Chapter 4: Easy prey?

Skulking through the park's bumpy, shrubby floor had proved a challenge to Tynofast initially. Thankfully, this was remedied by his increasing proficiency in navigating the lush park vegetation.

320 meters and lots of tongue flicks later on his journey, he had acquired a basic handle on his Vomeronasal organ, soon noticing a presence upwind of himself.

Genes kicking into action, he stopped where he was, under cover of thick foilage. Nothing, save his respiratory system and forked tongue still moving.

As the scent drew closer, prey in the form of a rodent revealed itself. It seemed to be the result of crossbreeding between a hamster and a Jerboa. Having the body of the former and the muscular legs and tail of the latter.

A minor inconvenience was it's stature that neared Tynofast's hatchling form. Calming himself, Tynofast let go of his thoughts. After his previous fiasco the predator in him wanted blood, it wanted battle, it desired carnage and death.

As the inferior prey approached his range seemingly foraging for succulent vegetation, he let his predator speak to him. Soon the blood and strength flowing through him began pooling towards his extremities.

He had a finer feel for the dirt beneath his claws, the disorienting flicker of light and dark assaulting his parietal eye and the clueless state of his prey.

Moments later, dirt splashed from his ambush point. In less than a second he was upon it, catching it by the ear facing him while he careened above it.

As soon as he had it on its back, he felt a force originating from his midsection while majority of his body was still airborne, sending him almost half a meter away but not without its ear. Ignoring the pain with adrenaline and cold rage, he pressed his onslaught on the pained and disoriented rodent.

Zeroing the distance, he had his instincts to thank for recoiling right as it lunged, snapping down on the air in front of it. Utilizing his distance and motion, he swiveled midair tailslapping its face away and further disorienting it long enough to hide again.

The bloodied animal shrieked at discomforting pitches, in anger, after righting itself, consequently bounding around, looking for its aggressor.

Tynofast, the mostly whole aggressor, circled it with a vengeance in his golden eyes. In between shrieks and the rustle of wind swept vegetation, he darted towards it with renewed fervor catching it unawares from behind.

This time with a game plan.

Chomping down hard on a thicker part of its tail, he summoned all his strength to thrash it around. Things were going well, not taking the occasional lucky kick to the head into account, after a while its tail snapped right off while he was mid-swing.

The unlucky rodent lost its tail and got pinned to a jagged branch jutting out of nearby vegetation. Tired and shivering from anemia, it wouldn't escape death while impaled on the local fauna.

Tynofast was not done with his venting and had other plans in mind as he willed his battered and winded body onwards.

Climbing a good distance above his dying opponent, he free fell into it, taking the still impaled rodent with him.

With no grace, he landed on the now dead abomination and was spared direct impact but not the force. Sprawled weakly by the carcass, he layed disoriented and slightly numb from pain, he got his bearings six minutes later.

Crawling off his kill's bloody fur, he surveyed the battle site giving his performance a brief review. An ear was some meters away, a tail closeby and artistic red splats and strieks depicted a path of carnage.

Immense pride filled him. This was his first hunt after all and it was a resounding success. Even considering the light scratches on his midsection.

In memory of this battle, he skulked messyly towards the tail and swallowed it before resuming his journey a bit more carefully in hopes to avoid hostiles. Reason being an urgency due to a lack of time and his weakened state.

Ever so carefully, he walked toward the setting sun. The direction of his destination, for which he started his dangerous, forest bounding journey to domination.

Unfortunately for Tynofast the road to strength was a treacherous one and this wasn't his last encounter in the day. The same eventful day that marked his birth, the birth of the Winterwyrm.