Hall of Infinite Doors
You move as ponderously and carefully as the creature before you, gathering your bundle in one hand and slinging it over one shoulder. It advances as you retreat. Its four-toed claws dig into the soil at the edge of the pool, and its long snout emerges, snapping hungrily in the air.
You turn in a burst of swiftness and bolt down the side of the stream. The ground, while cold and semi-frozen, sucks and sticks to the bottoms of your feet, and the air whooshes by your ears incredibly fast. You can hear the snapping growl of the thing behind you and a hissing, scraping movement that can only be the beast giving chase. You know that some reptiles, like snakes and lizards, can move with bursts of swiftness, while others are doomed to a life of complete slowness. You pray that this hideous thing falls into the latter category.
Glancing behind you, you can see it approaching. It's moving surprisingly fast, dragging its scaled belly along the ground and lashing the air with its snapping jaws. It's gaining! You try to run faster but it's no use, you only slow the rate at which it's gaining on you. Finally, in desperation you toss your bag of carcasses to the side, but the creature only glances at it for a moment before darting back after you. Unburdened, you move much faster, and you know that without that bag you could outrun the thing.
Unfortunately, it's too little, too late. Just as you're beginning to think you might be free, you feel a hideous snapping pain in your leg and smack painfully into the silt of the riverside. You taste mud and mountain as your mouth opens to scream, but soon the creature's clamping jaws descend on your head and end your pain forever.
You turn in a burst of swiftness and bolt down the side of the stream. The ground, while cold and semi-frozen, sucks and sticks to the bottoms of your feet, and the air whooshes by your ears incredibly fast. You can hear the snapping growl of the thing behind you and a hissing, scraping movement that can only be the beast giving chase. You know that some reptiles, like snakes and lizards, can move with bursts of swiftness, while others are doomed to a life of complete slowness. You pray that this hideous thing falls into the latter category.
Glancing behind you, you can see it approaching. It's moving surprisingly fast, dragging its scaled belly along the ground and lashing the air with its snapping jaws. It's gaining! You try to run faster but it's no use, you only slow the rate at which it's gaining on you. Finally, in desperation you toss your bag of carcasses to the side, but the creature only glances at it for a moment before darting back after you. Unburdened, you move much faster, and you know that without that bag you could outrun the thing.
Unfortunately, it's too little, too late. Just as you're beginning to think you might be free, you feel a hideous snapping pain in your leg and smack painfully into the silt of the riverside. You taste mud and mountain as your mouth opens to scream, but soon the creature's clamping jaws descend on your head and end your pain forever.
