The forest was too quiet.

Not dead — nothing on this moon was ever dead — but quiet in a way that made Jason’s instincts flare. The air shimmered with drifting bioluminescent spores. The massive trees rose like cathedral pillars, roots twisting into glowing knots beneath his feet. Every plant pulsed with its own soft light, like the whole forest was breathing around him.

Jason’s ribs burned where the creature’s claws had raked him earlier. He pressed a hand to the wound, feeling the sticky warmth of blood against his palm. “Great,” he muttered. “Alien jungle, no map, no team, and I’m already bleeding. Classic Todd.”

He pushed through a curtain of luminescent vines. They brushed his arms with a faint static crackle, leaving trails of light across his skin. The ground beneath him was springy, almost sponge‑like, and each step sent ripples of blue light racing outward; it should’ve been beautiful; instead, it felt like walking across a tripwire.

A sound broke the silence — a sharp, high‑pitched yip.

Jason froze.

Another yip answered it, followed by a low, chittering laugh that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The glowing ferns ahead trembled, their light flickering like startled fire.

Jason’s pulse kicked up.

From the shadows, a pair of narrow yellow eyes blinked at him. Then another pair. And another. Small thanators — juveniles, but still nightmares on six legs. Their sleek black bodies shimmered with the forest’s glow, and their tails flicked in perfect, predatory rhythm.

Some of their paws were twisted and scarred, the skin puckered and burned as if they’d walked through fire and survived it. Jason swallowed. “Okay. Hi. I’m just—”

A sharp yip‑yip‑yip cut him off — mocking, almost playful. Then they hopped closer.

Jason backed up, slow and steady. His hand brushed against a thick, resin‑coated vine hanging from a low branch. It left a sticky, flammable residue on his fingers.

An idea sparked.

He grabbed the vine, snapped off a chunk, and wrapped it around the end of his makeshift spear. Then he struck the spearhead against a jagged rock jutting from the ground. Sparks flew. The resin caught instantly, flaring into a bright, angry flame.

The forest lit up around him, at least drawing the chilling giggles of the leathery creatures, and some of their hisses. “Yeah,” Jason said, voice tight. “Didn’t like that, did you?”

The flame wavered as he lifted the torch higher. The thanators circled him, their yips turning sharper, more frantic. Their paws scraped the glowing moss, leaving dark streaks where the light died under their claws and their snarls.

Jason’s heart hammered, his breath coming fast. The thanators crouched, muscles coiling like springs as Jason tightened his grip on the torch and braced the spear—