Chapter 6 - Taste of Being Hunted

"..." both Sonic and the peddler said. Staring at each other in tense silence, the blue hedgehog felt his fur starting to stand on end. The aspect of how he was unable to speak still was too shocking to even imagine how it happened. Swallowing the lump in his throat, the boy curled his lips in and bit down.

'Don't be afraid...don't be afraid...don't be afraid,' the child repeated in his head to calm down.

'He isn't the killer in the cave,' he continued looking at the hoodie opening. In a small glimpse, something faint and red moved up from where the eyes would be for the person. The spike quills on the hedgehog slowly straightened and stiffened before jumping from footsteps behind him.

"Alrighty stranger," Onel stated carrying a crate. Walking passed Sonic and setting the wooden container on the ground, the village trader began taking items out of it.

"Found all the supplies that you wanted to trade the bag of sea salt for...you real sure this will be enough for you?"

"..." the cloaked person responded with a head nod. Exchanging the knapsack of salt for the items, each item disppeared into the long coat. Feeling anxious about the non-verbal communication, Onel spoke.

"I see that you have met our fastest child runner in our village," he addressed to the figure. Seeing the head move, Sonic stiffin himself a little. Also, the trader clapped a hand on his back.

"Introduce yourself kid. Don't be shy."

"..." the boy reacted with looking up at the village supplier. Turning his head back to the cloaked stranger, nothing friendly emitted from him. Tensing up again and telling himself confidence in his mind, he curled his fingers into loose fists.

"I'm...Sonic."

"..." the unknown individual replied with a small head nod.

"And I'm Onel. Oberi's villager supplier and trader," the older gentleman spoke and gave small lazy salute. Again, the figure bobbed its head in acknowledgement.

"Ya got a name stranger? Or should we call you just stranger?"

"..."

"Hey Onel!" one of the patrollers called from behind the two. The trader turned around and Sonic took a glance back. The guard came jogging to them then slowed down to a stop. He had opened his mouth then looked confused.

"What's up son?"

"...say..." the fox humanoid began then tilted his head a little. "Weren't you two...talking to someone in black?"

"Oh, ya mean our stranger," the village supplier began. Turning back around, he flinched. No one was standing across from them as all they could see was the deep forest ahead. Sonic had already turned back forward and his eyes widen from the sight.

"Holy smokes...where did that guy go?" he asked then began looking around. Not finding anything, he looked at the hedgehog.

"You see which way that peddler went boy?"

"Uh-uh...he vanished just like he did at the coast town," the child answered looking back up.

"So he was there...that makes sense. Ha. Small world," Onel commented with a short laugh.

'I did it,' the boy thought looking back to where the figure last stood. 'I was able to speak to him.'

'That means...I can now approach him again and ask about how he got so fast,' he continued in his mind. A small smile formed on his face with closing his hands into fists. Jumping a little from getting a soft hit in the back of the head, Sonic blinked then looked up to his left.

"Daydreaming kid will get you killed out in the open," the village trader mentioned with a grin. "Since ya got free time, come help me at the supply house."

"..." the hedgehog reacted with a small pout. Rubbing the back of his head a little, he gave a slight nod.

"Yes sir."

"I heard ya been seeking stories about superspeed. Aren't ya?" the trader asked walking towards a hut with the large bag of salt. His statement made the expression on the child change and walk quickly next to him.

"Thought that would catch your interest son. I'll tell you a tale or two for ya helping me out a little. What do ya say?"

"Yeah!" Sonic responded positivity making the older man give a small hearty laugh. As the two walked to the village supply location, the trader began telling the two recollections of the legend.


Several days passed since the stranger was seen at Oberi village. News about robot attacks up north had dwindled causing a few days to be quiet. While the villagers went about their business and daily activities, the officals and patrol guards were on alert. Both the security captain and Chief Oberi held meetings to discuss what communications were happening on the wires. Though nothing new was heard, they suspected that an attack was going to happen in their eastern region of the land they were in.

In the mid-afternoon of one day, a patroller was monitoring the surroundings from a video screen. Instead of cameras, they utilize Mobius crystals to a sonar system of the area around them. Though it did not have a large range, it was enough to detect an ambush starting outside of the village. Looking at the monitor, he saw a growing number of readings. Reaching a certain size and seeing what kind of shape each one was representing, he swore then hit the alarm button.

