The One awakened suddenly, his nascent mind flickering into life from nothing like a spark in the darkness. He fought to bring order and meaning to the dim sensations of light, energy and gravity swept across his newborn senses. All around his body he could feel the pressure of thick amniotic fluids. His complex eyes looked all around but he could see nothing in the darkness. Memories that were not his own flashed through his mind culminating in a singular compelling thought: He must escape.
Instinctively he reached out with all of his dozen powerful arms and ran their sharp tips the inner surface of the egg. Here and there he could sense rough irregularities or indentations in the otherwise smooth surface. There were differences in the thickness or composition of the material Some sections were colder than the rest and through them he could sense a dim glow that leaked in from outside. He turned to face the largest of the weak spots and braced his abdomen hard against the wall behind him. As soon as he was satisfied with his preparations he began to attack the weak section with the sharply pointed ends of arms.
The smooth wall of the egg groaned and flexed beneath his repeated blows and hairline cracks began to spread across the smooth inner surface. Thin shards of light and energy blazed through the cracks lighting the murky interior. He battered and smashed at the silicate walls his blows becoming more desperate and driven with each passing moment. Finally he sensed that the shell was giving way and with a final desperate lunge the shell smashed open. Shards of its thick rock like shell span off into the darkness and the unfamiliar coldness of the universe swept over him. Instinctively he reached out carefully with a dozen powerful arms and drew himself out into the blazing light of a nearby gravity-fire.
Exhausted from his violent birth The One clung fiercely to the remains of his shattered egg. He was filled with a ravenous hunger and his twelve unblinking complex eyes scanned across the void in search of prey. His gaze fell upon a long chain of spherical objects silhouetted against the immense disk of the gravity-fire. Inside each he could sense the incoherent electromagnetic songs of his unborn brothers and sisters radiating out into the void. He felt no kinship for them. There was no place in his cold and predatory mind for the sentimental bonds of family.
He propelled himself towards the closest egg with single minded determination and latched his powerful clawed arms its rough outer shell. The creature within continued to sing; oblivious to the impending doom that hovered over it. The One did not hesitate. He pulled the egg towards his diamond hard teeth and hungrily tore it open. Thick globules of amniotic fluids sprayed in every direction as the hard shell cracked and then broke under his jaws. As he hurled the larger fragments of shell aside a sudden flash of movement caught his eye and a heavy arm smashed into his carapace. Surprised by the sudden attack he reeled backwards, almost losing his grip on the egg in the process. Instinctively his arms shot out and hooked onto the outside of the shattered egg. Regaining his composure he began to tear at the egg once more until suddenly he felt a powerful electromagnetic scream rip through his mind. It was a piercing cry that blasted from the darkness within the cracked egg and oscillated between indignant surprise and pure unrestrained fury. Without warning the unworthy one within lashed out at him with all of its dozen arms, desperately trying to force him away from the splintered opening he had created. He easily shrugged its frantic blows and continued his grim assault.
Suddenly the unworthy one surged past him out of the wreckage of its egg and he spun quickly to face it. It was a perfect half sized replica of him right down to the greenish-black markings across its fresh and unhardened carapace. Its twelve powerful arms lashed back and forth around its circular maw ready to seize him and drag him into range of the rasping concentric circles of teeth within. It moved carefully, circling around him at twice an arms length. When he lunged it danced effortlessly backwards keeping itself just beyond his reach.
The One began to feel dizzy and his blows and feints became more and more uncoordinated. Already he could see the internal glow within the unworthy one beginning to grow dim. The One knew that time was running out, his energy levels were dangerously low and the unworthy one’s carapace had already begun to take on a leathery consistency. Its carapace was hardening quickly around its bulbous head and cylindrical thorax. Soon it would enter the final stage of hardening and in his weakened state he would be unable to penetrate the steel like plates of chitin. He knew he would have to act quickly and decisively or become a helpless meal for the younger creature.
Even though it was an infant the unworthy one fought with the ferocity that was the hallmark of their kind. It pounded heavy blow after heavy blow on his carapace and screamed in anger and frustration but he ignored the futile strikes. Again and again he lunged at the unworthy one only to be constantly frustrated as it desperately twisted and turned to evade his attacks. Flares of bright energy blazed from its tapered abdomen of the unworthy one as it dodged and weaved around him. He flailed wildly with his scythe like arms trying to grab hold his elusive victim but each time it managed to evade him. The unworthy one fought with surprising desperation for a creature so rudely awakened. It dodged and circled around The One with surprising agility and cunning. Whenever he turned to strike it would twist and weave away from his deadly spear like arms.
