Kyle’s eyes shot open as his instincts warned him of life-threatening danger.
He jumped to his feet and looked around, but there was nothing there.
“Done sleeping?” Theodor asked.
“Something’s here!” Kyle whispered. “I can feel it!”
“I don’t see anything,” Theodor answered.
However, Kyle had learned to trust his instincts.
There was danger here!
The next moment, he heard quiet crackling coming from the walls of his horrible stone hut.
“Oh, there actually is something here,” Theodor commented. “Retreat into the tunnel.”
Kyle didn’t need to be told twice, and he quickly went to the tunnel’s entrance.
Moments later, he heard one of the walls of his house breaking, but he couldn’t see what broke through it since the wall was in a different room.
Kyle nervously waited at the entrance of his tunnel.
Then, he saw grey gas rolling down from the horrible stairs he had created.
“Hold your breath!” Theodor commanded. “I know what that is.”
Kyle took a deep breath and held it.
“This is a kind of sleeping gas,” Theodor said. “As long as you don’t breathe it in, you’re fine. Ready for battle!”
Kyle grew nervous and waited until the gas washed over him.
“Do not move,” Theodor said. “It thinks you’re asleep. This is your chance to strike.”
Several seconds passed, and Kyle waited.
Then, Kyle heard some movement coming from the room above him.
It was like something wet was slapping against the walls.
After some seconds, the sound came closer.
Then, Kyle saw it.
Something was coming down the stairs.
’What the fuck is that?!’ Kyle thought.
It looked like a worm, but it didn’t have the skin of a worm.
It had chitin like a fly or an insect.
The worm-like thing had no eyes, and a long and wet tongue flapped around, hitting the walls.
That explained the wet slapping sound.
“It’s searching for you,” Theodor said. “You don’t need to kill it. You just need to show that you’re not an easy meal.”
“These things quickly flee if they realize that their food can fight back.”
“As soon as it comes close to you, hit it with all you’ve got!”
Kyle nodded and waited.
This thing felt dangerous!
It felt about as dangerous as the Metal Rain Bird.
This meant that it was a Ferocious Beast.
The worm-like thing continued touching all the walls of the house.
Kyle grabbed his hammer tightly.
Then, he charged forward.
The pick of Kyle’s hammer dug deep into the worm-like thing.
BANG!
Part of the house collapsed under Kyle’s violent attack, and the gas was pushed away by the swing.
The worm-like thing squirmed around, and as it pulled back, Kyle felt an irresistible tug.
As he held his hammer, he was pulled through the stony floor.
The worm-like thing continued retreating and pulled Kyle with him.
BOOM!
Kyle broke through the outer walls of his shitty hut, and his hammer finally disconnected from the worm-like thing.
As he was pulled out, Kyle could finally see what this thing was.
It was a trunk!
It was like the trunk of an elephant or mosquito!
And it was attached to a huge hairy spider with fly wings!
This thing was probably over ten meters wide!
Kyle saw the trunk retreating back into the creature’s head.
Then, the creature looked at Kyle with its many insect eyes.
’Gotta go!’ Kyle thought as he quickly ran back into his half-collapsed hut.
BOOOOM!
Gigantic legs landed on the house, breaking it into pieces.
Debris fell to the ground around Kyle, but he managed to jump back into his tunnel.
Luckily, the leg had missed him.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
An avalanche of stomps came from the place Kyle had been, and he was sure that his amazing house had been ruined.
The gas was still around him in the tunnel, and he couldn’t breathe yet.
“Just wait,” Theodor said. “It will retreat soon.”
More explosive sounds came from the collapsed house.
Suddenly, the explosive sounds changed.
They sounded much further away and frantic.
Earlier, they had sounded angry, but now, they sounded desperate.
That was when Kyle heard the familiar sound of projectiles hitting the ground.
’The Metal Rain Bird!’ Kyle thought.
He couldn’t see anything since his collapsed house was blocking the entrance to his tunnel, but he recognized the sounds.
’They are fighting!’
BOOOOM!
The ground beneath Kyle shook.
’Something heavy must have hit the ground!’
After that loud sound, everything became mostly quiet.
“The Metal Rain Bird has attacked the Crag Fly,” Theodor said. “Crag Flies hunt weak beasts that hide in burrows. They release a sleeping gas and search the holes with their suckers.”
“They are not very powerful in a direct confrontation, and while it is probably at a similar level as the Metal Rain Bird, it is helpless in a battle against it.”
“The commotion most likely drew the Metal Rain Bird’s attention.”
“The loud and explosive sound you’ve heard was most likely the Metal Rain Bird’s dive.”
“They are not very fast, but when they start diving, they are essentially a gigantic metallic spear.”
“You can breathe again, by the way.”
Kyle released his breath and took several deep breaths.
That was when his vision became blurry.
“What?” Kyle asked absentmindedly.
“No worries,” Theodor said. “You’re just going to sleep for a bit. There’s-”
And Kyle was out.
That was the last thing he heard.
“Huh?” Kyle uttered as he opened his eyes.
“Awake?” Theodor asked.
“Wha- oh, right!” Kyle said as he jumped to his feet. “The fly and the bird! I remember!”
“That happened hours ago,” Theodor said. “You’ve been asleep, and all the sleeping gas vanished.”
“Hours ago?” Kyle asked. “Feels like it happened seconds ago.”
“That’s how sleep works,” Theodor answered. “You should get to digging. The air in the tunnel won’t hold forever.”
“Right!” Kyle shouted.
Kyle started digging through his collapsed house with ease and created a tiny hole.
When he poked his head out, he saw scattered pieces of insect wings, chitin, and hair.
Then, he looked at the mountain peak.
DING! DING! DING!
Three feathers hit the spot in front of Kyle as he retreated into his hole.
’Of course, that fucker is still there!’