The small Zerdani could not comprehend what he was seeing. The odd scent was that of a giant lizard!
Living in this desert as long as he had, lizards were not a rare sight at all, but... THIS one... was a very new thing. Back home, the largest lizard this Zerdani had ever seen was about as big as his whole foot. Now, his whole body was probably the size of ITS foot! Also, the color was odd. An all black lizard? He had no idea they came in that color. They usually had the color of the desert's sand. It seemed to be asleep, as lizards tend to do at night. Every fiber of his little being told him to flee, lest it wake up and hunt him. However, his curious nature was getting the best of him. The Zerdani was not satisfied just seeing it from the back.
"If I am quiet, I can get around it without waking it up" he thought to himself.
The Zerdani passed over the peak of the dune, and started down it. "So far, so good" he said in his quietest voice. The more he continued down, the stranger things became. Now, he could see that there was some sort of glow coming from behind it, almost like a dim fire. His ears picked up strange sounds, almost like speech, but not like any he had ever heard. This just made the Zerdani more curious about it. Things were going well, until the "lizard" caught HIS scent. It turns out it was not actually asleep, as its head rose from the sand.
The little Zerdani panicked. He scrambled as fast as he could back up the dune. Once over, he took cover behind the peak. His tiny heart raced in his chest. He listened for the lizard, ready to bolt and hide if necessary. But it wasn't... A few moments passed, and he heard nothing. Did it not see him? Maybe it was asleep, and now it went back to its slumber. A few more seconds, and he peeped his head over the top of the dune again. The lizard was awake and staring right at him with its big, golden eyes. Why did it not attack? That's when he noticed some other things. The glow had come from a small fire. What had probably made it was more interesting. There was another giant. It was smaller than the lizard, but still around twice the Zerdani's hight.
He wondered why the lizard had not attacked it either. Was it a plant-eating lizard? Cactus flowers would not be enough to keep this thing fed, so was there food somewhere else. Also, the second... thing... was not also a lizard. In fact, It looked more like a Zerdani than it did a lizard. He racked his little brain trying to think up a solution for this confusing sight, all the while keeping a watch on the lizard, in case it moved towards him. In his panic and pondering, he had completely forgot an important fact about his own kind that could lead to his detection: In the dark, any light makes a Zerdani's eyes glow green.