The unworthy one screamed challenge after challenge at him, daring him to attack, trying to draw him into wasting his last precious reserves of energy. The One however grew sly and conserved waited, watching his opponent for any mistake no matter how minor. He turned to face each new feint but stood his ground, watching and waiting for his enemy to make a mistake. He carefully and deliberately swung his arms in great slow uncoordinated arcs that flew wide of his target. Seeing his enemy apparently tired and almost defenceless the unworthy one soon grew overconfident. It darted closer and closer towards The One with each pass and each time it easily dodged his carefully feigned blows.
Finally the unworthy one grew too confident and made a final fatal mistake. It lunged straight towards him, its powerful arms lashing out towards his head as it sought to land a killing blow. The One was ready however and sprung his trap. Suddenly aware of its impending doom the unworthy one screamed in terror and tried to evade his attack but it was too late. It screamed once more in shock and pain as the sharp deadly tips of his arms speared through its soft flesh carapace. The unworthy one struggled desperately to free itself, raining blow after blow down on his carapace to no effect. The One roared triumph as he pulled the soft fleshy body of the unworthy one towards his rasping circular jaws. He bit deeply into the struggling creature’s soft thorax spilling viscous glowing fluid into the void. The unworthy one’s undeveloped carapace offered no resistance to his rasping, diamond hard teeth. It screamed one last time in bitter agony and then grew silent as the bright glow of energy within its body faded and grew dim.
He devoured the unworthy one slowly and deliberately, taking great delight in his victory over his sibling. Then with methodical callousness he abandoned the spinning remains of the egg and turned his greedy eyes on the others floating nearby. With renewed strength he hurled himself from egg to egg with murderous efficiency. One by one he cracked open the hard silicate shells and hungrily tore apart the unworthy creatures within. His strength and vitality increased rapidly with each brother and sister he devoured until finally all of his kin were slain. He ate his fill from their broken remains and then rested; floated idly by the remains of the final egg.
Even though he rested he was far from idle. His complex eyes scanned across the gravity-void already in search of the next meal and with unerring accuracy they were drawn towards a distant twinkling glow. Filled with curiosity he abandoned the shattered nursery and surged out across the gravity-void towards the curious light.
He effortlessly flew across the vast distance travelling faster and faster as he tested out the limits of his body. His sharp eyes remained fixed on the twinkling object in the far distance. It was as shining gem that called out to his unconscious mind and spoke to some deep primal memory. He grew closer little by little, his eyes always fixed on the distant blinking glow of energy. At last he drew close enough to see that it wasn’t a single object twinkling in the distance but a great cloud of smaller objects. Eventually he drew close enough to see the source of the twinkling lights, great spherical creatures that sand in deep resonating frequencies. He watched greedily as they floated along slowly feeding on the energetic particles and dust that filled the gravity-void. The One roared with delight as he recognised them, they were the prey-creatures. Each one had an immense leathery, spheroid body several times larger than him. They floated idly on the fire-wind absorbing energy from the gravity-fire and sweeping debris into huge grill like mouths on the front of their bodies. They sang constantly, a haunting electromagnetic baritone that rumbled down into frequencies beyond even his ability to detect.
Instinctively he began to follow the herd as they migrated along their aeon old route around the gravity-fire. He watched greedily as the herd passed close to the gravity-fire and the prey-creatures produced and rear their offspring. He quickly learned to stalk the growing calves, furiously dodging and weaving around the ponderous bodies of the giant adults. He would strike mercilessly, seizing onto the fat globular bodies of the calves with his dozen powerful arms and dragging them away from the herd. Sometimes the adults would try to give chase, screaming out warnings but they were slow and cumbersome beasts, no match for his sleek and deadly power.
With no competitors capable of threatening or opposing him he grew large and powerful. As the seasons of the gravity-void passed from the warm flares into a cooler and less vigorous period the herd of prey-creatures began to move out towards the edge of the gravity-void. The young grew larger as they travelled, feeding on the floating dust and gas in the gravity-void. He was a deadly shadow all but invisible to their primitive senses, shadowing them closely as they moved towards the rich dust fields on the edge of the gravity void. He was always careful never to stray close enough to be detected but still remained close enough to strike when a chance arose, taking the old, the weak or the slow.