"...!?" everyone in the village reacted. With their ears perked up and listening, the segmented high pitch pattern was heard. Immediately knowing what that represented, everyone began to scramble.

[Everyone. This is Chief Oberi. This is not a drill. S.W.A.T. forces are nearby and heading towards our location. Gathering your personal items and leave everything else. We will board the supply trailer and head towards Zorn's village on the east side. I repeat. This is not a drill...] the village leader announced from a loudspeaker.

"Come on kids! Hurry!" one of the orphanage caretakers stated. "Make sure everyone is with a buddy while heading towards the evac location."

Immediately, villagers began opening up their houses and rushing out of them. All of them carried a bag or two and headed toward the east side of the village. They heard the hover vehicle rumble to life from the forest area nearby. Rushing out from the camouflage space it was in, it roamed towards where guards were directing it. The other patrollers were getting people to calm down and not stampede over anyone. Seeing higher officials rushing toward their location, the orphans and staff were heading towards them as well.

"Status report," Chief Oberi ordered stopping near the guard that was managing the worrying villagers. "Is everyone-"

"...!?" all jumped from hearing several loud snaps from behind them.

Turning toward the west side of the village, all could see a couple of tall trees begin to topple over. At the same time, there was a low rumble of something big and heavy coming toward them. What made everyone start to panic was seeing the platoon line of single red orbs. Standing as if a large human size cyclops, they could see the glint of gunmetal and steel robots proceeding to their location. A small burst of short laser beams shot from the mechanical squad.

"Hit the deck!" the patrol captain barked and pulled nearby villagers down. Almost everyone did so while the children held their heads. Hearing the blasts whiz by them, the hover truck stopped and the roll up door from the trailer opened.

"Get a move on!" Onel shouted looking back from the driver seat. "We're sitting ducks right now!"

"Start getting everyone in there. Go!" the chief ordered getting up. Looking at his secretary, she nodded her head.

"Everything setup for when we depart?"

"Yes chief."

"Good. Help the children get on then board it yourself."

"There isn't enough room for everyone to fit," she countered seeing a quarter of the trailer get filled.

"There is enough space for the guards to hold onto the side and roof of the truck. Don't worry about it now. Just go," the wolf man stated and gave her a nod.

"..." the secretary reacted with a short nod. Getting up and keeping low to the ground, she rushed over to the orphans. Aiding the caretakers, all the younger kids were getting on board. The older children were helping getting their smaller companions into the trailer.

"Incoming! Hit the deck!" a guard shouted.

Hearing the whistle of a rocket, one of the security patrollers brought out a hybrid crossbow. Seeing the RPG enter their village and going straight toward them, he fired the elongated steel rod conglomerate towards it. After a second, the projectile turned red hot then burst into shards in front of the rocket. Upon impact, an explosion erupted in the courtyard that took out some of the earth. Causing a chain reaction, the whole village had explosions go off in every hut and structure.

'Damn,' the patrol captain swore mentally while getting another villager into the trailer. 'That was supposed to be for when all the bots were in the village.'

The smoke and ash clouds from the eruptions clouded the sight of the incoming anatomic attackers; however, it did not stop the laser beams from being launched again. Gathering the last rush of villagers into the trailer, everyone heard the hover truck beginning to engage its propulsion drive. It made all of them inside and outside the mobile container start to protest and panic again.

"There are still people left to board Onel!" one of the guards shouted.

"Hurry the hell up!" the trader yelled back. "We all will be dead if a rocket shell does a direct hit!"

"..." Sonic reacted from being one of the last children to get inside the compartment.

Unable to go back into the trailer any further than at the opening end, he tried to hold onto something. Watching the controlled panic from the adults seemed surreal. Seeing the army of machines firing at them through the destroyed village was too dramatic to take in and process. The boy had seen fights and battles, but the imagery of war was something new and raw. Grabbing hold of the inner wall with nothing to hook his hands or feet to, the hedgehog braced against it.

"All villagers inside Chief!"

"Climb on the side or to the roof men!" Oberi barked then grabbed onto an exterior handle on the trailer wall of its left side.

Without telling, Onel engaged the throttle and the hovercraft began to move forward. Everyone felt only slight relief from starting to get away. The incoming red beams were slowly getting more numerous. Goosebumps riled almost everyone seeing a sea of single crimson circles that glowed amongst the smoke and ash engulfing their destroyed village. Starting to feel they were picking up speed, a series of pocket missiles were launched.

