Chrysalis

An enormous, scaled hand reaches forward and grips the hard ground. Each scale is a polished, dark green colour that practically glows with the reflected light of the forest.

Vicious claws tip each digit, curved blades that taper into a fearsome point. What sets my poor heart beating the most is that each of these claws is probably the size of my head.

Thick, powerful ropes of muscle on the hand drag the rest of the monster forward.

The long pointed jaw, studded with teeth precede the recessed, chilling eyes of the beast. Many teeth can be seen even with that massive mouth being shut, giving the impression of a menacing grin. There is a cruel intelligence gleaming within its gaze, striking fear into the heart of every creature unfortunate enough to cross its path.

Across the back of the monster the overlapped scales are broken up by bony protrusions that end in spikes easily a foot long.

With its body kept curiously close to the ground, its movement is sinuous and swift. As it passes by I can see a second set of shorter, but powerful arms halfway down its body are supporting its low profile.

The creature growls and huffs explosively as it passes, releasing a sudden flare of red flame, causing me to almost squeak.

Finally the powerful rear legs come into view. It’s clear from their positioning that this creature could easily stand on its hind legs should it choose to but has evolved in such a way that it can move swiftly and low to the ground like a crocodile on earth.

The monster is roughly twelve meters long from snout to tail.

Twelve. Meters.

That’s almost forty feet. That’s like four basketball hoops stacked on top of each other. That’s almost the length of a bowling lane.

Sure that length includes the creatures long, muscular tail but....

ISN’T THAT TOO STUPIDLY BIG GANDALF!?

That monstrosity is so huge I could never hope to challenge it! What the heck is a giant like that doing crawling around up here?!

I mean, judging by the appearance this is clearly an evolved form of the Croca-beast (I just can’t bring myself to call those huge monsters an infant). The crocadilic features are clear to see, but what I didn’t expect was the extra set of arms, the breathing fire and the stupidly huge increase in size.

These things are so much larger than the Croca it almost beggars belief. Is it entirely possible that this titan is actually two evolutions away from the Croca?

Judging by the size of those scales I don’t think my acid would even be able to chew through it. This creature is like a tank. Its weight alone must be several tons!

If there is anything here larger and more deadly looking than this thing I’ll head back up and take my chances with the humans!

as the tremendous weight of the monster continues to impact heavily on the

a renegade thought pops into my mind and I immediately move quietly out of my hiding place and begin to shadow

I thought of

creature, like a whale or a shark, and follow it around, keeping it clean and eating the leftovers. The larger animal gets a free cleaning service to keep

up to this behemoth and offer to brush its teeth, but I may just have found an amazingly safe way to

must be

Well wait a moment.

going to want to avoid this thing like seven plagues stacked on top of each other. Everything that

Thankfully Advanced Stealth has shown its prowess in keeping me hidden, and if I continue to trail along

plan but they are

lot faster than I can realistically keep

remaining hidden from my unsuspecting body guard. The bizarre scenery of this forest continues to astound me as we travel. At one point we passed by an enormous flower,

got some strange vibes from it. The petals spread in a dense overlapping fashion across the ground as the center of the flower faced directly upwards. Something about the way those thick, fleshy petals unnerved me, they almost appeared like a welcome mat, rolled out to invite a guest

it. One of those large, evolved centipedes would be a tough fight for me, one I possibly couldn’t win. To my new friend the

before it continued to advance. I remembered at that moment what Gandalf had told me in

centipede was useless

didn’t mean it was useless to

that I would gleefully run over to the smashed remains of a gigantic centipede to eat. The tremendous force of the claw had crushed the poor victim like a human stepping on a

Errrrghhh...

losing my

give up

always, if you would ALMOST rather be dead, then you need to eat

Biomass: Adultus Unguibus Scolopendra, you are

the Adultus

this branch of evolution of the basic claw centipede vastly increases the base creatures might, without providing

are other branches of evolution for the claw centipede? I ponder this concept as I quickly munch a bit

gained one

barely consumed even a quarter of the creature before I decide my protection is getting too far away and I need to leave and

I notice something glittering

the base of the monsters head is a small, shining gem

... what I think

closer I grasp the