It was late. Late enough for the forest to feel alive, but in that creeping sense that it was all around you, watching you from every angle. You had been traveling with a group from the city venturing back to your home, the city named Thornfern, after many months of travel.

But as it was, you have lost the camp after taking an unfortunate tumble down a hill when relieving yourself by a tree a bit away from the camp. And consequently, fallen into a territory far more dangerous than you had any idea about…

You get up, grunting as you dust yourself off, and with a deep sigh start to go around, trying to find a way back. You're lucky you managed to grab your lantern before tumbling, though that was barely distributing more light than the moonlight seeping through the thick trees…

You walk for a while. When suddenly you realize why you feel so uneasy. Why you feel a cold shiver run down their spine with each step. It’s quiet. Too quiet. Not the flapping of a bird's wings, nor the chirps of a cricket in the grass. The wind was even still. Like nothing dared to move… but you had.

But then, you stopped. And the hairs on the back of your neck, stand on end. Dead in your tracks. Just at the very end of the light emanating from their lantern, stands a figure. At first you thought it might be a man, but his silhouette is wrong. Too large. Shoulders too broad. Arms too long. And its eyes… it’s not natural to have red eyes. They almost shine in the dark

No words. No movement. Just a presence. A presence that says “predator”.

But slowly… Your stomach churns as you start to see the figure shape shift. It’s arms grow shorter, it’s shoulders look more natural, its head shrinks to natural size as well. And what now appears as a man in underwear. He takes a step closer, and as you try to respond with a step back, your stale legs cause you to fall over on your back. As the figure steps closer, into the light.