The air hung low over the grove as Tyson hobbled his way from the ruined speeder. The raiders where hot on his trail, and the gunshot wound in his side had slowed down the smuggler quite a bit. Cloying shadows spread and flex around him like lovers hand as he ducked behind a ruined log and pressed his body into the cleft under it, slowing his breath as he heard boots coming closer and angry commands fill the air.
They where angry, and he could hear it. They where desperate for the crypto key to his stache of military grade weapons, and they where willing to do anything to find it. Boots thudded on the log overhead and went passed him as he pushed himself deeper into the shelter of the log and he held his breath, irrationally hoping they wouldn't hear his minute breathing as they searched for him in a blind panic.
Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes into hours as he stayed in that place, watching into the dark forest like a scared child . His eyes moved in frantic motions they taking in the sight of every battered stump that his vison would allow, feeling the oppressive weight of the forest bear down upon him like a tangible force that was trying to exile this foreign organism in the closed system of its body.
The wind blew, rustling leaves and sending them scattering in front of his shelter, obscuring his view for a moment before they began to settle .... And... It came into view.
Its body was gaunt and pale but impossibly tall, easily standing four heads over the tallest man, but it was hobbled and hunched, as if it had spent its entire life in a room too short for its growing form. From the tips of its hands are long, scythe like talons that click on the soft earth as it scrapes and seems to look for something precious lost to it.
As the beast moved and searched, the moon began to rise high above the forest, bathing the choking darkness in an umbral glow that seemed to make the creature look even more horrible . As lunas soft rays bated over the blackness of its face, Tyson almost retched as its true horror was revealed.
Its face was a twisted mass of ragged flesh and torn skin. It regarded the grotto for several moments with beady, black pears that seemed to be its eyes and let out a huff that exposed a flytrap like jaw filled with hooked , wicked teeth.
In a flurry of motion, the creature scrambled around the side of tree, and then crawled quickly in a flailing sort of motion right along the ground until it was less than a foot from the log where he had been hiding. A long protracted silence filled the air as Tyson body began to shake, tremoring lightly against the earth as the creature considered the felled log intently.
A hortrified scream almost ripped from his mouth as the creatures talon snaked under the lip of the shelter, bringing with it a horrific stench of fresh blood and rot that almost made the smuggler gag. The wickedly sharp digit tapped around in front of his face lightly for a few moments before a dull "clink" was heard and it seemed to fish something out of the muck where he had been hiding hours before.
A single, burnished coin was unearthed by the creatures efforts and it let out a choked , rasping sound as it began to walk in the direction opposite of Tysons shelter, letting the wounded straggler breathe a sigh of relief .
TBC------------------------------------------- Just decided to try something
