He woke to the sun at its zenith, brilliant and energizing. The sort of day that made you want to accomplish something, no matter how rough you felt.
But Halo trembled violently instead. The vibrancy never got to him.
After all, nothing says "good morning" like a dark creature torn from a horror movie.
The creature was a vision of horror: dark-skinned with gills striping its back and a smooth, elongated skull utterly devoid of features. Where a mouth should have been gaped a bottomless hole, so dark it seemed to pull light itself inward, staring into pure abyss.
Its head was like a trumpet.
Halo was careful this time, standing at a distance. He didn't dare close in on it.
But the creature wasn't right. Its breath came in thick, struggling heaves, jaws snapping open and closed hungrily. Yet it also appeared to suffer, as though the very air it craved was toxic to its body.
Halo had watched many die and had no doubt this creature was near death.
