The Hunted

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. According to legend, there was a time when humans once ruled the land. Billions of them supposedly walked the earth at one time. Today, that is an unfathomable number, considering there are less than 80,000 people that remain.

For centuries, humans participated in their species’ own demise. They took from the Earth without replenishing. At the breaking point, thousands of years ago, almost the entire human race was wiped out. This was the greatest extinction event in all of Earth’s history. Temperatures soared. Droughts parched the land. Oceans, polluted with garbage and chemicals, swallowed cities whole. Natural resources were tapped out.

At first, the poverty stricken were the first to perish. Food couldn’t grow any longer in the natural environment, and diseases were rampant. People began to die of sickness or starvation. Those who didn’t, were either killed off by others for resources or committed suicide in fear of the doomed future. The world was thrust into chaos.

Eventually, the rich began to meet the same fate. Without the labor of the working class, or the ability to travel or grow food, they began to die off as well. Money became meaningless. Power could only be obtained physically.

Proveniences eventually turned on each other. Nuclear war obliterated most of the earth. Magnificent structures that once reached the sky and cast large shadows upon the Earth, were reduced to rubble and ruin. A nuclear winter that lasted approximately four years, killed off almost all remaining humans and many other flora and fauna. A measly 3,000 humans survived. Spread out into different corners of the planet.

The only humans able to persevere, were the ones that went into hiding. There were societies that adapted to life almost completely underground. While the rest of the world died off, they lay comfortably within the earth. They had access geothermal heat and fresh water, which created a constant climate within the earth. They farmed fish and learned ways to grow plants with minimal sunlight.

For thousands of years people grew accustomed to life underground. Their bodies began to transform. Their height became smaller, their eyesight became worse, and their ears became larger. People in different regions began to look vastly different from each other. Each tribe obtained characteristics unique to them. While human numbers were slowly on the rise, there were other animals that thrived in a far greater capacity.

Reptiles and insects were the only species truly able to strive in the barren Earth. Reptiles evolved into massive creatures. There were a couple species of lizard that really prospered and transformed themselves through millennia into magnificent and terrifying beings. Dragons and Monitors.

Dragons quickly became the largest species on Earth. Some could fly, others could not. Their scales came in a range from the dullest to the most magnificent colors. In Infernal Valley, the hottest place on Earth’s surface, was where most of this species developed. Magma seeped from the Earth and flowed in rivers of lava. The thin atmosphere allowed the sun to penetrate to an unbearable amount. The temperate in the valley never dropped below 200. Dragon’s scales could protect them in temperatures greater than 2,000 degrees.

While their size was intimidating, they rarely left their dens. Their impressive bodies required too much energy and they spent most of their time sleeping. Only occasionally venturing out to hunt smaller reptiles.

The monitors were another group of lizards that eventually grew to immense sizes. Not only did their size evolve, but so did their intelligence. The monitor lizard became the most prominent species on Earth. Currently, they are the single largest threat to human existence.

These creatures originally gained most of their nutrition from insects. Over time, insects were not enough sustenance for their growing hunger. As they began to eat more, their need to hunt intensified. With an endless cycle of hunting and eating, their intellect grew. They developed strategy and communication. While they had no written language, they had the ability to converse via sound vibrations.

These creatures have comparable intelligence to humans, yet they feel nothing for others. Their sole purpose for life is survival. Their fear equates to almost nothing, and their lack of remorse allows them to commit terrible atrocities. The remaining human societies are being threatened once again. Humans are now the hunted.