One moment, the colossal arachnid was towering over the cracked earth, its eight multifaceted eyes gleaming with a sickly, malevolent purple light through the toxic black miasma.
The next moment, it propelled itself forward with a sickening shhhh-clack, its massive, bristly legs covering the distance between the center of the clearing and the terrified cubs in a single, horrifying bound.
"Zhēn!" Bai Yue screamed, her voice tearing from her throat as she scrambled forward, her bare feet slipping on the frosted grass.
She was too far away. They were all too far away.
She had heard of the chaos and rushed to check if all was right.
Nothing was right.
The scarred jaguar leader, clinging to the bristling hairs on the monster's thorax, shrieked with manic delight. "Take the boy! Eat the rest!"
