Trying to gain an idea of where Gianni was, my mind was swirling in a maelstrom of thoughts.

Between that scary growl that had left a permanent fear within me, like a scar inside my heart, and Gianni's disappearance, I had acted stupidly. Impulsively. 

I felt watched and exposed here, in this forbidden land. 

I breathed in and out, but my lungs seemed frozen with fear too.

Suddenly, out among the pillars of rock and tree came the slight echo of small stones rolling. My tears stopped and my heart began to pick up its pace slightly. Then the sound came again, closer, this time followed by a strange thumping and slithering sound. 

So very silently, I hid in the hollow of a tree, bringing my knees up to my chest. The sound grew closer and closer and soon out of the semi-darkness a shape began to form. It looked like a man at first. But it wasn't. The head was too long, legs and arms strange. 

Peering at the silhouette, I almost died when I saw what lay between the shadow's legs.

'Could that be what I think it is!?' 

The creature had a tail dragging behind it... It was making the slithering sound as the beast pulled it over the ground!

"Mmh, what do we have here?" 

I froze, tears trickling down my face. Oh no.

"Oh my, my" he droned. "Aren't you delectable? Let me see you,"

It was the end. I was going to be eaten!

The beast was covered in green scales and rubbery spines. Yellow eyes lay atop a long snout-like skull. It was a crocodile head with some snake features in it.

He was so close. And he smelled like... raw meat.

It was the end. 

I was going to be eaten! My dreams would never come true. My father and brother would have dinner with another empty chair.

I prepared to make a desperate run for it, but what happened next, was either a miracle or a tragedy.

"Please don't!" A little voice came a meter away from my hiding place.

For a split second I thought that the male voice belonged to Gianni.

Instead, it was Will. The son of the village's nurse! A tiny boy, barely eighteen! 

To my horror, I saw the beast drag Will out of his hiding place by the ankle.

Then he lifted him into the air, by one leg, and began to sniff him, especially between his legs. Poor Will couldn't do anything, hanging there like a salami. 

"Mmh. You smell virgin meat to me."

"Please don't!" His whimpers were ignored. 

Grasping his tunic, the brute ripped it open, leaving Will naked and exposed. Ready to be devoured. His pale body looked so tiny and fragile compared to those scaled muscles and inhuman flesh.

I watched with horror mixed with disgust how he moved Will towards his open mouth, showing rows of pointed teeth that lay inside.

Oh God, he was going to eat him alive! 

But he didn't. 

What he did, was much worse. 

He began lapping the center of Will's trembling legs with his inhuman tongue, probing around, painting him with reptilian slime.

"S-stop!" Will whined, his head falling back. The lizardman placed the human legs over his shoulder and continued, ignoring his tiny mate's pleas.

I had to act fast. I groped for the ground, and grabbed a stone. Without thinking, I threw it at the beast, hitting its slimy head from the side.

To my surprise, he ignored me! Intent to feast between the legs of Will who seemed to be moaning. "Human girl, you are next." His voice was muffled, between slurps and other disgusting sounds. "Odette ..." Will peeped, eyes closed. "Run away ... ah!" He moaned louder, I barely noticed that his too spasmed and jerked forward. the monster's head had stopped moving. I took a stick but the voice that came from a few meters away froze me.

"Well, well, well .... another little rat that managed to run away. Do you know what we do with rats like you here?"

With one last glance at Will, a futile promise to come back to rescue him, I darted in the opposite direction.

####

A rustling, a low growl, something slamming against something.

I turned to look, worried that the monster may jump on me at any time. There was nothing.... although I knew there was something following me.

My ears were deafened by my pulse, the blood pounding in my heart, my head.

My muscles ached so much as I pushed myself harder than I ever had before.

Running, however, wasn't the only thing I had learned.

I spotted a lower branch; it looked almost like an outstretched arm, beckoning me toward safety. I slung myself on it and began to climb almost immediately.

 Bark by bark, branch by branch, I climbed to the top of the great spruce, more still than the massive stones scattered around, beckoning me to fall and splash on them.

Finally, I settled on a convenient, medium-large brunch partially covered in moss. The foliage a good cover from below.

Surely, a lizardman could not climb....

I dared to peer down only when i couldn't climb anymore. My breath was so noisy though!

I gasped.

There it stood.

A massive thing had begun to circle my tree.

He looked like a human because he could stand on two feet, but that was where the resemblance ended. 

A long tongue passed through his pointy fangs, repeatedly. 

The thing was basically a giant crocodile, quite different than Will's captor. Long tail, claws, a kind of shiny yellow scaly skin ran over its reptilian body. It was as if someone had endowed a crocodile with the ability to walk on both feet and talk.

Our eyes met.

"Go away!" I dared to say, "I'm not going to breed with you! I'd cut my throat rather than let you touch me."

He made a hoarse sound and drooled. Some spit rained down and I noticed with horror how rocks and grass melted beneath it. 

"Oh, but I don't want to breed! Only eat!" He chuckled, "Is either me and my belly, or the harem! Trust me, you won't like it there, oh sweet human."

I pressed myself to the tree and stayed there, eyes shut. 

Time must have passed, perhaps. Or perhaps not much. Hard to tell when you are in survival mode. Nothing else mattered.

Wait... why was so silent?

After twenty heartbeats or so, I dared to peer below. 

The monster was gone. I checked every direction and saw nothing. 

No sign of the alligator... 

A clawed arm reached out and closed around my ankle. 

I screamed my lungs raw when it pulled me down.

"No!" My arms hugged the brunch, kicking and struggling, fighting with every ounce of strength to free myself. "Leave me!"

The beast growled, up this close was hideous. And smelly. And covered in blood.

I sobbed, feeling my arms loosen. His strength much more immense.

"First I will eat your legs," He began, licking his yellow teeth, "Then I will suck all your-"

The growl that came from above, from somewhere over the treetops, froze my screams and my heart.

It was the same growl. 

The one that had cut the sky and stabbed the moon.

Another monster!

The alligator paused and let out a strange sound...almost like a whine. Damn, he seemed scared too.

I used my opportunity and kicked his face hard. He howled in pain while I climbed some more.

My body, my soul and my heart were all screaming at me. To go, to run, to find refuge.

That growl was the very voice of fear. I could not explain why it terrified me to that extend, while lizardmen and other monster had not affected me at those paralysing levels.

There were whimpers somewhere below me, like a wounded animal, and then the sound of tearing, which made me wince.

I peered down, checked every direction, and saw nothing.

No sign of lizards, alligators, or half devoured preys... just rocks, some bushes, and more eerie trees.

He wasn't there anymore. What?

The creepy sounds stopped for a second, then there was one, single crack, and more silent.... only broken by heavy steady breaths.

This was definitely not like the lizardman that had taken Will.

I did not know why but a great terror kept filling my body.

I was desperate to find the path with blue torches but I couldn't move. The other monster was somewhere but maybe this one didn't see me.

Pursing my lips, I swallowed and shut my eyes. I had to go back to the path.

I knew I could be safe there. It was the law.

Little did I know....

### 

AN/ who do you think came to her rescue?? or is it a rescue or hunting??

What do you think our bad boy is? ;)

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Love you!!!