It looked a little like a lean, famished old grandmother on all fours and he realized that this was probably the jackal-creature which he had been warned repeatedly about. In any case, whatever it was, it obviously hadn’t fed in days; it eyed him ravenously, while keeping its distance - and then, projected telepathically, its thoughts reached him. So he was right. This was it. ‘May I eat you?’ it asked. And panted, avidly slack-jawed.
