The lizard darts forward, the push from it's back legs so powerful that the claws of it's forelegs barely graze the ground. Steve only just dodges as it's jaws snap shut, right where his arm had been. Angrily it turns to face him, moving slowly as it calculates it's next move. Vile green saliva dripping from it's mouth, it lets out a gurgling hiss. As the stench of it's breath reaches him, the odour of decaying flesh makes Steve's stomach revolt. Bile burns the back of his throat as he tries not to retch.

Advancing slowly, the lizard sweeps it's muscular tail from side to side, causing dust to fly and pebbles to scatter. Steve backs away from the oncoming threat. His bare feet, dirty and bruised, find relief in the cool mud. The implication hits Steve instantly, and fills him with horror;

On land this creature is capable of only small bursts of speed, it's cumbersome body tiring quickly, it's stocky frame lacking the flexibility to turn quickly. In the water it would be truly fearsome. The buoyancy created by the water would negate most of it's weight, a pendulum action of it's tail would allow for an almost instant 180 degree turn, it's apparent ability to read vibration means it has no need for eyesight in the murky depths.

In the water this predator has all the advantages... and it's trying to herd Steve to the road's edge!

Steve tries to sidle towards the centre of the path. The lizard is faster, striking at him, causing Steve to retreat a further two steps towards the killers domain. It closes in, still making that disturbing hiss. Steve realises that he's out of time. If he doesn't do something now, Charlie's going to be down another travelling companion.

"Fuck it!"

Steve plants his feet again. Mud spatters as he puts his foot down. Hard. The lizard stops, eyeing Steve with mistrust. Letting out a yell, Steve runs towards it. The lizard is quick to react. It takes a couple of steps, then, using the forward momentum as leverage, it rears up, stretching to it's full length. Steve has no time to stop as it uses a downward stroke of it's tail to push itself down at great speed. Steve is about to be crushed by the enormous reptile... then it twist and opens it's jaws.

The gaping mouth comes at him so fast, Steve has no time to think. Instinct kicks in and he ducks his head as he throws himself to the side. Missing it's target, the lizard clamps onto Steve's shoulder instead. It shakes it's head violently, twisting and wrenching.

Charlie races to help but Steve is quickly free. The scaly beast tears apart the saddle bags that had afforded Steve some protection. Angry, it quickly obliterates the leather satchels before turning back to target Steve once again. Though the distraction has allowed Steve to move away from the water, and bought him some time, Steve is now more vulnerable than before. His shoulder has turned black with bruises and is completely numb from the crushing force of the creatures jaws. There is no doubt, without the protection of the leather bag, Steve's arm would have been torn off. Even now it hangs useless at his side.

The lizards tongue flickers as it rounds on Steve. Eyeing the lizard warily, Steve could swear there is more than a glint of satisfaction in it's reptilian eyes. Whatever it tastes, it likes. It moves slowly in a jerking motion, attempting to circle Steve and push him back to the waters edge.

A loud screech fills the air! The lizard makes an ear-piercing sound as it comes to an abrupt halt. Prancing backwards, Charlie darts away, having just stamped heavily upon the broad scaly tail. With a malicious growl the lizard turns on the horse, targeting what it now sees to be the bigger threat... or the bigger meal. Panicking, Charlie rears and strikes out, landing a few glancing blows on the monster's snout. Rather than deter it though, the creature seems more focused. Perhaps it's the size of the potential meal, or maybe it can sense Charlie's fatigue. Whatever the case, Steve knows he needs to do something.

Fast.

Rearing up again, the lizard finally makes it's move as it grabs for Charlie's foreleg. Acting without thought, Steve runs up and jumps on the lizard's injured tail. Rounding on Steve faster than he had thought possible, it lets out an agonised yelp as it takes the brunt of it's weight on it's tail. Charlie spins around and lashes out with his hind-legs. Distracted by pain, the lizard doesn't see it coming, as Charlie hits him side on.

