[url=http://pre05.deviantart.net/1518/th/pre/i/2013/065/8/f/gramen_by_danielkarlsson-d5x7cdz.jpg]the groon[/url]

Trees snapped like kindling all around him. He made a running leap off the top of a boulder, and the beast's great claws -- capable of striking his head clean off -- fwiffed harmlessly over his scalp. Just missed. He splashed down into a ravine and took off at a stumbling sprint through the mud. Behind him, the dumb brutish groon smacked its lips and tore trees up by their roots, enraged at the loss of its prey.

It yowled a slimy, acidic howl -- and then it caught a whiff of Alphonse Brennan. Its gleamy eyes sparked. Like a freight train the beast crashed through the smaller trees, tossed the boulder aside with a thunderous [i]thwunk[/i], slapped its taloned feet in the mud, and loped along at a crouch to better see the sprinting man.

Alphonse could see the blue shimmer of the lake beyond this last scraggle of trees. Almost there. He dodged an incoming boulder -- the groon had begun chucking projectiles -- ducked behind a tree and slammed his foot down on a lever. High above, a high-pitched screech whizzed and echoed among the treetops, level with the groon's ugly head.

[i]EEEooooEEEoooEEEoooEEEoooEEEooo[/i]

The beast whined and thrashed and scratched its own ears bloody trying to get the sound out of its head. Trees snapped and crashed among its spasms. And then, the groon set its bloodshot eyes on the little man. Its roar rose to a terrible pitch and its limbs propelled it forward at a speed built of nightmares.

Alphonse stood directly in its path, panting, watching the murderous monstrosity come at him, with the lake shining behind him and a clay bottle clutched in his fist.