I smelled it before I saw it.

It was a rotten smell, sickly-sweet, the kind that hooks you by the nostrils and won't let go. In the darkness, every movement registered as a threat, every distant sound a cacophony of gnashing teeth and tearing tissue.

I moved slowly, negotiated each step, and kept my eyes wide and on the path ahead. I was alone, you see. Afraid. Far from home. I thought exploring the place at night would be fun, but that notion seemed silly back then, surrounded by all sorts of imaginary terrors as I was. The night danced around me. In that place, when the wind blows, everything moves.

Everything.

Then, I heard a sound unlike the others. I hid, and when I saw what approached, I felt my heart pump a chill through my veins. There were two eyes! Two eyes, saucer-like and white as shining stars, and they were scanning the area back and forth, back and forth, like they were on the hunt. They moved indepedently from each other, but I could sense the grim intent, the intelligence that guided them.

Sometimes when you're out there in the wilderness, you know you're dealing with something beyond a mere beast. Something that thinks like you do. And those eyes, they had that spark. Sometimes they faced different directions, one surveying its surroundings, the other firmly focused ahead; on occasion, amidst whispers to itself, the monster directed both to the same patch of earth.

I hid the best I could, closed my eyes, held my breath. I knew that in the darkness, if I remained still and avoided those eyes, I might have a chance. For a while, it seemed like it would work.

The monster got closer, closer, always murmuring, always twitching, until it was so close by that I could feel the warmth its glowing eyes emanated... and I peeked between my fingers. I saw it clearly then, the shape behind the blinding light.

The creature was conical, wider near the bottom, but narrowing as it reached towards the treetops. It had many arms, many legs, and seemed to disassemble and reassemble as it neared me; it seemed as if it was made of three or four main lumps each of them moving independently.

Its eyes met mine, and I was blinded; from its scattering form sprung forth a screech like static, or the wailing of many mouths. I remember very little of what follows; I remember screaming, too, terrified as I was; and good thing, too.

The sound must have scared it, because it shed its eyes and, while I was stunned by the gruesome display, the creature faded into the darkness once more. That's when I started running.

I ran as fast as I could, without looking back, and didn't stop until I was safe back aboard my ship.

I was happy to leave that sorry planet behind.