"Incoming! Brace for impact!" the guard captain shouted.

Everyone either held onto something or covered each other. Waiting and cringing from hearing the loud whistles, four explosions erupted in front of them. Three of them only hit near them to cause a heat wave to rush at everyone. The last one was the closest and just missed the back right corner. It imploded the ground a yard or two away and made that side of the trailer to lift in a small jerk.

The sharp rumble made the villagers cringed and cry as they got shook. Despite everyone seemingly able to stay and hold on, they didn't notice that someone fell off from inside the trailer. The patrollers and the chief that were on the sides or the roof grunted to recover from the explosions that hit the ground. Feeling the vehicle moving faster and faster, they looked back at the scorched earth. Adding to the image of their village, there were flames from the several craters that was encompassed by black and grey smoke. All their ears perked up hearing more RPGs being launched.

"Another volley! Brace for another impact!" Oberi shouted as his people continued their hurried path towards Zorn's village.


"Whoa!" Sonic spoke out when the explosion to his left came.

Feeling the trailer jerk up and left, he suddenly felt his feet not on solid ground. His spiked fins stood up as he became airborne and was heading to the ground. Orienting himself to land on his feet, the momentum he had from being on the trailer was still there. Sliding backwards initially, he hit a small heavy rock. Tripping over it and hitting the ground, he curled himself into a ball to roll.

Avoiding injuring himself too much, he stopped and then uncurled quickly. Looking up, there were flames occurring from the rocket explosions on the ground. Vegetation slowly burned and wilted from the crackling heat as the air above it became cloudy and dark. Blinking from seeing something fading to his right, he looked. Seeing it was the hover transport he was on and getting further away, the hedgehog immediately sprinted after it.

"...!?" Sonic reacted with fear.

Hearing the sound of rockets flying through the air behind him, he got off the main path and suicide dived to the right. Sliding on the ground a little, he covered his head with his hands. Feeling the impact and explosions nearby, the ground shook like a small quake occurring. Lifting his head and looking to the left, the black smoke began to obscure the image of the village vehicle. Hearing metallic footsteps along with the sound of something heavy moving closer, the boy looked back at his home.

A small army of robots walked mechanically through the establishment with one or two arms out. Looking at them closely, they appeared like towering statues. All of them seemed to be at three times his height. Giving a humanoid appearance, it seemed all of them were heavily armored in metal. The head was the most distinct feature of them. As if wearing a wide brim helmet, it covered its entire head.

Their visors were a small rectangle where their eyes would be. Each had a small red orb that glowed from behind that small window and moved mechanically. As if tracing the trailer, their arms followed with the laser beams coming out of their forearms. Encapsulated from the war machines named as S.W.A.T. bots, there seemed to be something bigger behind them. Never seen one before, it was an actual tank. It bulldozed through a hut that was in flames to which none of the blaze caught onto itself.

[Targets are fleeing...continue to pursue?] a robotic sounding voice came from them. The child was able to identify which one spoke. Its visor would flash with each word it stated.

[Establishment of targets...destroyed from explosives...occurred before arriving]

'I wonder who they are talking to,' Sonic thought then remembered where he was supposed to be. Not wanting to be left behind, he began running north-east alongside the unearthed pathway to the next village.

[...one target spotted doctor...]

"...!?" the hedgehog reacted with instant goosebumps and pumped his small legs harder.

[...affirmative...] the robot said. At the same time, the tank stopped. Its top half rotated in which a massive barrel protruded out. Making fine tune adjustments, it stopped then fired. A massive cannon fired off in the direction of where the fleeing creature was going.

'That's not a-!?' the boy thought then hit the brakes hard.

Quickly stopping and jumping backwards, he saw something impact the ground ahead of him in a flash. Unlike the explosions from the rockets, this one was larger. Yelping from the shockwave it produced, he was pushed back a few yards. Hitting the ground on his back and sliding a little, the fear he had increased even more. Feeling the pain subside quickly, the boy sat up then looked behind him. The robots had turned to him and were slowly walking to his position.

"..." Sonic responded shaking and not moving from his spot.

