Paprika’s ears twitched. She heard a sharp & unnatural sound mere feet from her. She tensed before her body caught up, instincts overriding any thought. Then, Paprika ran.
The wind rushed past as her paws pounded against the soft earth. The glow of the bioluminescent flora blurred into streaks of blue & violet, the landscape flashing by in a rush of color. She didn’t dare look back. The sound had been too close, too deliberate.
Her heartbeat thundered in her chest, her breath coming fast. She dashed toward a tree line, hoping to lose the source of the sound. She leapt over a fallen branch along the forest floor, barely registering the uneven ground beneath her.
Escape. That was all that mattered. But in her desperation, she failed to notice the shifting mist curling low in the valley ahead—drifting, waiting.
She was running straight toward it.