Descending down the steep and rocky slope of the canyon, Charlie took in the ever-expanding horizon. The basin was large, extremely so, it was difficult to see it's end even from above - it felt like it stretched out far off into the endless horizon.

The stone had a browny yellow colour, with varying shades of yellowed hues lining the sides all the way down. Rocks, boulders and burnt grasses were a common sight - even an occasional tree would sprout amongst the boulders, providing minimal shade to the creatures below.

In fact, the lower Charlie descended, the hotter it became. It was strange, almost like the heat sunk down and pooled at the canyons basin into a thick pot of boiling water. There was no real cover here either, and Charlie could already feel himself missing the subtle connection with the shadows, feeling more exposed than ever before.

With a final jump, Charlie landed at the very bottom of the canyon - two small and camouflaged lizards scurried away from somewhere nearby. He heard them, but he couldn't sense their scent.

Charlie's enhanced sense of smell was possible due to his highly advanced tongue. It was not an ability he had as a human, but had grown so attached to using it, turning it into a subconscious effort - without it, Charlie felt blind.

Well, either way, I won't be down here for long.

The destination was simply directly on the other side of the canyon, and from above it didn't feel like a terribly long journey. Charlie had plenty of experience being blind, but still hoped the trip wouldn't take too much of his time.

With his focus on high alert, Charlie slithered forward on the hot and cracked stone, dodging the larger crevices as he steadily advanced.

Charlie took in the scenery and marveled at the vast differences between areas within the same forest. Everything felt tightly packed in this world, and he couldn't go too far without coming across something strange and marvelous. It was becoming rare to see something normal anymore, as everything felt a little bit more special on this planet.

The more Charlie saw of the world, the more vague his perception of normality became and made it difficult to even differentiate. Good or bad, it simply couldn't be helped.

Charlie's stomach was still not fully satisfied, so while down here, Charlie decided to snack on the local lizard populace, and maybe get a better idea of what to look out for while he was down here.

The air was dry, the scents were weak and Charlie lazily slithered forward, keeping to the walls and somewhat shaded areas - but Charlie was still too exposed for his own liking.

He came across a couple of lizards that looked identical to the walls they perched upon, nearly indistinguishable from the plethora of stones and rocks that littered the ground. Though he could see them, Charlie was unable to catch one, worse than that, he couldn't even get close.

It was like the little bastards knew exactly where Charlie was at all times. It made sense, of course, they could easily see him and he couldn't see them - they were camouflaged.

So, Charlie continued down the dry path in search of food and shelter. The sun was pleasant at first, Charlie even found himself enjoying the sunshine, but the higher the sun climbed, the more he was reminded of how treacherous the sun could be.

It was not at the level of heat as the sun back on Earth, but it sure as hell still sucked. The serpentine body Charlie inhabited was too young, and too unaccustomed to the perils of living under an unforgiving sun - but he was still forced to endure even if his body was not ready. Such was life in the wild, adapt or die.

Dismissing his more macabre thoughts, Charlie returned his focus on the task at hand.

Charlie had been slithered forward for some time now, and had to find a shelter for a short rest. The sun beat down on his black scales relentlessly, and he was starting to become thirsty.

Thirst had yet to become a real problem for Charlie, so it was an unwelcome reminder that there were more dangers under the surface of his little venture.

Charlie figured that most of the time, as grisly as it was, the blood of the creatures he swallowed whole provided enough for him to continue without needing to drink water often.

Yet, with how infrequent his meals had been, and especially tiny, and then vomiting earlier due to severe nausea, Charlie could feel the basic need intensify exponentially.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

With his purpose renewed, Charlie exerted greater effort in his search for water, food and shelter. Taking greater care to sneakily approach the shaded floor beneath the infrequent cover of trees, doing his best to sneak up on unsuspecting prey. Yet try as he might, not a single creature fell for his plans.

The heat kept rising and Charlie was starting to get worried. No matter how hot he was, he was not sweating. The body of the serpent clearly differed greatly from the human body even in this sense. The only way he could cool himself down was almost hyperventilating. He would drawn in warm air and expel even hotter air, helping a little, but it was not enough.

Charlie had resorted to licking his back with his tiny, forked tongue. It was working, and it brought him great relief - until his mouth ran dry, at least.

Gasping for air, water and shade, Charlie found himself having severely underestimated the canyons basin. From high above, it looked like such a simple trek, yet right now he feared for his life on what felt like a never ending march to his own heat death.