Unable to use it's tail for balance,the reptile can't counter the horse's powerful kick, and is sent sprawling. Scrambling to get back up, it is unable to get to it's feet. One of it's hind legs collapses under it and it's tail hangs limp and useless as it tries to push itself up. The fall has completed what Charlie and Steve had started, completely incapacitating one of it's most powerful weapons.

It tries to move towards Charlie again. Pain freezes it in it's tracks. The agony of broken bones, and bruised tissue cause it to let out a strangled gasp. With the weight of it's own body causing it pain, the large reptile acts on instinct, dragging itself to the one place it knows will alleviate this. The water.

This is a mistake.

Steve watches the water churn as others, sensing blood, converge on the stricken creature. Charlie makes a move to go, but freezes in place when Steve signals him to stop. The frenzy is over, yet the bubbles remain. An entire side of the path is now lined by the amphibious killers. Any sound could alert the creatures to their presence, triggering an attack that, even fully armed, Charlie and Steve would have no hope surviving.

Minutes pass in complete silence, save for the soft bubbling of the creatures.Steve can only pray that they're sleeping off their meal, as he can see that Charlie is flagging. He trembles with exhaustion as the last of the terror induced Adrenalin wears off.

Time is passing too fast. The elongated shadows spill across the path. While he can see dark shapes moving among the shadowy branches, Steve ignores them. His concern for Charlie grows, as the horse's legs start to buckle for the second time. Sheer exhaustion has almost driven him to his knees twice now. His resilience amazes Steve as he catches himself again.

With little more than a quiet scrape, Charlie widens his stance and locks his legs. After testing that his footing is secure, Charlie nods at Steve and closes his eyes. Like most horses, Charlie can sleep standing upright. Though this will help combat fatigue, Steve knows that without food and water, whatever sleep Charlie gets will have little impact on the physical and mental strain wrought by the day. If animals don't get them, exhaustion and dehydration will.

"Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink."

A mistake! His soft murmur seems to have been enough to catch one of the creatures attention. Steve watches in horror as a snout breaks the surface. A snake like tongue flicks excitedly as it tastes the air. Drawn by this lizard's activity, a second one breaches. Following the scent they they've caught, the two reptiles slowly ascend the slope, making their way onto the platform provided by the widened path. Knowing that lizards are supposed to have difficulty seeing stationary objects, Steve keeps as still as he's able. Knowing that snakes have an acute sense of taste when they detect an odour, and seeing the reptiles forked tongue, Steve is certain it won't make any difference. It won't be long before they're discovered.

Light flickers as something moves in the shadows overhead. Unable to move, Steve has no idea what is in the branches overhead, but he has completely depleted his reserves of fear. Whether it's the lizards by his feet, or the unknown predator crouched overhead, he has accepted that this is it. This is how he's going to die. He'd always known this day would come, he'd just assumed it would be a long time coming.

His heart bleeds at the thought of never seeing his kids again. Though he knows they'll be alright, he thought of them being orphaned tears him up inside. He'd made provisions for them after losing Sharen so suddenly, Daisy and her husband Gavin would take the best care of his babies.

Daisy knows what to do.

This is little comfort for Steve. Daisy is not Sharen. Gavin is not Steve. Though he would not normally give in to emotion, the sense of defeat is overwhelming, causing tears to trickle down his cheeks and catch in the scruffy beard that has evolved from his stubbly four day growth.

With blurry eyes Steve can see that Charlie has woken. Neither of them move a muscle as the monsters continue to prowl around them. Man and horse make eye contact. Through his tears Steve can see acceptance and resolve in Charlie's eyes. He watches in silent horror as Charlie's ears flick. He knows exactly what that stupid horse is going to do and there is nothing he can do to stop him. To try would just draw more attention and kill them both.

Charlie takes a stiff step forward and nickers. The lizards' heads snap around. They eye Charlie's still form. Screwing up his courage he takes another hesitant step.

The lizards leap into action, racing towards the terrified horse. At the sight of the charging reptiles Charlie tries in vain to backtrack. There's nowhere to go. In a matter of seconds the creatures are upon him. He rears up and strikes out with his iron shod hooves. The flashing steel pauses the lizards as they reassess the danger posed by the cornered horse.

