Chapter 8: Baptism Of Blood (I)

Waking up, Tynofast was hard pressed to fight off his dizziness. When the disorientation left him, bloodlust clouded any cautious thoughts.

In a self induced mania, he scuttled around like a wind up toy after detecting a putrid scent. Siblings! After a tirelessly launching himself onward, he found them, still groggy but not as much from the anesthetic gas than the H solution hampering their brains. They were big, middling 29 inches the smallest being 27 inches was in front of him.

The same unlucky brother bore the brunt of Tynofast's red-eyed rage. Reaching it, Tynofast grappled it's face, impaling one of his claws in its eyes before shaking its head. It shrieked and fought back scratching at Tynofast. Unfortunately it's claws had a hard time piercing through Tynofast's scales.

Coming to their senses, the other komodo dragons attacked Tynofast, teeth and claws bared. Eleven sets of claws glanced off his scales, chipping away at them, different sets of teeth tugged him this way and that. Tynofast ignored the blows, continuously ripping at the throat of the one eyed lizard which soon bled to death.

When it stopped struggling, Tynofast was still incredibly murderous. His attention turned to the others, in his blood tinted vision, shades of green and gray scales begged for skinning. To do that, he needed to kite them, so he tried to get out of the encirclement, deftly dodging the occasional lunge. His attempts failed and dodging time and again was starting to rattle his scales. Just as he was at the edge of escape and counterattack, a bigger 30 inch sibling blocked his way, launching itself at him.

Tynofast had, had enough! So he bit it's lower jaw midair using it as a shield against ravenous mouths waiting below, it soon shrieked from the multiple serrated teeth that made a home of it's body. The slaughter continued, albeit a bit easier with the aid of two deaths. Unfortunately, Tynofast couldn't sink his teeth into a fresh body because he was surrounded, he even had to keep his tail about him to prevent decapitation at the thinner parts.

He could only swing his claws to slap away rogue heads, rarely soliciting slightly deep scars. Pissed, Tynofast's rage gave him a much needed second wind. His speed skyrocketed as he shredded their faces with reckless abandon, almost getting his tail bitten off a few times.

After a while, his aim had improved and he kept blinding the mindless beasts that were his siblings. Unfortunately, there were three with abilities in this group, one had adult like scales with pointy bones protruding from every scale hampering attempts to attack it.

Another had a big head with large teeth capable of amputation. The last had longer legs shaped for running much like his, it's quick movement only failing to catch up with his reaction time.

He tumbled with the first and last, avoiding the big-headed boy entirely. Long legs, as he labelled it, was taller than he, so blinding it was a lost cause. He opted to change that limitation by swiftly dislocating an outstretched limb thanks to his quicker reaction speed.

As It made a cursory clawing attack, he side-rolled under its reach before biting its limb in a vice grip. He subsequently launched a death roll dislocating the forelimb.

He then took advantage of the even height to gouge it's eye with his claws, effectively blinding it in one eye, before jumping clear of a thorny end at the claws of his prickly sibling. Problem was, his concentration wavered and he landed right in front of big-head. By the time he noticed, his upper body was almost engulfed.

In fractions of a second, he fought off the oncoming despair, maneuvering his body and pushing his claws away at either side of him, fighting to prevent the complete closing of it's mouth.

A few teeth had already pierced his midsection but his claws also sunk into the soft flesh of it's mouth, drawing blood, inflicting pain and saving his life by anchoring his efforts. It was this that ensured he was still pushing against the right things when it shook its mouth in a bid to sway his hold and end his struggle.

The pain bore deeper than any Tynofast had ever felt causing his jaws to compress in stress. In doing so, venom leaked from his lower jaw flowing down his esophagus.

It only served to power his rage and strength further. A deadly dose of adrenaline saturated blood and venom tore through his body, giving his might an overhaul it also triggered something inside of him. A new strength he was now calling upon. Summoning it, his claws felt cold, too cold, his sensation of it becoming startlingly vivid.

He felt them become sharper, gaining a corrosive quality, actually digging into the bone of big-head's mouth and draining it of...strength. This strength did not heal his wounds but granted him rejuvenation.

With a shriek distorted by effort, he tore big-head's jaw asunder, freeing himself. His teeth felt cold and raw in a way they had never been. Zombified by the series of events and developments, he mechanically ripped his claws from the dying reptilian's jaw. He slowly trained his crimson gaze at the shocked lizards' forms, his bloodlust reborn.