It was while following the prey-creatures as they travelled toward a new feeding ground that The One encountered the first of the others. It appeared without warning as the great herd advanced towards a rich cloud of dust and gas and caught him completely by surprise. It was a flash quite unlike anything he had ever seen, a split second wave of light, gravity and energy that burned across the gravity-void like a great bright crack in the sky. He scanned across the gravity-void, instantly establishing the approximate location where the flash had occurred. It lay some distance directly ahead of the herd near a particularly large field of dust and rock that they often frequented. Overcome with curiosity he started to move towards the source of the bright flash but as he moved off he noticed that the herd had begun to alter course. They were singing frantically and they had begun to move in peculiarly synchronised union away from the source of the flash in a grand sweeping arc. He realised that the prey-creatures had also sensed the explosion of energy and had decided it was a threat. He stopped short, unsure of what to do. He knew that he should follow the herd or he risked losing sight of them. He knew that it was dangerous to get too far from his food supply. He risked becoming immobilised through lack of energy and the lingering death of starvation if he did not feed regularly. He watched the herd moving away, but his mind was already made up and he resumed his course towards the source of the strange flash.
Without the need to shadow the slow moving prey-creatures he was free to travel at as fast as he wished. In his eagerness to investigate the source of the distant flash he moved so rapidly that he even surprised himself. It took very little time at all for him to reach a point close enough for his powerful eyes to spot an object glimmering brightly beside the cloud. At first thought it was just one of the dozens of small ice-tails that moved in great looping orbits around the gravity-fire. Something about the object drew his attention; it had a strange and unique quality that he had never encountered before. Even from some distance away he could see that it shone like a tiny gravity-fire burning brightly against ruddy dimness of the surrounding gravity-void. He moved closer and closer, studying every detail of its strange metallic carapace. It was small polished cylinder, even smaller than one of the prey-creature calves. At one end there were several holes that glowed with bright streams of energy and at the other were several long thing arms. At first he thought it may be another of the unworthy ones, perhaps one of his own kin that had escaped his massacre many moults before. It floated idly, its arms turned towards the cloud of dust and gas. He watched it carefully, unsure what to make of this strange object.
Then, without warning, the shining-rock moved. Not randomly like a spinning stone or ponderously like a gravity-sphere, its movements were too deliberate and calculated to be just another drifting piece of rock or ice. The One knew instantly that this new thing was not like the prey-creatures, nor was it a being like him but it was a living creature none the less. Ancient memories hissed warnings into his mind but he ignored them and roared a challenge at the shining-rock. It paused for a moment as though listening but did not reply. Then it started to move once more, continuing on its erratic wanderings without even a hint that it was aware of his presence.
The shining-rock stopped and started following some bizarre plan that The One could not fathom. He easily kept pace with it as it moved slowly and cautiously along the perimeter of the vast dust cloud. Occasionally it would send out a cacophony of electromagnetic gibberish and then remain silent for a time as though listening for a reply. He followed it closely, almost within touching distance but he was careful not to disturb its strange movements. Experimentally he moved one of his arms directly into the path of the shining-rock as it moved, the shining rock stopped abruptly and moved around his arm. Clearly it must be aware of his presence he reasoned, but it had chosen to ignore him entirely.
Finally after shadowing the shining-rock for a while his curiosity overpowered his caution and he reached out towards the shining-rock with a probing arm. The strange creature however remained oblivious to his presence until he finally touched its gleaming metal carapace. The tip of his outstretched arm struck the shining rock much harder than he intended and caused it to spin wildly. Instantly the shining-rock let out a cacophony of electromagnetic song, like a scream of agony and terror. The song flared through his senses like a small temporary sun causing intense pain in his mind. The One startled by this instinctively lashed out at the shining-rock. The tips of his arms connected with the soft metal shell of the shining-rock with killing force and shattered the creature’s fragile outer skin. The deafening unintelligible screams were instantly silenced and the glowing fire within the shining-rock grew dim and died.
The One released the shattered and torn metal corpse and pawed at it curiously with one of his arms but it remained inert. Finally when he was certain that the shining-rock was dead he cast it into his powerful maw and savoured the unfamiliar taste of its metallic shell.
