A deafening roar exploded through the air like a sudden clap of thunder.
The sound carried the deep, resonant chest rumble unique to massive predators. It sent violent shivers through the leaves overhead. Even the air seemed to tremble under the sheer brutality of the noise.
Alice snapped awake from her light sleep.
Her body reacted faster than her brain. She instinctively tried to kip up to her feet, her right hand reaching for her waist. A Glock 19 or a tactical dagger should have been holstered there.
But her fingers grasped at empty air.
She felt nothing but rough, cracked bark and the filthy, unrecognizable silk of her own dress. A sharp sense of cognitive dissonance made her pupils constrict. She willed her tense muscles to relax, though this unfamiliar body barely had any muscle tone to speak of.
She lay flat on her back across a massive tree branch, easily thirty meters above the ground. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and wiped away the reflexive tears pooling in the corners.
When she opened them again, she didn't see her familiar ceiling. Instead, a suffocatingly vibrant green canopy stretched out above her.
Giant broadleaf plants overlapped in dense layers, completely blotting out the sky. Golden sunlight struggled to pierce the foliage. It filtered down in scattered, ethereal beams.
Thick, humid moisture hung heavy in the air. Dust motes danced silently in the shafts of light like glowing spirits. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful, brimming with primal, untamed vitality.
But to Alice, this endless sea of green meant only two things. Danger and death.
She stretched lazily, her bones letting out a series of soft pops. Then she sat up cross-legged. A chilling, battle-hardened coldness flashed through her bright blue eyes, entirely at odds with her youthful appearance.
A bizarre cry suddenly echoed from the horizon.
It didn't sound like a bird, nor did it match the roar of a beast. It sounded more like a choked, screeching mockery forced from the throat of a strangled animal. The piercing noise carried a horrifying, almost metallic rasp.
Alice's fingers paused mid-adjustment on her skirt. In the very next second, the lazy teenager vanished.
She was replaced by something akin to a startled but highly calculated jungle cat.
She moved on all fours. Her movements were slightly sluggish due to her weak frame, but her technique was terrifyingly precise. She smoothly folded herself into the deep shadows where the giant branch met a cluster of parasitic vines.
She held her breath and focused her mind. She even managed to deliberately slow her own heart rate.
The moment she slipped into hiding, the sky above went dark. It was as if a massive storm cloud had suddenly blotted out the sun.
But it wasn't a cloud. It was the shadow of a colossal entity gliding directly over the canopy. Gale-force winds bent the treetops, stripping away countless leaves that fell like throwing knives.
After a long moment, the suffocating pressure finally began to fade. Alice carefully parted the broad leaves in front of her. She poked half her head out, peering up at the sky through the dense foliage.
The first thing she saw was a flock of massive, unidentified white birds.
They flew in formation, sporting elegant bodies and wingspans easily reaching two meters. They beat their wings slowly against the biting high-altitude ocean winds.
Sunlight washed over their pristine feathers, reflecting a brilliant, almost holy glow. They soared with relaxed grace, looking like aerial ballet dancers. They performed a symphony of freedom above the primordial forest.
However, this tranquil picture lasted for less than three seconds.
A black bolt of lightning suddenly dove out from the high clouds. It tore through the air with a deafening screech, violently shattering the sky's peaceful order.
Alice's pupils reflected the terrifying shape of the monster. It was an apex predator that belonged only in textbooks and fossil museums. A pterosaur!
It possessed a ferocious, blood-red bony crest on its head. Its elongated beak was lined with barbed, hooked teeth. The creature's massive leathery wings stretched a full ten meters wide.
Dark red veins pulsed across the wing membranes under the sunlight. It looked exactly like a small fighter jet armed with biological missiles.
It lacked any feathers, completely covered in tough, leathery skin. Its tail acted like a spiked javelin, maintaining a deadly, precise balance in midair.
The pterosaur let out a horrific shriek. Plunging like a starving wolf into a flock of sheep, it slammed into the white birds with terrifying kinetic force.
The flock instantly exploded into chaos. The birds scattered in a panicked frenzy.
But against absolute power and speed, fleeing was entirely futile.
The pterosaur merely had to snap its tooth-filled beak shut to send a fine mist of blood spraying through the air. It did not even need its claws. It just used the razor-sharp edges of its wings to ram straight through, slicing the fragile white birds into pieces.
Alice kept her head tilted upward. She watched the massacre unfold a hundred meters above with an utterly expressionless face.
Suddenly, she felt a slight chill on her cheek.
She reached up and wiped it lightly with a slender finger. A shocking streak of crimson now stained her fingertip.