74

Your leading foot hits a loose chunk of waste rock and you fail to recover, going head over heels and ending up a heap on the ground. You hear a low whoosh that you initially think is from hitting your head, but there is no pain to accompany it. You feel the air around you thicken, and the light lessens, as if a veil were falling before the sun. You struggle to rise on all fours and look around you. The monsters surround you, lips curling in ever toothier grins by the second. Black wings unfold and jaws bulge and grow, jutting forward to allow room for huge fangs, while legs grow hairier and the joints jump to new positions. Great pointed tails grow and each of your captors hunches over as their centre of gravity shifts forward. Claws replace nails and massive curved horns grow from foreheads.

A discordant chorus of triumphant shrieks tears through your ears and one of the females raises a hand of razors high above her head, yellow eyes burning with anticipation. Every other imitates the gesture, and with one final collective roar they each bring their claws down and sink them into you, chest, stomach, arms, whatever flesh is nearest them. The light fades completely, they give one last killing pull, and you are wrenched to pieces. The demons will feast on you now.