The Deadly Jungle

[HISSSS]

The monster's tail that had now turned to a snake hissed while looking at Leo who was incapable of moving, let alone running away. Leo couldn't do anything but regret his previous actions. He found himself in an insoluble dilemma. Even if he could escape from the vines, he wouldn't survive the fall. All he could do was hang tight and watch the snake.

The height of the cliff was soo high that Leo could not see the bottom, but he knew that there was a river down there. The problem was that Leo wasn't sure how deep it would be. He was ready to take the dive earlier while running before he found out that there was a cliff.

"Jax would have loved to see a monster that had a snake tail, but too bad."

The snake constantly hissed at Leo, sticking out its tongue every time it did so.

"Hold on"

Leo squinted his eyes as if he had realized something.

"You can't reach me, can you?"

The snake had just been staring at Leo and hissing this whole time without attacking him. The distance might have been too much for the snake to reach him or maybe it was just taking in the sight of its prey.

Leo took a look at the main body and realized that it was not moving and moreover, the eyes of the monster were closed.

"Incredible. No wonder it didn't use its tail from the start. But it still makes sense, the monster just has the ability to transfer its consciousness to the tail, and when it does, the tail takes on the form of a snake. That's a pretty neat trick"

He regained his confidence and was marveled at the wonders of this world.

Just then the snake stretched out its body and brought itself close enough to Leo. Baring its fangs at the pale and now quiet Leo, it was finally ready to attack.

[GULP]

The snake launched itself at Leo with the speed of a bullet and Leo, just like any human being in the face of danger, closed his eyes and waited for the bite.

[SNAP]

One of the vines finally snapped due to the previous shaking of the monster before it transferred its consciousness. The snap disrupted the balance of both Leo and the monster and instantly put a halt to the snake's attack. It slowly reverted back to its original length while closing its eyes and changing back to look like a tail and at the same time, the eyes of the main body simultaneously opened back up and it clearly looked scared as it desperately tried to wrap itself with the remaining vines.

"I was saved from the snake by the vines, but what is going to save me if all the vines completely snap."

Some would always use the expression of "out of the frying pan and into the fire" when describing bad situations that only get worse, but in the case of Leo, it was more of a "Out of the fire and into the frying pan" because Leo's chances of survival from the fall was higher when compared to the snake's bite.

"If I was bitten and poisoned, I would definitely die because I don't know anything about anti-venom. I think I might have a shot here; I just have to pray that I land into the deep portion of the water"

Leo watched as the monster struggled to hold on, but the struggle only resulted in the vines snapping faster. Leo chose to fall and hoped that the monster's plan to hold on would fail.

[SNAP SNAP SNAP]

One by one, the vines snapped until they both began falling.

"Please be the water, please be the water"

Leo prayed to fall into the water, not minding the monster that was not too far off from him. As they got closer to the bottom, the view became clearer and Leo saw the river below him, but he saw that the spot that he was going to land was not in the river, but on the ground close to the cliff.

[Ahhhhh!!!]

Leo stopped his prayer and began shouting but before he could hit the ground, one of the vines that were still tied around him, held him back some inches to the ground and made him bounce back up a few feet before snapping and causing Leo to fall face flat on the ground. ?This was very similar to bungee jumping, only that the rope doesn't snap and it is done on Earth. The recoil of the vine greatly reduced Leo's acceleration due to gravity allowing him to survive, although the fall was still powerful enough to make him pass out.

[SPLASH]

The monster had fallen in the river and created a small wave that bathed Leo's entire body. This made him conscious and he slowly raised his head that was now muddied and a little bruised.

"Awww, my head. What happened?"

He rubbed his hand against his head as he sat up. His whole body was muddy and soaking wet. As he got up, he realized that his head wasn't the only place that ached.

"I feel like I was hit by a truck. The pain is everywhere."

[Chuckle]

He chuckled upon realizing that he survived the fall and more importantly, the monster seemed to have fallen into the water and drowned. He might have been dirty, wet and in pain, but he was alive and that was all that mattered.

"This nightmare is finally over, now I can concentrate on finding a way back home to Jax"

Leo was looking at the river and admiring the beauty of the jungle when he noticed the ripples on the surface of the water. They seemed to be moving in one direction and that was towards him.

"Noooo no no!!! why can't you leave me alone"

He tried to get back on his feet but the pain was too unbearable and he fell back to the ground. The ripples grew into waves as the monster emerged from the water with a roar. Leo managed to catch a glimpse of the monster's form as it came out of the water. The monster had placed its forelegs and hind legs in a way for its body to take on the look of a giant snake or a Japanese dragon which meant that this monster was meant to be a good swimmer.

At this point, Leo was already fed up with having hope and losing it and then having it again. He was tired and in pain. He didn't panic, neither did he pale in fear. He just sat there and watched as the monster made its advance towards him.

"Do your worst"

Having said that, he closed his eyes in anticipation of the attack. The monster gave off an ecstatic vibe as it pounced out of the water onto Leo.

[MUNCH]

Leo opened his eyes to see the monster being devoured by an aquatic monster that had the head of an alligator, long hands with sharp claws protruding from both sides of its head, and the body of a shark. But the scariest feature of this new monster was that it was twice the size of the one that had been chasing Leo. It rolled its body with its prey's neck in its mouth in an attempt to suffocate it and break off pieces of meat. It was working because after a while the water was calm and filled with blood showing that the fight was over and the aquatic monster had won.

Leo had just witnessed a monster that could take out 20 men get devoured in an instant like it was nothing. It soon dawned on Leo that this otherworldly jungle that he found himself in was truly a deadly jungle.