From the darkness… something moved.
A low, broken laugh echoed through the hall.
Then it stepped into the light.
A beast.
It looked like a hyena… but wrong. Twisted. Its body carried fragments of other predators—broad like a lion, striped faintly like a tiger. Its eyes had thick, sliding lids… like a crocodile.
It lunged.
The boy dropped instantly.
The creature flew past him—unable to stop—
and crashed straight into a glass showcase labeled Early Human Evolution.
Glass shattered.
The beast rolle