[i]If the ranger held perfectly still and listened...
He'd be able to vaguely hear the nearby sound of bark groaning beneath him. No doubt that horrendously strong tail squeezing about the tree. But it wouldn't be doing that from the ground... It had climbed up and was just about behind him. Something dug softly but firmly into the trunk beside his head. It was holding itself in place, perhaps getting ready to bite his head off from behind. Crual would be able to feel its gnarly breath on the back of his neck, a suffocating odor of rotting meat and fear. Every moment he held still was another moment to escape lost.[/i]