Lightning turned everything white, but not before I saw the tree clutching the riverbank to my left.

I stumbled in that direction, diving under the roots. Water from the river had washed out the dirt under them, creating a haven. Hopefully, a sufficiently hidden one. From here I could sneak away then attack when the level 19 predator wasn’t expecting it.

The earth-shaking footsteps behind me had vanished, but that didn’t mean much. The giant predators could be quiet when they wanted to be. I huddled as close to the riverbank under the tree as I could. I wrapped my cloak around me as the clouds broke apart and rain finally poured to the ground, the storm arriving in earnest. The sound took over everything except my heart pounding in my chest.

It was still out there, looking for me. I knew it.

Lightning flashed again at the same time thunder rolled across the jungle, shaking dirt loose above me.

The flash outlined the shadow of the Carnitor moving along the riverbank. It hadn’t jumped down to the river rocks, but stuck to the bank overhead.

The rain made it hard to see anything outside of the roots I hid under. It was a great sheet of water, slamming down from the sky, obscuring everything.

Yet, the water also trickled in from below. The rain was swelling the river, causing the water level to rise.

It had started near the far edge, closer to the running water, but as I watched it crept closer. The river was rising quickly from the rain. These types of storms caused flash flooding with the waterfall back in the colony, and here I hid within the riverbank, right where previous flooding had carved out this hole. I only had so much time, and probably not a lot of it. The water inched higher and my fingers tightened around my cloak.

I couldn’t stay here. Not for long, anyway.

Another blast of lightning made the area glow for a second. The dark shadow of the Carnitor blazed into sight through the rain, showing it now stood in the riverbed. I hadn't heard it move, the rain had covered any sound it had made. The water cut off on one side as its head moved near the edge of the tree. It was the area I had entered to hide under the roots.

Shit. It could smell me.

My hand clutched at my knife as I scooted closer to the other side. Cold water rushed up from near my feet, making me jerk back into a smaller space.

The movement caused the Carnitor to stick its nose right next to the tree and shove. The tree shuddered, leaning back away from the creature. Dirt rained down from the ceiling of the space I huddled in.

Time was ticking.

I stabbed out at the nose, my knife glowing.

The Carnitor jerked back with a roar, and my hearing cut out, making me momentarily deaf.

A foot shoved at the tree, and again I stabbed forward, sinking the knife three inches through its scales. This time it didn’t jerk back as quickly, and I sliced again, this time at one of its toes.

The ground shook and I assumed it had roared, since my hearing was still gone. The foot vanished back into the downpour of rain. My ears ached, but I didn't care. I would heal, if I could survive. I wanted that foot to come back. If you cut something’s foot off, no matter how big it was, it couldn’t fight very well.

I tried to make myself smaller under the tree, but the roots had shifted enough that the little hideaway was almost gone. I’d lost part of the roof, and the rain poured in even harder.

Everything inside me screamed as a dark shadow raced toward the tree. The thuds vibrated the ground. I slipped my knife back into my belt and clutched at the tree roots above me.

Then it hit.

The tree groaned as it snapped backward. Shards of wood went flying through the rain. My feet left the ground as everything went airborne, the whole tree thrown into the air by the giant Carnitor. Water hit me in several places, then gravity took control.

I slammed into rocks and water before getting swept into the current. Water dragged me down, and I struggled to figure out what way was up. A rock hit my knee, and I tried to crawl, or swim, in that direction.

Sounds partially returned as the first footstep echoed up underneath me, making my ribs hurt even worse than they were. Something broke inside.

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My head lifted. In the distance, a large dark shadow moved along the riverbank, searching. Pieces of the shredded tree sat between it and me.

Every time I took a breath, pain lanced up my side.

I had to move and hide.

The Carnitor moved closer to the rising water and nudged something on the ground, part of the tree trunk.

Or, I could try the river. It might be safer. It’d lead me in the wrong direction, if I had any hope of getting back to the compound within a decent length of time.

The Carnitor’s head snapped up toward the sky.

Bright lights cut through the darkness overhead, even as the sky rumbled with thunder.

It was the shuttle. John was safely up in the air.

Realization dawned on me, as I inched back onto the river rocks. The lights had distracted the Carnitor, and it moved in that direction, closer to the water.

I crawled faster, hiding behind part of the tree trunk and still moving toward the riverbank. More trees lined the curve we were in, and I might be able to hide again. The pain in my chest slowly reduced, and I hoped my healing would kick in faster. I didn’t have time to eat anything. Not yet.

