Killer monster guarded six eggs in the deepest bog of Killerfalls, and not one of them would ever hatch. Killer monster knew this. The eggs lay cold in the mud, pale and still. A clutch needed a mate to quicken it. Killer monster had no mate. Killer monster was the last of their kind in this bog. They coiled around the useless eggs anyway, scales slick with swamp water, and listened for any other voice that sounded like their own. The voice never came. Instead, a man came. Killer monster smelled him first through the reeds. Pipe smoke and old leather. The bog trapper called John waded into the shallows, boots sucking in the muck, a short hat low over his gray beard. Killer monster had seen him before. John hunted creatures like Killer monster. He skinned them and sold the scales. Killer monster sank low, only their eyes above the water. John stopped at a thorn gate of twisted trees, where dim light leaked through the branches. He set a trap there, then wiped his hands and spat. "Second one this month," he muttered. "Big one. Nests past the hemlock, on the far mire." He grinned at nothing. "Worth more than its weight." Killer monster went still. Far mire. Another creature. Another of their kind, alive, past the gate John guarded. Killer monster had a choice. Stay and protect dead eggs. Or cross the gate and risk the trapper's machete for a chance at a mate. Killer monster chose. They burst from the water. John spun, machete flashing up. Killer monster did not strike him. They slammed into the trap instead, snapping its iron jaws shut on empty air. Killer monster lunged through the thorn gate, branches tearing at their scales. John shouted behind them. Steel bit Killer monster's tail and left a hot line of pain. Killer monster kept moving, deeper, past the hemlock, into country they had never dared enter. The far mire opened wide and black. Killer monster stopped, breathing hard, blood dripping into the mud. They lifted their head and called the low, grinding note of their kind. For a long moment, nothing. Then the water stirred. A broad back rose. Scales, like Killer monster's own. Eyes found Killer monster across the bog. Another voice answered the call. Killer monster had found a mate. But John stood at the gate behind them, bleeding trap sprung, machete in hand, now knowing exactly where both creatures lived. The only path back to the eggs ran straight through him.

The mate's call still rang across the far mire. Killer monster pushed forward to answer it. One step, two, then the mud dropped away. Deep black water stretched between them, too wide to cross. Killer monster swam out and sank. Their wounded tail dragged them down. They clawed back to the shallows, spent and shaking. The mate waited on the far bank, out of reach. The call went unanswered. Killer monster searched the shore for another way. Reeds, then a pale wall rose through them. A huge cabin stood at the water's edge, its wood weathered, vines crawling up every beam. Swamp grass choked its porch. No one had lived there in years. Behind it, rusted fences sprawled into the dark. Broken gates. Empty pens full of green pooled acid. An old zoo, left to rot. Killer monster slid along the fences, looking for a crossing. Something huge stirred inside a cracked enclosure. Metal scraped. Killer monster froze. A beast hauled itself into the moonlight. Its skin shone like silver streaked with old blood. Moss hung from its sides. Wings unfolded with a groan of bent metal. It turned one burning eye toward Killer monster and opened its jaws. Fire poured out. Killer monster dove. Flame hissed where they had stood and set the dry reeds burning. The winged beast beat the air and rose. Killer monster bolted along the shore, the heat chasing their back. They had no den here. No place to hide. The fire spread fast across the old grounds. Then Killer monster saw the chance. A long iron fence, half fallen, reached out across the deep water. It bridged nearly to the far bank. Killer monster ran for it. The winged beast dropped behind them, jaws glowing again. Killer monster leaped onto the fallen fence. Metal bent under their weight. They scrambled across, claws screeching on rust. The beast loosed its fire. Flame struck the fence behind Killer monster. Iron glowed red and buckled. The far end tore loose and sank. Killer monster flung themselves off the last beam and hit the far mud hard. They had crossed. The deep water lay behind them now. The mate was there. Scales like Killer monster's own. Up close, it was larger, battered, watchful. It did not nuzzle or call again. It bared its teeth and hissed. This was its ground, and Killer monster had come burning and bleeding onto it. Behind them, the fire climbed the old cabin. The winged beast circled the smoke. Killer monster could not go back. The path home was fire and deep water now. Ahead stood the mate, and it did not welcome them. Killer monster had reached the far bank at last. Now they had to win the creature standing on it, before the flames reached them both.