His brain was telling him to move, but his body was locked in fright. Unable to form words to speak, his mind began searching for a solution to get him out of his frozen terror. A flashback came quickly of the morning he came out of the cave from the southern area. Blinking, it showed the beheaded predator with the etched in words. Feeling himself look up in his mind's eye, a single red ring in the cave's shadows emerged and stared at him.

'He'll help me!' the hedgehog shouted in his mind.

Feeling his limbs become disengaged from being locked, he looked forward at the scorched earth. Mad dashing towards it, he felt himself running faster from the adrenaline. Hearing lasers being fired, there was heavy vegetation coming up on his left. Flanking hard and pushing left, the child ran across the path into high bushes. The sounds of wood being blasted and chipped off came from behind him making his heart pound harder and harder.

Rushing out of the numerous and condense plants, there was a series of trees seen in front of him. Using them as coverage, he began weaving around them while continuing forward. His quills rose instantly hearing the sound of several rockets being fired. Findings a small valley that dropped in elevation from the ground he was on, he sprinted down there and continued. The area he was at got bombarded with fire explosions.

'Keep going...you have to go faster!' Sonic internally yelled at himself with terror fueling his legs.


[...target...is escaping...] the lead combat bot stated. Seeing the humanoid creature fleeing outside of its range for weapons, only the tank's arsenal could reach it. Looking at three nearby robots, the trio turned at the same time to the lead.

[...pursue target...capture target...return to base when completed] it ordered.

[...] the machines confirmed with no verbal answer. Moving around, they headed toward the tank. As they got closer, a door hatch opened up and three motorized uni-motorcycles appeared. Climbing on them and getting into a crotched position, all of them accelerated in the direction of the escaping hedgehog. Once they were gone, the hatch door closed on the war vehicle.

[...commence search for...materials and crystals...] the bot captain ordered. Turning back to the still burning and destroyed village, they began to cull the ground and structures for any supplies to take.


Having not slowed down, Sonic kept sprinting to the southern area. After a minute of no gunfire or rockets, he looked behind him. There were no pursuers that he could see. Thinking about slowing down, the thought of a surprise attack came to mind. Shaking his head and turning his head forward, he avoided colliding with a small boulder.

'...?' he thought seeing something up ahead. In the midst of the forestry he was in, the wind was blowing through. It caused all the greenery to sway and move creating false sense of figures moving. Continuing to run, only another minute passed when something was heard.

'...that doesn't sound like an air vehicle...' the hedgehog said in his mind.

The sound was coming from behind to his right. About to contemplate, its noise crescendo quickly. Hearing three engines roar louder and closer, he flanked to his left hard. Breathing quickly and scanning his surroundings frantically, the vegetation was a bit sparce. The only place for large growth was in the trees.

Finding leverage from small boulders next to larger ones, Sonic jumped quickly onto them. Leaping off the large rock and onto a tree branch, he continued heading south. Being more careful with his footsteps and hopping from one tree to the next, he went at a jogging pace. The daredevil activities he did after coming back from Oatisal Harbor paid off. His confidence with each step and jump was a lot higher than when he initially started.

"...!?" the boy responded from hearing the blaring loud exhaust noises.

Jumping and climbing higher on one tree, he got close to the top and put his back against it. Looking down and seeing clearings amongst all the branches, he breathed rapidly and waited anxiously for something to happen. Getting a glimpse of what was pursuing him, it was three combat bots on motorized cycles. Quickly rushing by, they did not stop. Waiting and listening for the exhaust noise to continue, it faded quickly. Still not moving and keeping his ears open, there was a faint noise in the background.

'...no...' he thought hearing the motor noise come back.

'Go away,' the child said in his head and clenched his teeth.

Instead of the high speed the robots were traveling, they were circling back at a slow speed. It built up tension from the possibility they were going to stop near the tree he was at. Tightening all of his muscles and watching the ground, his ears perked up. Tilting his head a little so that his right ear was pointing directly down, any sound that came from below was amplified a little. Seeing three machines on their vehicles come into view, the boy veered back.

"..." Sonic reacted with bearing his closed teeth.

Looking up and at the branch that was near him, he dashed on it. At the last step, he took a leap towards the neighboring tree segment sticking out. Clearing the gap and landing without falling, the hedgehog rushed to the tree center. Hiding behind it and holding it, he slowly peered around it. Spotting the pursuers, they had stopped directly under the tree that he was in. All three looked up in sync and stared. Pausing in their positions, something on their faces moved.

