Two eyes glowing in sickly green and eerie light, open for the first time. Staring into the vast and endless darkness that contains the body of their owner.
A clawed hand breaks the surface of the black pond as it clasps its edge, followed by another. After the first, another pair of arms emerge to grasp at the pond's edge as a roughly four-meter tall being drags its body from the depths of the pond, the slimy black goop giving way to a body covered in black and ashen-colored bark.
Standing at full height on its digitigrade legs, the being stretched its hand-like feet armed with fearsome black claws releasing a low grunt. In the same moment, a jet black mane of fog erupts from the being's head twisting and turning in the stormy wind ravaging the dull landscape around it, gray sand blowing past its feet. A blank face with merely two empty black eyes equipped with sickly green irises and reptilian pupils roamed the area with a sharp gaze, examining everything in the area around it.
A soft cracking noise reverberated through the rocky area devoid of life as jagged branches and sticks exploded from the creature's back. Every joint popping as a newborn Nightmare drew its first breath. From its chest light in thousands of shades of green began to gleam resembling the beating of a heart and flicker of a twisting flame.
The being takes its first uneven steps as it enjoyed the air whistle past its body, as it wonders about the colorful nebulae painting masterpieces in the sky and many stars shining in constellations from above illuminating the world below. Seemingly another eternity, although not comparable to the time in the darkness, passes as the being marvels at this wonderful picture, a blood-red moon revolving around the world, disappearing on one side of the horizon and reappearing at another.
A new world other than the darkness of its birthplace. With more than just the dark and gloomy void that was lurking all around it, it was a beautiful scene.
Awaking from its trance the little nightmare couldn't hold its excitement as it leaped into a spring using all its six limbs to propel itself forward. Shooting through the gray and rocky landscape, leaving all behind as the moon shines from above. It ran and ran before running some more, jumping in joy and happiness or trodding in curiosity, admiring the world and pondering about its discoveries. When suddenly...
'Danger!'
'Dangerous!'
'Hide!'
'Run!'
'Quick!'
As the young nightmare reached the border of a jungle, giant trees with bark similar in color to its own towering before it. The whispers roared in alarm. Before the nightmare could even react to the whispers, the sound of creatures clashing together in battle exploded.
As if on reflex the little nightmare jumped onto the trees. Now alarmed, it surveyed the space around it but could find nothing. The explosions grew louder as a tree a bit further to its left plunge to the ground.
Curiosity overtook caution as it began to twist vines from the branches of the tree it was standing on, nature bending to its will. It manipulated the trees all around to form footholds and vines. The seemingly endless time it had spent in the world of the [Forest of Fear] finally showing its usefulness.
It began to dash through the canopies as it closed in on the origin of the sounds. Standing on a treetop at the perimeter of the battlefield. A crater and a few broken trees all around it as the little nightmare witnessed two creatures ripping and tearing each other apart.
One creature standing at a height of four meters with the body of a rat, spider-like legs with sharp claws, and at its rear, there was a tail twice the length of its body that had a sharp dagger-like end. It ripped parts from the body of its opponent and swallowed them greedily. The whispers called it a 'Scavenger'. But the little nightmare feels that it's also a nightmare like itself.
The other was a quadrupedal creature that dwarfed the rat before it, it had a height of ten meters with a giant maw filled with jagged teeth ripping from its chest, an eyeless dome-shaped head, and two long tentacle-like appendages with four clawed fingers at its ends growing from its back, dancing in the air above the creatures head. It swiped at the rat with its claws every time it came near the giant's legs and tried catching it with the clawed tentacles when it was distancing itself. This time the whispers called the being a 'Smile Beast' but again the nightmare feels that they are the same.
The nightmare watched with fascination as the two creatures seemingly created from a feverish dream clashed, the black blood and grayish flesh of the behemoth flying all around the rat as it tore the creature's flesh from its bones. The nightmare couldn't help but enjoy the wonderful show, a pleased expression gleaming in the eyes of an otherwise blank face. As it created a bench to sit on from the branches of an especially large tree.
Only the ripping and tearing of flesh, as well as the dripping noise that accompanied blood hitting the ground, could be heard as the two creatures fought a seemingly endless battle as the giant creature regenerated and the rat consumed while evading nearly every attack that was thrown at it. Also regenerating the occasional wound it got from attacks that it couldn't evade, albeit much slower than the behemoth did.
Time passed as the little nightmare watched it all, sitting in the nest it had created in the crown of the giant tree, it gazed down at the fighting. The moon had already wandered around the sky, so many times, the nightmare had stopped counting.
Roars erupted from the giant's maw, seemingly enjoying the fight and the struggle of the rat. The rat joined in with a hoarse and distorted squeaking that rumbled through the landscape.
The rat charged the giant, its sharp tail swinging above its head prepared to stab it through the creature's head as it ran. As the rat charged, accelerating to a speed the little nightmare hadn't see it run before, as it jumped atop the behemoth's leg that was already swinging its way intending to strike it with its claws. Claws once again ripped into the massive leg severing skin and shredding flesh with every step as the rat ran up the giant's leg.
Further and further the rat ran up until it nearly arrived at the creature's shoulder, having dodged and evaded the other paw and the tentacles coming its way more than once. It wasn't the first time it had tried this having been smashed to the ground every time but the little nightmare had watched with great expectations and anticipation as it witnessed the rat ascending the behemoth's leg.
But this time it was different from all the other times where the rat had been thrown to the floor. This time a sickening smile spread across the giant creature's lips. The area around them was destroyed, blood and flesh painting the landscape black. And the fight would after all this time finally come to an end.
The giant's tentacles stopped swinging as they positioned themselves high in the air, aiming the hole in their middle at the rat. As it finished aiming the behemoth shot bone spears from its tentacles, pinning the rat's legs and tail to a tree only a few trees away from the little nightmares.
The rat struggled as it ripped its limbs apart trying to free its body. The behemoth creeping near as the rat descends into a mad struggle as it did not want to be consumed. The right tentacle tensing up ready to strike at any moment, the giant strode, blackened dirt giving way to its claws as it drew ever closer to the struggling rat.
Suddenly without warning it strikes, the four claws digging through the rat's skull, tearing apart its flesh, black blood drenching the tree's bark and seeping into the ground. Only a second later the tentacle reemerged from what was left of the rat's head, gripping a ball of fire, ripping it from the creature's body with immense strength.
Bringing the ball to its jaws the giant creature's smile enlarged even further than the little nightmare thought possible. It watched in fascination as the ball shuddered still seemingly struggling and trying to escape but to no avail, as the giant brought the flaming ball to its enormous maw and swallowed it in one bite.
Licking its jagged teeth with a rancid black tongue and dripping saliva everywhere it walked into the thicket. The little nightmare watching its back from the comfort of its nest.