His only hope lay in the shadowy cavern up ahead, the one he spotted from above in his initial survey of the land. Charlie knew that the majority of the creatures that could not stand the heat would have already grouped up and taken over the caves, but he had to try. The sun was bound to kill him, if not simply kneeling over from the lack of water would get him first.

Charlie slithered onward, barely holding on to his fraying mind as the heat battered both his body and will. Upon approach, Charlie could feel a refreshing cool breeze catch on his scales, emanating from somewhere within the caves interior.

With renewed vigour, Charlie doubled his speed and almost found himself diving into the cool shadow with one final leap.

The pressure from the sun disappeared in a flash, immediately filling Charlie with euphoria. It was like plunging into a cold bath after working out in the fields for hours, simply eating and incomparable.

With the sun no longer pressing on Charlie's mind, he was able to recover and quickly scan his surroundings. Just in time too, as the face of a particularly ugly lizard was getting closer by the second.

Charlie, still exhausted from the sun, was a touch too slow in reacting, and didn't dodge out of the way completely. The lizards long and jagged maw, overflowing with spit and mucous, nipped into the tip of his stubby tail, ripping out some of the scales and drawing blood.

The pain wasn't severe, but Charlie still held a bit of irrational fear for creatures going after his tail, and created more distance than he would have normally. The green and yellow titan of a lizard didn't stay still, and had already changed directions, albeit awkwardly. From the quick encounter, Charlie could tell that the creatures large body was not built for sharp turns, and it definitely did not expect to miss its target either.

The time it took the lizard to turn was enough, allowing Charlie to get his bearings and prepare for his own counter-attack.

The lizard was certainly clever, ambushing weakened creatures that sought out shelter - unfortunately for it, Charlie was no normal creature.

...And for causing Charlie to remember the trauma surrounding his tail, he was going to make sure the creature would regret coming up with the idea.

The stony and littered surface within the cool cave proved to be of little issue, the large Lizard was traversing the uneven floor with impressive grace. While it's body moved wildly from side to side, it's large tail acting as a powerful counterweight, it's head stayed perfectly level and locked in on Charlie.

Unperturbed, Charlie positioned himself so that when the lizard was about to attack, Charlie would be a bit above. There was no time for an in-depth and intricate plan, so the simple tried-and-true had to be employed. Charlie had the high-ground now!

The lizard crossed the pitiful distance at great speed, and mere moments before it struck out with its repulsive maw, it leapt. Surprised by the fact that the oversized body of the lizard even had the capability to jump, yet he remained unwavering, and Charlie exploited the brief opening, taking his chance.

The lizards body, while large, looked less mobile than the little lizard things that skittered on the ground. He saw it with his own eyes as it struggled to turn quickly - slowed down by the powerful muscles holding up it's head, the bulky body held up a meter off the ground by four stubby limbs, and a massively long tail for counter balance.

The thing was huge, and powerful - but Charlie was faster and supremely more flexible.

Dodging to the side with a powerful leap, right between the gap created by the lizards own leap, Charlie successfully evaded it's vicious charge.

Using the stone as cover, Charlie quickly scurried to the left and ascended the stone from behind - taking great care to be as silent as possible.

The connection to shadows was once again established from the moment Charlie entered the cave, he could feel it's embrace stick to his very skin and was comforted by it's presence, especially now. His understanding of stealth, his environment and his own body increased, almost as if becoming one with the shadows themselves.

The oversized lizard was furious, snorting into the sandy stone and kicking up clouds of dust with angry movements. But Charlie didn't fear it, and why should he? The fool was creating the perfect cover for Charlie, and Charlie was not kind enough to not take the perfect chance, especially when one presented itself so nicely.

Under the cover of shadow and sand, Charlie closed the gap with a powerful leap - alerting the lizard, but, it didn't matter. It could not turn in time to stop Charlie, and a [Hollow Fang] shot out like lightning, homing in on its target with seemingly perfect precision.

His thin and hollow needle-like fangs pierced the thick hide of the lizard like it was nothing more than boiled meat. His fang-like teeth ripped into the scales, sinking deeply, and latched on to the lizards upper thigh, right below the base of its whip-like tail.

The lizard barely reacted to the minor pricking feeling on its thigh, and that filled Charlie with malicious joy. He loved being underestimated, and somehow, it had yet to grow old. He worked so hard to never underestimate others, yet it seemed everything was born to look down on him.

Well, in time, he'd show the creatures the error of their ways.