Promethean Sun

No one noticed how he died. The jungle seemed to come alive and took a man away. The private silently vanished. His killer moved far too fast—blending with the shadows—until he disappeared into the hot mist. Light barely pierced through the thick canopy. People screaming and panicking in a tight column reached for their lanterns. In the sinister twilight it was stifling. From the heat the air grew even denser, yet the soldiers’ bodies cooled only with the growing fear. When the direct beams of light struck, night beetles hid in shallow ruts. Vinesnakes froze, mimicking their namesakes, hoping they wouldn’t be noticed. If only people could do the same and the predator would vanish… Flat leaves—leaves that weren’t leaves at all—rose and fell, but there was no trace of the monster. The cries subsided into tense silence, as if the jungle swallowed voices and stole the soldiers’ resolve. The disciplinary overseer of the 888th Faerie Imperial Army raised a clenched fist.