The dance didn't last long.
Kang Ji-Won knew he was at a disadvantage. His legs were shaking. His massive, heavy combat boots sank into the wet moss with every pivot. Squelch... squelch. He was slow. Noisy.
In contrast, the creature was silent.
Its black claws moved over the glowing moss with deadly grace, as if they weighed nothing at all.
It's playing with me. It knows I'm slow.
Klak.
The creature stopped circling.
It raised its head. That damned yellow grin seemed to widen.
No. Don't think. Act.
Ji-Won knew what was coming. He had seen this before.
The creature crouched, aiming toward...
My head! It's attacking my head again!
It was stupid. It was a stupid monster repeating the same attack.
"AAAH!" Ji-Won screamed, not out of fear, but out of anger and desperation, heaving the heavy crowbar high with both hands. He was ready to block the blow coming for his face, ready for that deafening CLANG.
The crowbar was at its highest point...
...when the creature didn't jump.
It went low.
Like a drop of gray mercury, its body collapsed to the ground and shot forward, not toward his head, but toward...
No.
It was a trick.
It's aiming for my legs!
His brain screamed. But it was too late.
The heavy crowbar was still in the air, gravity pulling it down too slowly. Ji-Won tried to throw his body backward, to fall, anything.
He wasn't fast enough.
SHRAAAACK!
A tearing sound. Not metal this time. But thick cloth... and flesh.
"AAAAAHHHH!"
A real scream this time. A pure, animalistic scream of absolute pain.
The pain hit his left leg like a hot iron. It wasn't a clean stab. He felt the claws dig in, shred the fabric, and then sink deeper, tearing the muscle and tendons underneath.
The crowbar flew from his slackened hands. Clang. It fell into the darkness several feet away.
Ji-Won fell onto his back.
Thud.
The back of his plastic helmet slammed against the hard stone beneath the moss.
Click.
The light went out.
Darkness.
Absolute, total darkness.
"Ah... ah... ghgh..." He was gasping, but he wasn't breathing air; he was breathing pain.
The only things he could see were the purple and red moons in the sky... and the massive black shadow standing over him now.
He could hear only two sounds: the sound of his panicked heartbeat in his ears, and the sound of dripping...
Drip... drip...
Hot. Something hot was flowing down his leg, soaking his pants, and drenching the cold moss underneath.
My blood.
Damn it... Damn it... it's flowing fast.
Chyeeee...
The sound came from above him. A hiss of victory.
He saw them now. Two glowing red dots, staring down at him in the dark.
The creature was standing over him. Smiling.
Kang Ji-Won was on the ground. Wounded. Unarmed.
And in total darkness.