Ultimate Countdown

ws on the ground. He had hoped to find another artifact, but instead, he found himself face

e elongated and sinewy like a monkey's, ending in sharp claws that scraped the forest floor. Its face was a disturbing ble

le shrugged helplessly. "It roars now?" Without warning, the beast lunged at him. Kyle turned and ran, knowing that retracing h

the dense forest. "Game designers are getting ridiculous these days," Kyle muttered. Spotting a fallen tree branch, Kyle gr

plummeted into darkness. Kyle's eyes snapped open as he gasped for air, lungs pulling in the cold, musty air around him. It took him a moment to remember what had happened-the chase, the trap, the fall. H

a noose around his ankle. His arms dangled uselessly beneath him, his body swaying gently. The place he had landed in was a narrow cavern of sorts, formed by jagged rocks and thick roots twisting from the ceiling. F

ly. "What the fuck is that?" Kyle whispered. The clicking grew louder, closer. He twisted his body to face the sound, still swaying from his suspended position. Then, from the shadows ahead, it emerged. It looked like a spider-or at least something that tried really hard to be one. It had eight legs, each covered in a sickly blend of black fur and glistening, chitinous armor. Its body was massive, about the size of a large dog, and its abdomen pulsed

eat." KREEEEEEEEKK! The spider shrieked suddenly, its body flailing as it was pierced clean through by something. Kyle flinched. The scream of the spider beast was followed by a heavy thud as its c

Her clothes were simple, practical-a tattered tunic, dark pants, boots caked with dirt. Her short hair was tied back in a rough knot. In her other hand was nothing, because t

ut a word, she raised her remaining spear and slashed at it with one clean motion. Th