The One loitered for some time near the place where he had found the shining-rock in a fruitless search for others like it. The sharp exotic taste of its metallic carapace had excited his senses and he longed to savour more. He remained in the vicinity, floating idly to conserve energy until the sharp pangs of hunger finally drove him to abandon his vigil. He carefully memorised the landmarks around the place where the shining-rock had appeared before he returned to his routine of stalking the prey-creatures.
Time passed quickly for The One and he moulted many more times but he never forgot the strange shining-rock. He would think about it whenever he followed the herd of prey-creatures to the dust cloud where it had appeared. Often when the surface of the gravity-fire sent out great burning waves of energy he would rest near the place of the shining-rock and moult. He grew larger and stronger each time but still no more of the strange creatures appeared. With his moulting complete he would return to stalking the prey-creatures until the next moult drew him back to the dust cloud.
It was while undergoing such a period of moulting and growth that he saw the second flash. It was similar to the flash that had announced the arrival of the shining-rock but this explosion of energy seemed larger and more intense than the first. He knew it had appeared somewhere near the belt of rocks that floated between the two large inner gravity-spheres and set off at once to investigate. He could already taste the strange alloys and materials as he rushed headlong across the gravity-void towards the source of the flash.
He slowed as he approached the vast field of rocks and searched carefully for any sign of the source of the flash. It wasn’t long before he noticed a powerful glow moving towards him. It stood out brilliantly against the ruddy dullness of the gravity-void. The glow moved with definite and mechanical purpose, just as the shining-rock had moved. He almost sang out with surprise and delight, but some natural instinct or whispered ancient memory held him in check and he remained silent. He could sense that this new creature was different from the shining-rock and its presence made him uneasy.
Its metal carapace glittered and flashed with energy and he could sense a great glow of power from within its long body. It dwarfed even the largest of the adult prey-creatures though it moved far more nimbly and quickly than they could. Its body was blocky and asymmetrical with no discernable arms or head. Three huge streams of glowing energy poured from its abdomen driving it forward at a leisurely pace. As it moved it gave off powerful pulses and clicks that vaguely reminded him of the familiar song of the prey-creatures. Unsure what to make of this unusual new creature he accelerated towards it determined to investigate further. The creature however had evidentially taken notice of his approach. It slowed and began to move with far more caution than before. An elongated, cylindrical protrusion on its back began to emit focused beams of energy that rigorous swept all around its body. Whenever the beam encountered an object such as a floating rock it would pause and pulse rapidly before moving on.
Curious as to the nature of the beams, The One manoeuvred directly into the path of one as it swept around. He watched it approach, ready to spring out of reach if it proved to be harmful to him. He felt an odd tingling sensation as it swept across his carapace and stopped. The flash a burst of pain exploded in his mind like a thousand screams. It was followed by another and another, each one blasting through every nerve in his body like a coruscating fire. Violent spasms racked his body and his muscles contorted in random, unnatural ways and hurled him into an uncontrolled spin. His mind clouded and burned with pain and he became totally disoriented and tumbled over and over his own length.
It took many precious seconds for him to finally recover control of his body. He realised instantly that the intruder had lashed out at him like the adult prey-creatures did when protecting their young. He would not underestimate The Intruder again, nor would he allow it to drive him from his hunting ground.
He quickly scanned the gravity-void in search of his foe, fully expected it to be bearing down on him ready to finish him off. Instead he was surprised to see that The Intruder had continued on its original course. It was still following the edge of the rock field probing each stone with those glittering beams of energy. Its behaviour baffled The One, what was its interest in the rocks, and why had it not finished him while he was helpless?
He roared a challenge at The Intruder and launched himself across the gravity-void towards it. His assault was fast and powerful and he crashed into The Intruders abdomen with terrible force. He felt it shift slightly beneath him, and parts of its carapace buckled slightly under the force of the impact. The sharp tips of his arms pierced deeply into The Intruders carapace anchoring him in place and he began to tear at the smooth metallic armour with his jaws.
