The Lord of Wild moves silently through the trees, slipping across the ground like a greased shadow.

Its yellow eyes give off a faint light in the gloom, glinting off its wicked teeth etched in a permanent rictus grin.

It reaches towards one of the dead trees, bark flaking off as it scores an X in the trunk with the claws on its only hand.

It slides further through the forest, the edge of its robe curling like smoke over ash that stopped burning before the trees grew.

The monster pauses for a moment, looking around at the forest, as if trying to get its bearings. There is a hiss as air passes into its mouth through clenched teeth and is forced out through olfactory gills. Its eyes focus on a solitary footprint in the dry ash, and its grin widens imperceptibly.

Thousands upon thousands of individual scents are compared and the creature sets off, moving across the ash at a speed faster than a run, making no sound and leaving not a disturbance in the air.

The hunt is on.