A minute passes as they stand in a temporary stalemate. The smaller of the two lizards finally breaks this, shifting as though preparing to try again. But it's lunge is cut short as a large shadow falls over it. Both lizards freeze as several more shadows move across the tableau.

Steve's eyes dart across the overhanging foliage, searching for the animals casting them. No matter how he stares he can't make out anything. As far as he can tell there is nothing overhead. Whatever is hidden up there can't be good. The lizards are clearly anxious to avoid whatever it is that is lurking out of sight. Every time the shadows move away from them, they try to inconspicuously inch toward the safety of the water. The larger one is almost there when the other makes a fatal mistake.

As it's tail brushes across a shadow, a switch seems to be flipped, sending a signal to the shadows to converge. Steve watches as the light around the killer lizard grows darker. The lizard thrashes ineffectually as it... not fades? The opposite of fades. It darkens. Becomes more solid. It's dark silhouette disappears, merging with the surrounding shadow. This then disperses into smaller darting shadows.

The other reptile had taken to the water while the smaller reptile met it's demise. The water froths and churns as the amphibious lizards flee.

Steve and Charlie are once again frozen as they try to wait out a predator. Several of the smaller shadows flit around Steve's bare feet. As he watches, the silhouette of a paw reaches out and taps Steve's shadow on the arm. He flinches in shock when he feels the gentle thump on his uninjured arm. At his involuntary movement, the larger shadows join their smaller counterparts. They settle in a circle with Steve at the centre. The surrounding shades seem to be watching Steve while he tries to covertly observe them. He can feel their eyes on him while the smaller blobs of darkness continue to race forward and bat at Steve. Their movement are almost playful, as they dart forward, smack at his arms, then dash away.

The curious gaze of the larger shadows... The playful nature of the smaller ones...

A smile touches Steve's lips as realisation strikes. He holds his good arm out, fingers splayed. As he'd expected, one of the little shadows moves to investigate the gentle movement of his fingers, sniffing at his shadow. He can't feel anything, but it obviously can, as it flinches away when he reaches out and carefully prods it. Steve wiggles his fingers again, coaxing the curious little shade closer. This time he waits, subtly changing the movement so his shadow is softly stroking the dark entity. While he still can't feel anything, he can see the small creature press into his touch. The dark shape twists and changes before his eyes. As it gently writhes Steve starts to feel an eerie sensation. Something akin to the memory of of soft fur brushing against his hand. A shock of cold as though a small wet nose has rubbed against his palm. Even with this unexpected strangeness, Steve's eyes do not leave the silhouette that has slowly taken on the two dimensional form of a black cat. When Steve uses his shadow to scratch behind it's ear, the cat appears to shimmer, and the echo of a purr vibrates through the air.

A sudden burst of laughter seems to startle the other shadows. The cat only pauses for a moment before moving to bat at Steve's legs. The spectral cat catches at the shadow counterpart of his skirt, causing his physical skirt to billow as though a weak wind is teasing at it. It tugs at the fabric as it tries to unhook it's claws. Lifting the skirt slightly, Steve runs his hand down the length of it. The cat's claws retract when his shadow brushes against the snagged paw. A memory of touch tickles the back of Steve's mind as he watches the cat weaving between the silhouette of his exposed legs. He can only stare in amazement and disbelief when, after rubbing it's forehead against his ankle one last time, the little cat rounds his leg and steps out of his shadow.

Slowly crouching, a stunned Steve holds his hand out tentatively, allowing the cat to approach him. The newly manifested feline nuzzles at his fingers before softly nipping at them. With a gentle tug Steve frees his hand, only for the cat to catch his arm and pull it closer, rubbing it's nose against his hand again. As Steve scratches under it's chin, the cat closes it's eyes in bliss. The quiet rumbling purr dies away as he finally moves his hand away. It is only when it starts mewling that Steve realises his mistake.

This is not a cat! This is a kitten! A cub!

Steve has been playing with a young wild animal while it's mother is only metres away. Unsure what to do next, Steve stares down at the little shadow-cat that is still calling for his attention.