At first The Intruder didn’t seem to notice his attack, then a cacophony of electronic song burst out within it. The Intruder spoke with a thousand different voices at once, as though an entire herd of creatures were condensed within its vast carapace. The One’s mind reeled as he tried to process the barrage of information. He could sense what seemed like screams of alarm and roars of anger, then as quickly as they had started, the screams of alarm died away. He continued to press his attack, ripping open large sections of the creature’s carapace and attacking its softer internal organs. His attack became more frenzied with each passing moment as he sought desperately to disable or kill The Intruder. Dimly he was aware that The Intruder’s songs had become fewer and more ordered. He paused for a moment in mid attack, unsure of what the change in the songs meant. He braced himself hard against The Intruder’s carapace and waited to see if it would start to buck and roll like the prey-creatures did when he attacked. The Intruder however didn’t move and its multitude of songs grew ominously silent.
Suddenly crackling sheets of energy lashed across the carapace of The Intruder and washed over the outside of his carapace. The sudden blast of pain forced him to recoil from the smooth metallic surface and draw back to a safe distance. He bellowed in pain and surprise but quickly composed himself, ready to strike once more at the wounded creature.
Tiny shards of metal flew from its sides each glowing white with some inner energy he had never seen before. He knew instinctively that they carried death and pain and he dodged and weaved as best he could but the tiny burning-rocks were too numerous and fast for him to avoid them all. Several of the burning projectiles smashed into his arms and thorax sending shards of molten chitin spinning off into the darkness. Pain surged through his body like fire as the energy from the blasts overwhelmed his senses and blinded him. Unable to navigate or even sense the world around him he threw his body into a desperate and violent corkscrew. He could feel burning needles of pain from several of the projectiles which had lodged deep within his carapace. He raced away from The Intruder and dived into the shelter of the crowded field of rocks. The Intruder seemed to be taken by surprise by his sudden change in tactics. It ponderously began to turn and give chase but it was neither as agile nor as fast as The One.
He quickly hid himself amongst some of the larger floating rocks and watched as The Intruder launched a handful of the glowing projectiles into the belt of rocks. They smashed into several of the floating rocks which exploded into small chunks. The Intruder hovered closer to the edge of the belt of rocks, but its great size and poor manoeuvrability prevented it from following him into the belt. Instead it moved back and forth along the perimeter of the belt sending out those painful concentrated beams of energy. Sometimes the beams would pause on a certain rock and emit the same powerful pulses that had almost disabled The One. These would be followed by great throbbing burst of song that roared across the gravity-void and echoed sharply inside his mind. He realised quite suddenly that The Intruder had lost sight of him and it was searching desperately for his trail. He waited, silent and motionless with every one of his eyes fixed malevolently on The Intruder, watching for any sign that it was deceiving him. Finally the creature came to a complete stop at the edge of the belt of rocks. Then to his surprise, The Intruder slowly began to rotate, turning its back on him in a great sweeping arc. As it turned the intense searching beams became less frequent and eventually disappeared.
He lunged quickly towards the edge of the field of rocks and coasted forward on his momentum. The intruder was much like the prey-creatures, he thought, perhaps its senses were similar as well. He knew that the prey-creatures could not see him until he moved under his own power or passed within their narrow forward field of vision, perhaps The Intruder was similar. He emerged slowly form the edge of the rock field, keeping every one of his eyes focussed completely on The Intruder. It floated there, less than an arms length away, as though it was deciding how best to flush him from the belt. He carefully slowed to a halt, still wary of attracting the attention of the stinging projectiles.
The Intruder had already begun to move away, its vast bulk slowly gaining speed as it headed towards a nearby gravity sphere. The One could see a trail of sparkling energy and debris from the great rents he had carved in its armour, but the wounds didn’t seem to slow the creature at all.
The One examined his wound carefully. Two of his arms were paralysed and several parts of his carapace had been smashed open exposing the muscle below. He knew that the wounds would heal with time, but another more painful wound could not be so patiently mended. He turned his prideful eyes on the diminishing form of The Intruder and roared once more in challenge. Clearly the intruder was not a worthy hunter, he thought. It lacked the cunning or determination of his kind, twice it had failed to slay him and twice his cunning had triumphed. Bolstered by this knowledge he resolved to slay his enemy and feast upon its strange exotic hide.
His course decided he launched himself into action with single minded determination. He continued to accelerate until he was almost within range of the glittering energy beams. Then he stopped propelling himself and allowed his momentum to carry him towards The Intruder.
Suddenly the glittering energy beams reappeared, sweeping around the Intruder’s body in wide careful arcs. It was evidentially aware of his presence on some level, even if it had not actually caught sight of him yet. Each beam emerged from a ring of dome like objects that formed a ring around the cylindrical protrusion on the creature’s back. Were these things the creature’s eyes, he wondered.