The mate hissed on the far bank. Killer monster had crossed the deep water and the burning zoo to reach it. Now the larger creature crouched low, teeth bared, ready to drive the stranger off its ground. Behind Killer monster, the fire climbed the old cabin's vines. There was no way back. Killer monster had to show it meant no harm, or the two would tear each other apart. Killer monster lowered its head. It pressed its wounded tail flat in the mud. It did not rush. It did not snap. The mate watched every move, muscles tight. Killer monster let the firelight show the gash John's machete had left along its tail. It made itself small and still. The mate stepped closer. It smelled the burnt reeds on Killer monster's scales. It smelled blood. For a moment the hiss softened. Then a branch cracked above them both. A shape moved in a twisted tree at the water's edge. Its bare limbs held a shadow that seemed to watch. Something clung there, high in the dark branches. Killer monster froze. The mate's head whipped up. Then the thing dropped. It was no beast of the bog. It landed on two legs, wrapped in black rags that hung like torn skin. A pale mask hid its face. In one hand it gripped a knife, the blade already dark with old blood. It had hidden in the tree, waiting. Now it crept toward the two creatures, knife raised. The mate spun to face the new threat. So did Killer monster. For the first time, they stood shoulder to shoulder. The masked thing lunged at the larger creature's flank. The knife bit scales. The mate roared and twisted away. Killer monster did not think. It struck. Its jaws closed on the arm that held the knife. It wrenched the figure off its feet and slammed it into the mud. The mate pounced too, pinning the black rags with its weight. The knife spun loose into a pool of green acid and sank. The masked thing thrashed. Killer monster bit down harder. The mate raked it with heavy claws. Together they dragged the struggling shape to the edge of the deep water and let it go. It sank, rags filling, and did not rise. Quiet came back. Only the fire crackled behind them. Killer monster and the mate stood close, both bleeding, both breathing hard. The mate did not hiss now. It lowered its head and touched its snout to Killer monster's neck. The fight for acceptance was over. Killer monster had won the creature on the far bank. But the zoo still burned at their backs. The fire was spreading to the dry grass of this shore now, pushing toward the only dry ground the two had. Killer monster had found its mate. Now it had to lead them both away from the flames before the far mire itself caught fire.

The fire reached the dry grass of the shore. Smoke rolled low across the water. Killer monster and its mate stood on a shrinking patch of mud. The flames crawled closer with every breath. The far mire itself would burn if they stayed. Killer monster had to find solid ground, and fast. It swung its head, searching through the smoke. Deep water lay to one side. Killer monster's wounded tail could not carry it across. To the other side stood an old barn, its roof split open as if something huge had torn through. The wood was wet with bog moss. Fire would move slow there. Killer monster snapped its jaws toward the barn and pushed its mate that way. They ran. The mate was larger and reached the barn door first. A tractor sat rusting inside. The walls dripped green damp. But the open roof let smoke pour in, and the dry hay in the loft would catch. Killer monster saw it at once. The barn was a trap, not a shelter. It hissed and dragged its mate back out. Then the water near the barn churned. A huge shape rose from the shallows. It had three eyes and five muddy legs, its long tail lashing the reeds. The mud-coated beast had come to escape the fire too. It blocked the only shallow crossing to higher ground. Killer monster did not back down. It stepped between the beast and its mate. It bared its teeth and flared its wounded tail wide. The three-eyed creature hissed, but Killer monster held its ground. Behind them, the fire swallowed the barn. Sparks rained down. The muddy beast flinched from the falling embers more than from Killer monster. That was the opening. Killer monster lunged, snapping at the beast's front legs. The mate charged from the other side. Together they drove the creature off the shallow bank and into the deep. It thrashed, then sank and swam away from the flames. The crossing was clear. Killer monster waded into the shallows. The water came only to its belly. Its tail dragged but did not pull it under. Step by step it led its mate across the muddy bar to the far side. Behind them the barn roof fell in a burst of sparks. The fire met the deep water and stopped. On the new bank the ground was wet and cold. No flames could reach it. Killer monster climbed onto the soft black mud and breathed. Its mate climbed up beside it. The far mire opened ahead, dark and deep and quiet. This was the kind of ground where eggs could rest. Killer monster had led them both out of the fire. Now it had to find the deepest bog and make it a nest.