Avp 2004 1

Weapon forgotten, Funan attempted to flee. In his panic, he stumbled over the entangling vines. Twisting his ankle, Funan struck the ground hard, spear flying from his numbed fist. Then the mightiest hunter of his tribe curled up into a cowering ball and waited for death to claim him. This, he knew, was his punishment for encroaching on the sacred ground around the Temple of the Gods.
Hot spittle splashed his cheek and burned his skin. Chattering jaws snapped at his throat, and a deadly shadow, black as death itself, loomed over him, ready to strike, when an astounding thing happened.

Another abomination emerged from the jungle. Funan first saw the creature as a blur-for the world seemed to shimmer with its passing. Wherever the apparition stalked, the jungle melted and reformed itself. In a blinding flash of movement, the translucent figure shot across the clearing and struck the black monster at Funan's throat, penetrating its segmented armored shell with a bone-crushing stab and tossing it away. The black monster's exoskeleton clattered as it hit the ground, and Funan saw that the armored plates at
the creature's throat had indeed been pierced and shattered. Fountains of green, acidic blood spurted from the black monster's wound, spraying leaves and branches and vines. Every place the venomous fluid touched began to smoke and burn.-Prologue pg.7