Chapter 16

It wasn't long before the pack had picked the body clean. After having run ourselves ragged chasing and attempting to hunt, all six of us were ravenous, and set to the body without delay. The muddy water that filled my mouth as I ripped into the meal was a strange addition, and I realized I hadn't needed to drink any water since my rebirth. Maybe all the liquid I'd needed as a keelish had been provided by the blood I'd liberally consumed? I didn't care. The taste didn't matter. Just filling my belly, and finally hunting enough to finally evolve.

The bones of our prey hadn't hardly settled to the bottom of the marsh before I was motioning the rest of the pack to form up and begin to follow me to another hunt. Looking around, the sun had truly set by now, and only the last vestiges of light in the sky lit the marshes as the croaks and mating calls of the frogs filled the night. The pack slowly made its way forward as finally, there was no light left in the sky beyond the rising moon and the glittering stars. The drone of swarming flying insects had slowly died as night fell, and the calls of various birds echoed all around. Somewhere far off, I could hear the howl of a wolfstag, and not long after, another responded, even more distant.

Night… was the time for the hunt. The domain of the keelish. Around us, the frogs that relied on their sight settled ever lower into the water, just their noses poking out enough to breathe. They would hear our steps, but wouldn't be able to see us clearly without any light. It was the perfect time to begin the hunt in its truest sense.

Slowly, the six of us assumed positions around the possibly sleeping Toothy Bullfrog. It was so much simpler as we deliberately, slowly, approached within just two feet of our prey. We couldn't miss at this distance, and without much preamble, we all set to our prey. The splashes and our growls cut through the night, but the croaks and cries of anguish from our prey were silenced as the frog never was able to get its mouth out of the water. Only choked gurgles accompanied the frog's death, and those for only a moment before its life was cut short.

Our prey secured and killed, we pulled it back out of the water and to the shore. All six of us took another bite, our bellies not quite full from the first Toothy Bullfrog. However, if we were stuffed, we would be slowed, so I had the rest of the pack stop after just one more bite. Then, we left the corpse where we had dragged it up out of the water. There, we could leave the body until we were ready to return, which had confused the rest of the pack. The others seemed ready to return to the den now, what with an additional meal secured, but I spoke up.

"One… more. Then… rest."

With their frills flaring in agreement, no, with obedience, the pack followed my lead to our final hunt. My final hunt before my inevitable evolution.

The hunt was, to say the least, unremarkable. Another dozing frog that was easily set upon, and with the pack full and not needing immediate sustenance, we quickly dispatched it without taking too many bites out of the meat. Looking briefly at my [Status], I could see the notification:

[Status updated. Evolutionary Progress: Young Bloodletter Keelish: 10/10. Evolution unlocked.]

And how do I evolve? Tieran and the rest seemed to have evolved overnight, so did I just need to go to sleep or something?

[Evolution requires a basic restructuring of your body. You will fall unconscious as the reconstruction takes place. Evolution to: Young Keelish Bloodletter from your current physiology will take place over the duration of 4 hours and 30 minutes. Evolution will provide a marked bonus to your stats, as well as certain obvious physiological changes.]

So we needed to return back to the den, and I would be able to evolve there. It wouldn't even take me the whole night (or day, as the case may be) to evolve, so I could do so as soon as we returned, then take my swift revenge on Tieran. I would spill his blood. There was no "possibility" of it happening. Just eventuality.

The trek back to the den was arduous with three of us each dragging a mostly whole corpse. While one was partially picked over, the frog retained at least 80% of its original mass, and we weren't able to lift them completely up, so there was the added effort of dragging the corpses through grass, over roots, and through branches. Fortunately enough, I supposed, the bodies were hardy enough not to be ripped to bits by the underbrush, so we weren't losing any substantial part of the prey by bringing it back home.

Finally, we arrived back at the nest and enjoyed the shorter, easier downhill journey into our den. The floors were smooth and we knew exactly where to go. It was a quick jaunt, at least compared to bringing the prey back to the nest itself, and we happily plopped the more complete corpse into our den, where there was space for it. I figured we could eat the other outside of our den, then drag whatever was left back in when we were finished, leaving us enough room to sleep off most of what we'd stuffed ourselves with. But first, for me, I wanted a bath. The sand was wonderful, and I truly was looking forward to its cleansing touch.

As I stepped out of the den, I was greeted by Tieran's ever more cocksure face. I gritted my teeth, nearly losing the battle against my bone-deep need to rip his throat out, suns burn the consequences.

"What?" I couldn't keep the snarl out of my voice, but he seemed unbothered. I noticed that he was flanked only by one of his two female sub-leaders, the other nowhere to be seen. Had she been killed in the hunt? No, there was no danger today, with all the keelish around having experienced several hunts at this point.

"This prey… is mine. Do not… touch it." He gestured at the second, incomplete Toothy Bullfrog we had brought back to the den. After a single beat, I understood.

"No… is… mine."

"Will you… fight… for it?" Tieran reared up, and I was about to lose the fight with myself. It wouldn't do… I gnashed my teeth, every fiber of me fighting to keep my cool. Less than five hours and I could rip it out with ease. I could wait that long…

"Fine." I grated out, and, before he could do anything, I lashed out, ripped one of the meaty hind legs from the corpse, and tossed it into the den before following after it. The smirk on Tieran's face and the jeers between him and his sycophants burned any desire left within me to indulge in a comfortable sand bath. No, it was time to evolve, and now.