Veering back to hide behind the tree column, his heart was beating like a jackhammer. Breathing quickly again, the sight of their glowing red orbs moved and stare at his direction gave him the chills. Feelings his ears picking up metallic sounds, his eyes widen in fear. Turning around and looking for an escape, there were no nearby branches close enough. Looking down and seeing a semi-ramp formed from the tree trunk and the ground, Sonic threw himself down.

Immediately lifting his arms up and somersaulting continuously forward, he curled into a ball. Making contact with the tree and rotating faster, the boy felt his sense of direction change rapidly 90 degrees. At the same time, the sound of something being launched occurred nearby and impacted behind him. Flinching but continuing to remain in the spin dash he was in, an explosion erupted violently. Feeling he was far enough away from them, the hedgehog got out of the rolling move.

Sliding to a stop and looking back from where he was, he veered back in fright. The tree that he was in was obliterated with only a mass of the stump and segmented portions of the bottom branches. Not waiting to see if the terminators will follow him, the boy went into a mad dash in the opposite direction. With fear driving his legs, it coursed another flow of adrenaline into him. Going at top speed again, it felt that he was not going fast enough to escape them.

'...no...' he thought in anxiety running through the forestry. The sound of the motorized vehicles rumbled louder and began to follow. Pushing down the apprehension of being caught and killed, the drive to find the killer in the cave became close to an absolute in his mind.


"Chief," one of the Zorn village guards spoke with a hand over her eyes. Bringing it down to her side, the falcon woman turned to her leader.

"The caravan heading towards us is from Oberi village...their chief is holding onto the side of the hover truck."

"Sounds like it was an ambush...damn," Zorn stated with a small frown. Crossing his ape arms over his chest, he waited for the vehicle to come to his establishment. Upon seeing them enter and slow down, a faint smell of burnt earth and black powder came as well. Seeing the wolfman get off the trailer's side, he dusted himself. Making eye contact with each other, Zorn walked toward him.

"Chief Oberi," the leader began. Stopping near him, he held out his hand.

"Welcome."

"Thank you Chief Zorn," the other village leader said and shook his hand.

"What are the casualties? Were your people able to escape?"

"We lost our village to the robots...however, we were unable to take any out. As far as my people, we did take rocket fire and were close to explosions."

"Yes...I can smell that you barely escape from the scorched earth," the ape man agreed then turned to his patrollers. "All guards, assist Oberi villagers. Give aid to any especially the wounded."

"I appreciate you immediately answering my distress call. My people and I are in your debt," Oberi stated and bowed his head a little.

"Do not think of it comrade. We and the other villages would seek refuge in your establishment if we were attacked," Zorn responded with a small smirk. "In these times, it makes me wonder if the Great War ever really left."

"Indeed...my grandfather preached that until his last breath," the wolfman agreed then looked to his right. Seeing his secretary immediately documenting and counting how many villagers were there, it seemed that most of the injuries amongst them was being banged up and roughed house from the ride.

"It seems that everyone was able to flee from your village."

"I hope so," Oberi spoke then looked at the orphans. Seeing them huddled together, there was something in his gut that instantly twisted. The other chief noticed.

"What is it friend?" Zorn asked then saw the man put his left hand over his face. His fingers curled as if trying to dig into his head.

"Sonic?" one of the caretakers called. Looking around with a worried face, all the orphans began to search around the trailer. As if a domino affect, the Oberi villagers began looking around. Even Onel began calling for the blue hedgehog.

"...that was...the boy that won the village game race?" the ape-man asked in a soft tone.

"...damn it..." the other leader swore under his breath and cringed his teeth together. He kept his hand over his face and slowly clawed himself from the high possibility of losing a child amongst the bombardment. Wincing, there were distant explosions in the forest. Looking up, there was a growing blanket of smoke that was covering over the land.


After 10 minutes of running and dodging attacks, Sonic rushed out into a clearing. Roughed up, dirty, and exhausted, the boy rushed toward a nearby boulder. Getting behind it and harshly breathing deeply for air, he pressed his back against the sediment. Having traveled a curved path to the southern region of the forest, the smoke from Oberi and other rocket explosions have traveled down as well. Like being in a fog, it was harder to breath and his eyes were starting to become irritated.

