Akira’s heart sank as he stared at the empty patch of ground where his crystals had been. His mind raced, panic bubbling just beneath the surface as he rushed to the spot immediately.

  “No... no, no, no,” He muttered, dropping to his knees and clawing at the dirt as though the crystals might have somehow buried themselves.

  But there was nothing. Just bare earth and faint traces of where they had once been.

  He scanned the area, his silver eyes darting frantically through the underbrush. The soft orange glow of the setting sun cast long shadows, making every vine and branch seem like a potential thief.

  His thoughts spiraled. How could I have been so careless? He replayed the moments before his nap, the brief relief, the fleeting sense of peace by the stream. That tranquility now felt like a cruel trick, a weakness exploited by the unforgiving jungle.

  Then, just as his thoughts began to spiral out of control, he heard a soft splashing sound from the river.

  Akira froze. A shiver ran down his spine. His heart skipped a beat, not from fear, but from something far more primal… It was anger.

  As if on instinct, his gaze followed the sound, and there, a little way down, where the river opened up into a larger lake. "Found you." He whispered, voice tight with rage as his eyes shared a predatory glow.

  A figure.

  Humanoid, but not human. tall yet thin, its body cloaked in shadow of the vegetation that sprawled over the body of water, though four faint glows shone from within the darkness. His heart tightened as he recognized them.

  Two were from the crystals, his crystals.

  And the other two were from the thief, that fucking creature was holding them, its round eyes glowing in the dark, an eerie white color that stared into his soul.

  It was almost entirely hidden, but Akira could make out a bit of the creature's appearance.

  The upper half of its body had grey and bluish scales that replaced its skin. In its right hand, which had webbing that extended to the tips of its fingers, it cradled the two crystals near its thin breasts.

  Suddenly, it spoke. “Fufufufu, if you want them, come and get them.” It said, its coy tone sounded as if two people talked at the same time, both voices seemed female, yet one had a higher pitch and the other a lower one.

  The creature submerged itself and the crystals in the river.

  “Damn it. I’LL RIP THOSE FUCKING EYES OF YOURS AND FEED THEM TO YOU! I’LL GUT YOU LIKE A FISH AND EAT YOUR INTESTINES WHILE YOU WATCH, YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF GARBAGE!” Akira screamed out so loudly his throat strained a little.

  He took a long and deep breath. “Fuck, it’s trying to lure me in the water since it probably has a better chance at killing me in there.”

  Akira's pulse hammered in his ears as he stood by the riverbank, fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms. He cursed himself for his earlier carelessness and his rash outburst. Letting his anger control him could be a fatal mistake.

  Even if I fought that thing on equal footing, do I stand a chance? After all, he was only human while that thing was… well… whatever the hell it was.

  Akira paced the riverbank, his silver eyes fixed on the rippling water where the creature had disappeared. His mind raced as he tried to piece together a plan.

  He couldn’t let the creature escape with the crystals, they were his lifeline, the only string that kept him attached to his humanity and sanity.

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  Even though he didn’t know when or why, he had become somewhat dependent on them for comfort.

  Akira’s eyes flicked, scanning the surroundings for anything he could use as a weapon or tool. His mind raced, desperate for something, anything, that could give him an edge in the fight. Rocks, branches, sharp edges, whatever he could find, he'd have to make do with it.

  His gaze settled on the riverbank, where jagged stones protruded from the shallow water like broken teeth.

  He hadn’t noticed them when he had bathed earlier, but now they caught his attention.

  One stone, in particular, stood out due to its rough surface.

  With determination, Akira crouched and stretched out a hand, his fingers brushing against the stone's coarse edges before wrapping around it.

  The cold water had made it slick, but he pulled it free from the riverbed with a grunt of effort.

  He hefted the stone in his hand, testing its weight. It was heavier than it appeared, heavy enough to cause significant damage if thrown with enough force, but light enough for him to hold with relative ease.

  His fingers curled tightly around the stone’s irregular shape, it was round, yet one end was sharp while the other end was dull enough to hold without the worry of cutting himself.

  A grim smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Let’s see you laughing when I cut your throat open, you bastard.”

  Despite how much he wanted to strike immediately, his mind reminded him of the reality of his situation.

  How do you catch a predator in its own domain? How do you fight something that might be faster, stronger, and more attuned to the environment than you could ever hope to be, even if you were on equal footing?

  Akira walked along the shore, his bare feet slapping over the stony ground, until he was at the point closest to where the creature submerged without having to enter the water.

  The distance between where the monster had disappeared and Akira was ten meters more or less.

  What would he do? Set a trap? Try to rush in and somehow surprise it… No, Akira sat down on the ground, letting his toes peek into the slow current as his knees curled to his chest and his arms wrapped around them.

  His grip on the stone not faltering for even a second as his gaze remained locked on the crystalline body of water.

  Seconds, then minutes… until hours passed, but no movement, the sky now dark, the only light that was offered was by the slight rays of the moon and some of the bioluminescent fauna nearby.

  The moonlight shimmering faintly over the surface of the water like a distant warning. I guess waiting isn’t going to do me any good, it’s intelligent and patient.

  Akira had to think of a way to drag it out of the water, or at least somewhere shallow enough that he could sprint with his full speed at it, or away depending on how the situation went.

  The frail boy stood up, and with a fluid motion he… cut the palm of his hand? “You must be hungry as well, having waited so long.” He let the blood drip into the water, the dark red liquid flowing down his pale skin down into the dark abyss.

  His blood, dark and thick, drifted in the river like a trail of smoke, curling in the current. His heart pounded in his chest as he watched the crimson droplets disappear into the darkness of the water, hoping, praying, that the creature would be lured by the scent.

  It was a dangerous gambit, but in this place, where every move could be the difference between life and death, there were no safe plays.

  “Come on, you monster, I know you want to take a bite out of me.” Akira knew the creature was most likely hungry by now, and so was he.

  The minutes stretched on, the silence around Akira thick with tension. His blood created a dark trail in the current that seemed to vanish as quickly as it appeared.

  His silver eyes never left the water’s surface, his senses on high alert, every nerve in his body coiled, ready to strike or run at a moment’s notice.

  All he did was blink, but in that moment a quiet splashing sound echoed through the air and he could feel a firm grip on his left ankle.

  “Shit…” Akira’s heart lurched as the cold, firm grip tightened around his ankle. His blood ran cold, a rush of adrenaline surging through his veins as panic clawed at him.

  But he didn’t even have time to react, he only glanced down to see a long, webbed hand with beautifully organized gray scales and a long fin running across the forearm before he got dragged into the water without warning.

  Akira’s body was yanked into the water with terrifying force, his breath catching in his throat as he was pulled under the dark surface.

  The cool water closed over him like a suffocating shroud, and for a moment, panic gripped him. His chest burned as he tried to gulp down air, but only the murky water filled his lungs. The creature’s grip on his ankle was like iron, the webbed fingers squeezing tighter, pulling him deeper.

  His silver eyes shot wide open, and in the dim light, he caught a glimpse of the creature, a monstrous figure, its long body undulating with fluid grace through the water as where the legs should have been was a giant fish tail.

  Its face was human yet not quite. The eyes were rounder than a normal person's and empty like a snow globe, its nose was replaced by two nares and its mouth by hulking jaws, not to mention on its neck were gills.