With cold and calculating patience he observed the movements of the glittering energy beams. He saw that they swept around The Intruder in a large sphere but he also saw that there were gaps in the sphere, gaps that left the creature blind for the merest fractions of a second. Each gap was small but occurred regularly and in the same place. It did not last long enough for him to attack and escape, but then he had no intention of escaping.
He positioned himself above and behind The Intruder, poised to strike as soon as the opportunity presented itself. The intruder continued on at a leisurely pace, giving no indication that it was aware of his presence. He swung closer, watching two energy beams in particular, waiting for the instant when they intersected.
The two incandescent beams moved closer and closer, finally touching high above and behind the cylindrical protrusion. The instant they intersected The One dived toward the intruder, hurling his body across the gravity-void as fast as he could. He flashed through the empty space between the two beams as they parted and smashed heavily into the cylindrical protrusion just below The Intruder’s eyes.
A scream of rage and agony blasted out from him across the gravity-void as he felt parts of his carapace splinter underneath the force of the collision. The cylinder shook and he felt its metal carapace buckle and begin to split beneath the weight of the impact. Instantly the glittering beams of energy shot from The Intruder’s eyes probing gravity-void in search of the cause of the impact. He flattened his body against the cylindrical protrusion, safely hidden from the energy beams.
The One gripped onto the surface of the cylinder and he began to attack its smooth surface with all the force he could muster. The sharp tips of his arms easily pierced the thin metal armour and he tore great rents through it exposing the vulnerable structures beneath. With each crushing blow the voices of The Intruder became more shrill and panicked. The Intruder’s carapace began to shudder and break open beneath his attacks. Splintered pieces span off into the gravity-void around him. Suddenly one of his arms smashed deep through The Intruder’s armour and struck a vital artery. Burning fluids and gases exploded from the jagged rent in its carapace and a sharp fiery pain shot through his nerves. He quickly withdrew his injured arm and moved away as a series of explosions rocked the cylinder.
He watched with satisfaction as the bright glow of explosions and fire spreading quickly within the thick carapace of The Intruder. Here and there rents and tears burst open hurling gas and debris out into the void and he floated nearby and watched with rapt fascination as his enemy died its slow lingering death.
When at last the remains of The Intruder cooled and the last of the boiling gases began to dissipate he approached to investigate. At first he was cautious, pawing at pieces of wreckage and withdrawing sharply lest there still be some life in the dead carcase. Eventually however his caution waned and he began to smash apart and devour the dead remains, enjoying the exotic taste of each and every piece.
It took a great deal of time to devour the large creature, and he avoided certain parts that contained foul tasting liquids. One part he chose to spare however was a strange sphere, much like a egg that had lain deep within the body of The Intruder. It was a large as him and glowed with a dull ruddy light. He could see strange waves of energy and gravity rippling across the gravity-void around it. He watched this strange object for a long time, utterly fascinated by it.
The One did not realise however that the strange object was having an effect on him while he watched. The strange emanations rippled through his mind and body, gradually awakening and stimulation racial memories and dormant organs. The memories whispered to him of new hunting grounds, of strange gravity-fires and worth foes. They spoke to him of the void between the gravity-fires and the magnetic-winds that lived between. As the memories whispered he could feel a vibration deep within his thorax, a strange resonance that seemed to grow in frequency and pitch with each passing moment. It urged him onwards overriding all other considerations. Deep within him he felt a calling, an irrepressible urge to move towards the edge of the gravity-void that had sheltered him for so long. He turned as he approached the edge of the gravity-void. At first he dismissed it as a symptom of his unusually long and fast flight through the gravity-void but it was different from any feeling he had experienced before. The edge of the gravity-void seemed to call to him, to beckon him onwards into the unknown. The closer he travelled towards the edge of the gravity-void the greater the force of the vibration became. The One did no look back as he surged onwards even as the vibration became a rattle and then finally a roar as fierce as his own. It reached a crescendo as he breached the edge of the gravity-void and entered the cold darkness beyond. He screamed out one final time, a bright and terrible roar of triumph to warn a universe full of prey that he was on his way. Then in a flash of red light he was gone and that terrible triumphal song rushed across the gravity-void in his wake.