Orpheus stepped on a patch of land that sunk in the moment his foot rested on it, pressing the loose earth inward.
This was a sharp contrast to the otherwise, solid and hardened ground of the volcanic island. At most, what one would find, were sand indentations, but this one was different... It looked completely stable from the outside.
This little detail, was all it took to for his brain to start sending danger signals to him, and coupled with the fact that he was already alert... He was able to retreat in time.
A huge tail swung over where his leg had been, almost the same instant he leapt back, tearing through the air like a whip.
Finally, the creature made itself known.
Rising up from its dormant lying position, was a reptile that looked somewhat like a cross between a crocodile, and a flame salamander.
Its dark brown, and ashen skin, blended perfectly with the surroundings, and the scaled body, gave it the texture of earth, from visual cues alone.
The creature was a perfect camouflage hunter, and had Orpheus not been on the alert from the beginning, he would have lost a limb just after stepping on the island, and deciding to prioritize survival.
It was ironic.
'This place is dangerous,' he thought, his gaze narrowing as he settled into a stance, his left hand by instinct, reaching for his waist.
However, the next second, his eyes widened as he found his waist empty, his trusted gourd missing.
He didn't have the time to dwell on the panic though, as he was forced to dodge the next second, as the creature raced towards him.
'I miscalculated.'
His thoughts flowed naturally, as did his body.
On one hand, he wanted to kick himself for his late reaction caused due to instinctual panic when he failed to find his trusted gourd... A battle partner for as long as he could remember by his side.
Forgetting that he had unequipped it when he settled unto the raft, so he could paddle comfortably.
On the second hand, even though he had still managed to react by jumping out of the way of the creature's charge, he still wasn't out of danger. In his panic, he had forgotten about the first weapon the beast pulled out.
The reptilian creature seeing that he jumped out of the way, stopped its charge, twisting its flexible body lightly, and its tail rushed out like a whip, to where Orpheus was landing.
Orpheus silently calculated the right way to avoid the immediate threat. If that tail met his leg, even though his body was stronger than that of an ordinary human's, he would lose the leg.
The reptile was clearly stronger than him. Infact it was so out of his pay grade that he had little to no chance of defeating it. A First Circle lifeform, while he on the other hand, was still an apprentice Witcher.
At best, he was just as strong as a highly trained knight. Even with malefic energy, he was still within the limits of human capabilities.
He kicked the air lightly, increasing his descent speed by a few nanoseconds, as his leg muscles tightened.
On the ground, sand from about a feet distance immediately rushed under to his position, specifically to where he was going to land, forming a small but steady mound just beneath his shadow.
The moment the tip of his leather shoes made contact, his coiled tendons released their pent up force, allowing to perform a flip, just as the razor sharp tail, thicker than even his thighs, sliced through the air above the sand mound.
He landed with a dull thud, staggering backwards a few steps to steady his balance from the last second, improvised maneuver.
His face had paled considerably, pale enough that the difference was easy to spot from his usual pale complexion, and his legs continuously trembled. His body was still under continuous aches, and he had just pushed it further, intending to save himself.
He couldn't accept losing a leg. Instead of that, he would rather just give his head willingly for the creature to devour.
If the first threat he met was already this powerful, one could only imagine how much more powerful other creatures in this island, strong enough to survive continuous eruptions of an active volcano would be.
More likely than not, this particular reptile escaped to the sea during eruptions, and came back after that. Its close proximity to shore, only validated that premise all the more.
This was all to say he couldn't afford to lose a limb, as in this place, that was no different from death. And it wouldn't be a swift, slightly pleasant, or even painless one.
The creature rushed in again, but this time, Orpheus was ready.
Rather than try to evade or try to jump away, he instead advanced, his feet kicking up small sand particles.
Just before the two of them could collide, he leapt up, allowing the creature to pass under him, and he landed on its back.
Its small reptilian limbs buckled slightly under his weight plus the force of his descent, but it didn't fall.
Orpheus knowing what was coming next, kicked off against its back, and launched into the air, once again escaping the thick tail with his life.
He landed back on the ground, facing of the creature, as it shook its body, lightly shaking off pressure in its bones from his earlier actions.
He watched it intently, trying to decipher if its actions were just terrifying predatory instincts, or if there was a hint of intelligence to it.
If it was the latter, then he was in serious trouble.
An intelligent, First Circle beast... While not unheard of, that was reserved for fabled legendary creatures with more renown or even more than humans, like dragons for one.
For this no named reptile, it couldn't be natural intelligence then.
He had always known that there was a possibility of him meeting a spectre. Although spectres would usually prefer to stay in more cold, or yin attuned regions, it didn't mean they couldn't exist anywhere else.
Nor did it mean they couldn't exist on this island, that just because of the existence of the volcano, was a yang dense region. And it seemed he had finally encountered one, just after a few minutes of stepping unto the island.
'By the gods!' He cursed.