Sovrim kept watch from their vantage point amid thick foliage, the color of their skin blending in perfectly with their rainforest surroundings.
The salameleon was monitoring the progress of earthmoving machines as they approached their section of the jungle. For years, the small village nearby had existed in relative harmony with regard to the untamed wilderness that was the Amazon Rainforest, rarely encroaching upon it. But urbanization’s tendrils had finally reached the area, and the village had grown to the point that its residents believed they needed more space.
Sovrim disagreed. But even despite standing larger than the average person, at roughly nine feet tall, there was little they could do about it.
Or so they thought.
The crew arrived with their equipment, ready to begin the deforestation process — the first step toward expanding the village. About a half-dozen workers milled about near the tree line, waiting for the foreman to show up so they could begin.
A deep rumble came from the direction of the rainforest, causing a rustling of foliage in a ripple outward. The workers looked up, but didn’t think too much of it. Thunder was not in the forecast for today, but it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for this part of Brazil.
A sudden flash of pink appeared in the periphery of their vision. A few turned to look, but saw nothing. And that, in particular, was concerning, because where they were looking was exactly where one of their coworkers was standing just moments earlier.
They looked around, confused, calling out their colleague’s name and checking behind the equipment. But he was nowhere to be found. And as they regrouped near the tree line, the remaining workers realized that two more had gone missing.
The three remaining men decided that whatever was going on, it wasn’t worth trying to figure out. They turned around and began walking back to their vehicles. This job could wait another day.
Another flash of pink, a yelp, and suddenly the worker in the middle of the three disappeared as well, before either of the other two could react! The pair looked at each other, fear all over their faces, and began to sprint.
But it was already far too late. As they ran, one of the furs saw that… pink… thing? shoot out from the rainforest at an incredible speed, stick to his colleague, and yank him back toward the trees. The man didn’t even have time to shout.
The last remaining crew member looked back at the jungle, horrified. Through the trees, he thought he could just barely make out a pair of reptilian eyes — but massive, far larger than any creature he’d seen.
And then, from just below those eyes, the pink assailant shot toward him with impeccable aim. He felt it stick to him, then sweep him off his feet as it began to retract, pulling him toward the rainforest at speeds faster than even his car could reach.
A few minutes later, the foreman finally arrived at the job site, ready to begin the new project with his team. He was surprised, however, to find the site completely silent. His team’s vehicles were all here, as was all their equipment. But the people themselves were nowhere to be found.
He had just begun to call their phones when a loud rumble from the rainforest distracted him. So many trees were rustling that it seemed as if the jungle itself was moving. Then, it broke the canopy. The foreman’s jaw dropped, as did his phone. Rising high over the rainforest was a large, salamander-like creature, adorned with fading camouflage patterns that hinted that this particular being was part chameleon as well.
Sovrim allowed their patterning to fade to their natural green as they looked down upon the tiny foreman and his various machinery. Something mysterious had just happened, causing the amphibian to grow exponentially at the very moment they bemoaned their inability to stop the encroaching threat of urbanization. They couldn’t explain how or why they’d achieved this new size, but they had no problem with it and took it as a sign they should take advantage of their enhanced might and do what they couldn’t do before.
The amphibian raised one paw high above the foreman, who had frozen in fear. They waggled their toes — three in the front, two on the heel — before bringing it down “gently.” The foreman had nowhere to go, and even if he had started running, he’d never hope to escape such a massive paw. In an instant, he was flattened under the slick, damp flesh of the salameleon’s sole.
Sovrim purred, taking in every sensation of the tiny fur squished beneath their paw. He was remarkably minuscule, however, and before long, Sovrim desired something bigger.
They turned to the heavy machinery scattered around the work site. This equipment was intended to bulldoze the rainforest that Sovrim called home. And so Sovrim took extra delight in flattening it instead, reducing to unrecognizable rubble that which had seemed like such an existential threat not one hour ago.
With the work site soon cleared, Sovrim turned their attention to the nearby village. Among their most gaudy ambitions was a nearly-complete skyscraper, set to be the first in the small town, on a plot of land sold to a predatory real estate company over the objections of many villagers.
A skyscraper… that Sovrim now greatly outsized. They smiled, their green skin taking on a slightly more saturated hue, and began walking toward it.
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