Each foot felt like progress, and it didn’t take long until I was away from the rushing water. I took a second to see where the Carnitor was.

It stood at the edge of the water, with its head focused on the shuttle. Dumb beast, the river was dangerous for a reason. It's jaw snapped twice, trying to reach the flying object. Then the Carnitor leaned down, and that feeling of fear came back.

It had that jumping skill. The shuttle flew too close! He didn't know.

The shuttle flew along the riverbank, heading in my direction. A bright light traced along the surface of the river, and I prayed it didn't give away my location. I didn’t know what John was doing, but the shuttle kept moving away from the river. I reached the end of the fallen tree trunk and decided to go for it. I climbed to my feet and stumbled toward the nearest tree that was still attached to the riverbank. The rain soaked everything and it didn't let up, but it had to be masking my noise and scent, at least some.

Then I slipped. My forearms slammed into the rocks beneath me, pain lancing up as a rock sliced into my arm. A grunt escaped me. I scrambled to get back up as I felt eyes on the back of my cloak.

The predator moved in my direction as I got to my feet.

I glanced back in time to see the Carnitor's tail splash over the water, and something launch itself out of the river.

I couldn’t move as this new combatant chomped down. Green and blue scales flashed in the light from the shuttle as John focused on the scene.

The Carnitor roared, twisting about and trying to get the creature off of it. The triangle head of the river monster tried to yank the Carnitor deeper into the rapids, but the Carnitor twisted about, snapping at it with its jaws

The lights flipped off as the shuttle flew away from the fight.

Go, John, go!

I raced toward the vines and tree roots lining the bank. Ignoring the pain in my chest and from my injured left arm, I climbed. Time was ticking as I made my way up the riverbank. This was my chance. The rain would hide my scent, and I needed to find a better place to hide. The sound of the battle behind me continued even above the pouring rain. Finally, I made it to the top of the riverbank and dashed into the trees. It was harder to see now, but all I needed was a very tall tree to climb. Something that I could hide in up near the canopy, out of reach of that jump. I figured it needed to see me to jump at me.

After limping several feet into the jungle, lightning made everything glow for a moment and I spotted my target. Ferns and vines whipped at me in the wind as I reached for the first branch. My speed increased as my feet left the dirt. The thick tree trunk didn’t move in the harsh wind that only increased the farther off the ground I got. This was a tall, sturdy tree that had seen worse storms, thankfully. It meant that maybe I’d get to see tomorrow.

Despite the pain lancing through my body, I didn’t dare stop. I needed height.

It felt like I climbed for hours, but it must have been only seconds as I raced up the side of the tree, going farther up than the Carnitor was tall. I stopped once I found a good branch to hide on, well above the Carnitor’s height, and wrapped the soaked cloak around me. I tossed the wet hood over my head, dripping even more water down my face.

My heart pounded in my chest and my stomach growled. I shoved a piece of cat meat into my mouth and swallowed it without chewing. It settled into my stomach like a lump, but the loud growling stopped. Warmth flowed over my arm, and the pain vanished. I yanked out another piece from the inventory crystal and swallowed it. This time, my chest started to feel better. The warmth helped fight off the rain as it soaked into my clothes. I quickly stuffed my mouth full, wanting the rest of the aches and pains to go away as soon as possible.

Another roar broke through the darkened jungle, and trees shook in the distance. I stopped my frantic eating, and tightened the cloak around me.

The river monster hadn’t won. It might not have died, it might have only chased the Carnitor off, but the great predator was still alive.

The Carnitor moved through the trees in my direction, and I froze. It came into view about fifteen feet below me as I studied it from under my hood. The rain made it hard to see, but it limped badly. Lightning flashed again, giving me a good look at the creature. Its tail gushed dark blood in the rain, and the claw marks on its shoulder had reopened, showing muscle under its scales.

It paused under my tree, but not sniffing. It carefully moved its tail and sat down. Its chest labored to breathe, and a weird sound came from its jaws.

Everything inside me screamed it was prey now, even though it hadn’t been before.

The beast’s head glanced around the jungle before it sat on the ground. The blue in its scales shimmered in the darkness, then it blended in with the ferns surrounding it.

My mouth dropped at the sight. It could camouflage itself like I could. If I listened carefully, I could still hear it breathing under the rain. The rain hitting it made it slightly easier to see. Each breath was a wheezing sound, like it struggled to get air and something had happened to its lungs.

My fingers itched to try for the kill. It was time.