Flame Fennec

Slowly, the rest of the Magical Beast emerged, a long pointed snout, then a pair of orange eyes that glowed in the dim darkness of the forest.

As the creature emerged, Zac backed further and further into the bush behind him, hoping desperately that the thick tangle of leaves would hide him.

By now, the creature had poked its entire head though, and Zac could see an enormous pair of triangular ears atop the beast's head.

Seeing the fan shaped ears, combined with the glowing orange eyes, allowed Zac to identify the beast, it was yet another Tier 1 Magical Beast, the Flame Fennec, it was named after the tiny Earth fox that it resembled, just far, far larger.

It had a dark green coat of thick fur, as Flame Fennecs would shed their fur and pick up the color of whatever habitat they lived in.

'No f****** way!' Zac thought, unlike many Magical Beasts, the Flame Fennec was more valuable alive than dead, it had become hugely popular amongst Augmented as a pet.

With this kind of rare coloration, it might be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

If Zac had an actual Augmentation, he might have been able to capture it and make the most of his encounter.

But unfortunately for him, what he had to worry about now was not capturing the Flame Fennec, but getting away from it safely.

"Yip! Yip, yip, yip!" The Flame Fennec made quiet barking noises as it continued sniffing around, it had caught Zac's scent but hadn't spotted him yet.

'Damn, it isn't alone, then.' Zac realized that if the Flame Fennec was barking, it was probably with another one or two Flame Fennecs. Often they were solitary creatures, but would sometimes form small groups.

Zac continued backing away through the undergrowth, the branches scratching his head and neck as he slowly pushed through, putting as much distance between him and the Flame Fennec as possible.

"Crack!" Zac's heart sunk as he realized that he had stepped on a dry branch, and the Flame Fennec's head snapped toward him, staring right at him.

The Flame Fennec squinted its glowing orange eyes, and its cheeks began to puff up.

"F***!" Zac yelled out loud, and started to run, he knew enough about the Flame Fennec that he knew a fire blast was coming.

Zac pushed through the tangled undergrowth, adrenaline coursing through his body, it felt as if everything was moving in slow motion.

He off at an angle, swearing and cursing as the thick bushes kept slowing him down.

"Fwoosh!" A rush of hot air blew over Zac, as the Flame Fennec blew out a burst of fire, completely incinerating the plants in a small cone in front of it.

Loud barks filled the air, as the Flame Fennec called out to its pack mates, their replies more faded and quiet but still audible to Zac.

Zac ran for his life, crashing blindly through the undergrowth.

He knew that crashing through the forest was as good as yelling out to the Flame Fennecs where he was, but he had no other choice.

Trying to hide would likely end with him being sniffed out, and then burnt to a crisp. By running, Zac might chance on an opportunity to survive.

As he ran, Zac cursed his useless Augmentation, 'dammit, if only I had even a Tier 1 Augmentation, then I'd be celebrating the capture of these damned Flame Fennecs'.

He ran on and on, leaving a trail of broken branches behind him, the Flame Fennecs running through the forest behind him, hot on his heels.

Zac took great gasping breaths, his chest burned as he desperately ran on and on, his legs working harder than they had in years.

'Not like this, I'm going to die like a loser, written off as a Transmission casualty.' Tears began to stream down Zac's face as it grew harder and harder for him to breathe.

The adrenaline surging through his body and the fear propelling him forward could only do so much, barely leaving his house and living on beer and gas station food had left Zac unfit.

'S***! Why didn't I accept my parent's pity and live with them! Why the h*** was I so proud!"

Thoughts filled with regret began to flood his mind, all the decisions that he had made leading up to this moment flashing through his mind.

A burst of light hit Zac's eyes, as he burst out of the dense forest. He blinked rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the light, taking in the rocky gourd around him.

The ground grew warmer and warmer under his feet, and Zac could see an orange glow in the distance.

This was a Special Transmission Zone! Zac realized as he saw the flowing magma, he knew that in such an extreme region as the magma filled landscape that he was running toward, Tier 2 Beasts would be commonplace.

But this was it, this was the chance that he needed, A Tier 1 Flame Fennec wouldn't dare to follow Zac into the magma zone, even though it was a Fire Element beast, it's resistance to fire was nowhere near enough for it to dare to roam amongst the magma flows. Zac looked around desperately for a safe path through the magma, if he hung around the edge of the zone then he would still be in danger.

There! Zac saw a dip in the ground, a stream of water gushed out from the rock and flowed down it.

That was his best bet, and so Zac followed the stream of water, and the ground sloped down further and further, the narrow dip turning into a tunnel, as the ground closed overhead.

Safe from the most recent threat, Zac, his mind clouded by adrenaline and fear, ran into the depths of the earth.