His eyes opened wide, and his face was twisted in terror.
He wanted to run, but a crushing pressure paralyzed him in place.
He wanted to scream, but he feared that any noise would sentence him to certain death.
And so, those feelings were transmitted to his companion.
Then, the black liquid also trembled.
For in front of them, a titanic figure was hidden under the veil of darkness.
Its two enormous eyes flashed like a golden light above their heads; its body was covered by darkness. However, golden lines opened like cracks barely revealing an elongated figure.
Gripped by terror, Matt crouched down and extended his arm, sending a signal to his companion to come closer.
It crawled in his direction.
The titanic figure still did not move, apparently, it had not noticed him, but the anxiety grew stronger with each passing second.
A drop of sweat ran down his face. His hand trembled uncontrollably.
'Too slow!' He thought in desperation.
Then, he shuddered upon feeling the mutagen merge into the palm of his hand.
Slowly, he backed away without taking his eyes off the darkness where the titanic figure was hiding.
But to his misfortune, his heels hit a rock.
Although the impact was light, Matt fell backward into the river and the water echoed like thunder in the absolute silence of the dome.
'Shit!'
Matt turned and ran with all his strength. But in the next instant, his steps stopped and his blood ran cold.
For around him rose dozens of grotesque figures bathed under the golden glow of the trees, each one watching him with their golden eyes.
Each of them was different but no less terrifying than the last. Some looked like gigantic scorpions, others terrifying snakes while others had the shape of a wolf.
However, each of them had something in common beyond their golden eyes. And that was that none of them moved. Their bodies were petrified and covered in golden cracks.
Some were covered in mold, others were destroyed, worn down by the passing of the river. Others lay submerged at the bottom of the water. But even so…
Inside their motionless eyes, their gaze pursued him with a murderous hunger.
Matt almost found comfort in noticing that the creatures couldn't move.
Unfortunately, that comfort vanished before it was even born.
The sound of cracking rock echoed like thunder in his ears.
Then another.
And another.
Suddenly, the pincers of a gigantic scorpion were freed and snapped shut with force.
At the same time, the rattle of a huge snake was freed. Its rattle echoed.
Elsewhere, a lizard released its claws from the petrification and they dug forcefully into the rock, destroying it.
'Damn.' He thought, just as the snake freed its lower part and with one movement leaped at him.
His reaction was quick and instinctively he ducked to avoid it.
The snake passed over his head. Its still-petrified body exploded into a thousand pieces against the ground.
Then, Matt began to run, crossing the river and plunging into the golden forest.
His steps strangely sank into the grass.
The trees passed quickly by his side as he plunged deeper and deeper into the forest.
A thunderous roar echoed behind him followed by a heart-wrenching howl.
The sound of breaking stone chased him, and in the periphery of his vision, some terrifying figures moved like a dark blur.
Matt didn't even dare to look at them and kept running, diving deeper and deeper into the forest.
He didn't even know how long he had been running, but it felt like an eternity when, suddenly, the beautiful trees slowly lost their glow, and darkness began to reign in the beautiful forest.
By then, the roars had long been left behind. However, the oppressive sensation remained.
Finally, he stopped in front of an especially gigantic tree.
His breathing was heavy and the muscles in his legs convulsed painfully.
The memory of the beasts freeing themselves from petrification flooded his mind, making him shudder. However, he could no longer run.
He observed the surroundings and approached the gigantic tree. A small crack opened at its center through which his body barely managed to fit.
Inside it was revealed that the tree was completely hollow.
Matt curled up to the side of the entrance and remained silent.
Shortly after, the ground trembled and the howls were heard again.
The mutagen emerged from his shoulder and stayed by his side.
…
After several hours the hollow tree began to glow from the inside.
Matt's eyes opened slowly. He had fallen asleep at some point during the night.
A beautiful sight was revealed before him.
The tree was completely hollow inside so he could see its full extent as far as his sight reached.
Large amounts of sap stuck to its bark like beautiful crystals that glowed with a dim light, mixed in the darkness inside the tree giving the appearance of a night full of golden stars.
'Beautiful.' Matt thought. The sight almost made him forget the terrifying experience of the previous day. But that fear had been engraved deep in his mind.
What were those creatures and why were they petrified in that place?
And, above all, what was that gigantic beast, had it also freed itself from its prison?
Matt shuddered at this thought. He could easily say that that creature was even more powerful than all the beasts combined.
Fortunately, he had escaped before that happened.
Suddenly, his gaze fixed on the ground where a small dark puddle lay when its surface trembled and from it, a small and disoriented tentacle emerged stretching forcefully.
Then it searched around until it found its master and approached with renewed energy.
'Eh?' Matt thought, disoriented.
At that moment, his stomach growled and a sensation of emptiness and weakness overwhelmed him.
With one hand holding his stomach, Matt looked at the exit, the golden glow indicating that the trees had begun to shine again, illuminating the outside world.
He still felt reluctant to leave the protection of the hollow tree.
But he had to find food soon or he would never escape this place.
At least no howls or footsteps that would shake the earth could be heard anymore.
Clenching his teeth tightly, Matt stood up and peeked through the crack in the tree.
The beautiful world of the dome was revealed before him.
The grass stretched out like a strangely perfect and uniform field.
The trees and their bark shone in all their splendor. While the bushes
nested around their trunks, full of delicious berries.
Everything was wonderful.
It was like a beautiful garden that had remained hidden for millions of years beneath the gigantic rock dome.
However, Matt's face showed neither joy nor ecstasy at the beautiful garden.
Instead, there was terror and hopelessness.
For in front of him, a wolf of titanic proportions was watching him with its sharp fangs bared.