"..." the hedgehog coughed from breathing in the air. Wincing from his throat feeling scratchy, he covered his mouth. It only helped a little.

Hearing distant rumbling from somewhere behind him, the boy immediately got off the rock. Running forward slower, he kept a hand over his mouth. Looking ahead of him, there was too much smoke and ash to see far. Continuing for a bit and hearing the sounds get louder gradually, he looked behind. Not seeing where exactly the motorcycles were coming from, his body suddenly ran into something.

"Ahh!" Sonic reacted from feeling his torso fall forward quickly.

Tripping over an exposed tree trunk branch from a nearby tree, the ground was descending down a moderate slope. Not fast enough or strong enough to curl into a ball, the boy landed on the ground and began to tumble and slide down. Finally reaching the bottom out part of the descent, the hedgehog winced and cringed verbally from the pain. Looking up and around tiredly, nothing looked familiar. Trying to get up and feeling no strength in himself, the boy crawled forward.

"..." the child spoke hearing the distant sounds get closer and closer. From where they were positioned, it sounded as if they were above on higher ground. Looking back while slugging forward, three crimson circles were seen glowing through the thick smoke. They turned in unison and locked onto his direction.

Turning his head back forward, Sonic clenched his teeth and tried moving faster. All of his muscles were spent and felt incredibly difficult to move forward. From the constant running with fear and adrenaline, he was mentally spent as well. Hearing heavy clunks of metal from above, the killer robots were proceeding on foot towards his location. Attempting to get up, laser beams were blasted from behind.

Pitting the ground around him, the boy froze. Feeling terror lock his limbs up, uselessness and a sense of death washed over him. It hit the child hard as he never felt anything so frightening before. The feeling of all hope escape his mind became overwhelming. Flashbacks of his nightmare dreams of animals and people turning into machines with red eyes came into his mind. Petrified from the aspect that this was his end, tears of anger, fear, and sadness came out of his eyes.

"..." Sonic reacted with closing his eyes and his hands into fists hard. Taking a deep breath, he screamed.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

[Wild rodent] one of the robots spoke with its right arm pointing toward the hedgehog. [You will be captured and taken. You cannot resis-]

"...!?" the boy reacted with a start.

The robot abruptly stopped talking when something hard and fast hit it. Looking back with tears running down his face, his eyes widen. There was a gaping hole in the machine's chest about the size of a baseball. Without warning, its head whiplashed back with components falling out and splashing the ground. It made a whizzing and whirling noises before all lights on it flashed then went dark.

[...] the remaining two S.W.A.T. bots responded.

Turning their arms towards the left direction of where the sediment objects were thrown, they fired their lasers into the smoke. As if repeating what happened to the first mechanical patroller, one got a burst of projectiles that made its chest turn into Swiss cheese. Oil and hydraulic fluids were bleeding out of its torso as it slowly collapsed to the ground. The remaining machine opened many openings in its armor. With protruding barrels coming out, the mechanical unit fired a barrage of laser beams and pocket size missiles.

Unable to turn his head from just watching the firepower the metal being had, something alarming quick came from behind it. Sonic's eyes widen feeling an elevated level of fear course through him. A dark figure in robes came from behind only being half the size of the robot. Jumping up and snatching the front rim of the bot's helmet with its left hand, the figure did a harsh drop kick to its upper torso. As if having superior strength and force, the small dark silhouette ripped the machine's head off viciously.

Even though beheaded, the mechanical being was still firing all of its weapons. The unknown being dashed away at high speeds. Vanishing into the smoke for only a second, it came back even faster. Stopping and flinging the ripped of component, it hurled like a bullet at the robot. Hitting it hard in the back, it pierced through it armor. Going through more than halfway, the S.W.A.T. bot instantly shut down and dropped to the ground.

"..." Sonic reacted speechless.

Mixed emotions were running through as he tried to move. Accepting that he was not going to die, he began to feel the weight of being burnt out physically, emotionally, and mentally. Feeling himself begin to drift from consciousness, he heard soft footsteps getting closer to him. Struggling to see where the savior was, he saw the short dark figure appear in front of him. Able to give a relief smile and look up, his vision started to blacken. The last thing he saw before passing out was a crimson ring appearing where the person's right eye would be staring down at him.