The jungle had gone silent.
One second, the air was thick with the hum of insects and the distant screech of some bird. The next, it was gone. A heavy, suffocating silence pressed against my ears like the woods themselves were holding their breath, waiting for the first drop of blood to hit the dirt.
I stood frozen, spear raised, heart slamming against my ribs so hard I could feel it in my throat. My eyes scanned the darkness between the trees, searching for the source of that primal warning screaming in the back of my mind.
Then I saw it.
Two yellow circles of fire. They stayed low to the ground, positioned between two massive, moss-covered trunks. They didn't blink. They didn't flicker.
They just burned with a cold, hungry light that told me exactly where I stood in the food chain. I was just meat.
