Nightfall

We were sitting pretty on a hundred and fifty points before night fell. We hadn't faced anything that did more than wind us. Savannah collected all the crystals to keep me from snacking on them. I'd never eaten one while I wasn't writhing in pain, and to be completely honest they looked pretty tasty. Her snagging them was the only reason I hadn't eaten any of them yet.

I didn't see anything nearby anymore. Well anything human. The darker it got the more beasts came out. Nothing under tier four. Suddenly I wished for the easier fighting I'd had earlier that day as four demon owls come down on us at once.

They looked just like normal earth owl. Except for the two sets of wings, blood red horns above their eyes, and their glowing blood red eyes. They were fast little bastards. It was difficult to see them darting around let alone actually hit them. I swiped at one, and missed.

I spread my wings over Savannah, and Ethan. Forcing the owls to come after mainly me as Ethan, and Savannah pressed their backs into my sides. Striking whenever they saw the owls in front of them. Ethan was faring better than Savannah so I kept my head on her side. I was starting to get really tired of the way the owls darted in to strike, and darted away whether they hit anything or not.

It seemed as if they specialized in speed, and stamina so what would happen if I attacked the whole area at once. I released a massive burst of electricity when two owls came in to strike at the same time. Both owls squealed in surprise as they dropped to the ground like rocks. The other two were on the edge of my lightning field so unlike the other two they weren't completely disabled. I leapt towards one of the owls that was struggling to fly.

Leaving the two downed owls to my slower friends. My jaws snapped on the owl. I'd gotten my mouth around its entire body, but not it's wings or its legs. I swallowed the owls body whole. Gagging slightly when it squirmed on its way down.

The last owl fled.

Demon owl killed. 200 XP awarded. Demon owl mana crystal XP. +1 mana capacity. 5935/6200 XP.

Damn. I snorted. I would have leveled up if I'd taken all three out myself.

"Should we head back?" Savannah asked breathlessly.

"How long until sunrise?" I yawned slowly.

"Six hours," Ethan was the only one of us that didn't sound tired, "We should head back. Savannah's physically exhausted. You're mentally exhausted, and I'm not in top shape either. Another two or three fights like that, and we'll get hurt."

"I'm with Ethan on this one," Savannah nodded.

"We're almost fifteen miles out," I yawned again, "We won't get back before daylight if we don't cheat a little." I crouched down, "Get on. I can run faster than both of you, and like Ethan said. Physically I'm fine."

Ethan, and Savannah both hesitated. Ethan still remembered our last romp, and Savannah had seen it.

"Get on," I smirked, "Or we'll hunker down out here."

Savannah sighed, and pulled herself onto my back. Ethan joined her less than a minute later. I was too tired to pull a stupid stunt out here so I set of at my own jogging pace, and slowly accelerated into a full run. Slowing down for dips, and jumps as Ethan mentally called out the direction I was supposed to be heading. I was kind of surprised that Ethan was willing to take a hand off of me.

Not that it really mattered. I stopped at the edge of the trees far enough back to stop myself from accidentally activating the motion sensing lights that surrounded the outer wall. I growled quietly to let them know I wanted them of my back. Savannah, and Ethan slid off my back quickly. Ethan walked a bit funny as he tried to settle his sore ass. Savannah had moved my pack mostly under her so she didn't get it as bad.

I removed my bag from between my wings, and pulled out my clothes before going a little deeper into the trees. Switching forms, and pulling my clothes on before heading back over to my friends. I double checked that I was wearing shoes before shifting my bag into a more comfortable position.

"Let's go in," I flicked on my flashlight, and strode forward confidentially.

Ethan, and Savannah did the same. The lights flicked on as soon as we came within range. I flinched at the sudden bright lights, but my eyes adjusted quickly enough for me to spot several people looking at us from over the wall. We followed the wall until we got to the gate, and were let in after the guard there scanned our identities. We strode down the main street until we got to the boarding house we'd be staying at for the night.

They let us in, and we were sent to the third floor. We were given two different rooms. Savannah was given her own room, and we were told to share ours. The room was too small for me to take my true form. Three of the walls had beds built into them.

The forth wall had the door in it. I lowered the bed, and dropped my bag before laying on the bed to go to sleep. It would be a very uncomfortable few hours for me, but the amount of high tier beasts that would be out, and about during the daylight hours would be significantly less. I could take a better nap later once we got out of here. I slept through my alarm when it went off at six.

I didn't wake up until Ethan got me up at eight.

"Six hours of sleep just isn't enough," I groaned as I rolled off the cot to the floor.

Ethan chuckled as I pushed myself off the floor. I stretched slowly. I would definitely need a nap once we got out of this settlement. Savannah had been awake for a few hours. She'd updated our team score while she'd been out, and about.