though he knew that most of the herd should be sleeping by now.
Mentally shaking himself, he decided to light the fire. The consequences be damned, he was experienced in everything this continent had to offer and he could handle anything it could throw at him. Drahid went back into the cabin and came out with a bag full of flammable material to distribute around the pit. He could scavenge for flammable materials well enough but they were also dropped in along with food, water, medical supplies, oil and other useful items every month by valkyries of Acuada's PDF. At first Drahid was flattered at the perceived generosity but over time realised the PDF pilots had nothing else better to do and performed the drops mostly to stave off boredom.
The flames leapt up higher than he expected and he shielded his face with his arm. The campsite lit up with light instantly and Drahid enjoyed its warmth, feeling himself calm down as it spread throughout his body. Sitting himself down next to the campfire and stretching out his legs, he closed his eyes and drifted off in a kind of daze.
His eyes snapped open and he pushed himself to his feet. Something was watching him. Spending so much time in wild country had given him something of a sixth sense for the dangers it posed. After being around Balruiners, Caniraptors and other predators, as well as harmless herbivores such as the tree dwelling Monkas and the placid Giantgemo, he had grown to understand the difference between being watched with curiosity or indifference and when he was being hunted. This was the latter.
Drahid scanned the area around him anxiously trying to make out something, anything that would reveal to him his hunter. Perhaps an ambitious Balruiner, he disregarded a Caniraptor, he would have seen or heard something so large coming awhile away even in the dark. He began to move cautiously towards the cabin his eyes still desperately searching for his hunter. He got to the door but before he could begin to open it, he heard a noise. It sounded like a scratching, something sharp scraping on the cabin's metal exterior. There was something behind the other side of the cabin.
Slowly he drew his autopistol from his holster and turned the door handle as quietly as possible. He made to go through the door but an irresistible urge to look up seized him. He gave out a scream of terror and fell backwards onto the ground. Above him, perched on top of the cabin was a monster. Its features lit up from the flames, Drahid could see every detail of the monster in a single glance. Three times Drahid's size it stood on two hoofed legs that were bended forwards in kind of crouch, as if it was preparing to spring. Its body appeared to made of some kind of chitin and had an armoured carapace. Half way up its body were menacing arms ending in vicious long claws. Two beady eyes stared unflinchingly into his own while below a mouth of long slimy tentacles dripped saliva onto the dirt. Most prominent of all its features though were its two huge talons, which it held above its head, completely still and poised to strike.
Drahid scrambled up and forced his legs to move. Hysterical, his autopistol discarded and forgotten, he ran past the flaring campfire and away from the terrifying monstrosity. Not bothering to look back, he did not see that the monster had not yet moved from the top of the cabin. Drahid ran blindly on, screaming as he went. His screams were cut short as something burst through his chest. Blood and bone flying out in front of him, he found himself being yanked backwards towards the cabin. His body flew back through the campfire and slammed into the side of the cabin, breaking his spine. Barely conscious he found himself sliding upwards onto the cabins roof. The monster stood over him its talons raised, its beady eyes still staring into his. The talons slashed downwards and ended his life.