Chapter 38

The Thnufir River's siege by the Sunkindred has been allowed for too long. I have sent two fully qualified High Speakers each of the Flame, Earth, and Wave disciplines. They will escort High Lord Leialt Alniyh and his Bound. Together, you and they shall push back the barbarians until none are left within our borders.

–missive from the Gran Verat to High Colonel Mualtir di'Thnufir

Looking around, I was fairly confident that at least twenty of my thirty followers had qualified to gain the [Exceptional Individual] skill in time. The hunters were all much larger, except, surprisingly, Foire. I knew he had been as involved in the hunts as Took or Treel, but they had grown larger while he had only grown a fraction of the rest. There was no way that he hadn't qualified considering all he had done, he'd participated in the hunts of the Martanimis and Wolfstag, after all. So where had the stats gone?

Oncli was continuing to grow, nearly as tall as I was now, a full two feet tall, and Treel was just as tall but even bulkier through the chest all the way down her tail. Brutus was a slight bit taller than them, but, surprisingly, even taller and broader than him was Took. She was only a hair shorter than I was, and though I was confident I was quicker than her, I couldn't guarantee that I was as brutally, viscerally powerful as she seemed now to be. Her body was now a vehicle for violence, every inch seemingly built for pure utilitarian power, and I could see the hints of horns poking up through her head. Thick, hammering horns.

"You've grown," I laughed to Took, once again at eye level to me. 

"Yes, Alpha." The word came easily enough, but it was a surprise nonetheless. Took hadn't ever really spoken beyond the couple of times she'd really struggled to speak, and I wasn't sure if she was stupid or just quiet. At least I knew she was considerably more intelligent than Brutus, who was naught much more than a brute, as his name suggested.

"And you speak much better!"

A flare of her frills in agreement and then Took fell in step beside me. While I had only hoped that she wasn't stupid before, now I could be somewhat sure that Took had struggled to speak, but also she hadn't necessarily needed to. She was the consummate follower: loyal, attentive, unquestioning, and intelligent enough to understand and follow orders. 

"Anything else you want to say?"

Took hesitated for a moment, then, with only a slight pause between her words, "Victory… by fang and blood." Then, with a self-satisfied smile, she settled back into her position of silent support.

Oncli approached as I finished my conversation. "Hey Ashlani. When I woke up and saw that I'd grown, I was hoping I'd caught up to you this time, but I should have figured you'd be as out of reach as ever." It seemed that the biggest change for him was that ability to speak so clearly!

"Oncli, you should know as well as I do, you're not gonna catch up that easily. And you're not going to call me Alpha?"

A flick of the tail. "I guess I could? Do you want me to?"

"I don't care either way." I felt a small smile spread across my face. Oncli was the only one who didn't address me by my title, and while a part of me bristled at the camaraderie, I could feel his genuine nature. Oncli just… enjoyed my company, and I could find comfort in that.

"Well then, Ashlani, you ready for the hunt?"

"Of course. Let's go." With my words, the rest of the hunters gathered up and we set off to resume our hunt.

…

The hunt went as smoothly as could be expected, just without any new prey. I felt myself itching, needing to find some wolfstags to complete my [Quest]. I couldn't let myself stagnate, and while helping the rest of the pack continue to grow would be good for me in the long run, I needed to ensure that I remained the indisputable leader. While there weren't any currently in the brood that could challenge me, Took and Brutus weren't far off physically from being able to. I trusted both to remain subservient, but they stood as a testament to the risks I ran the longer I spent without continual growth.

For now, at least, I could continue to rely on Sybil to manipulate any dissidents and keep them from building a following, but Percral had tried to turn on me the second he'd thought it possible. I needed to keep myself healthy, active, and ever more powerful if I was to grow to the Alpha of this brood and then the entire swarm. 

Regardless of my feelings of haste, though, I couldn't foolishly run into the lands where I knew the Voltaic Wolfstags could be found. If what we ran into was an adult Voltaic Wolfstag, I could guarantee there would be casualties, and if we encountered three full adult wolfstags, I couldn't imagine there would be any survivors. Regardless of any caution or reasoning, though, I desperately wanted to just go, consequences be damned. Suns burn me, but I wanted to. Unfortunately or fortunately enough, I couldn't bring myself to be quite so foolish. But the longer that I stagnated… the harder it was to tamp down that frustration. That the hunts we were always finding were boring at best wasn't helping me either, that I couldn't work off the desperate energy that always accompanied me.

I shook my head and myself from my dangerous musings and tried to pace to burn off some of that excess nervous energy. We would go back to the wolfstag's territory after the next growth period, to ensure that we could have the greatest possible chance to survive, but not before. I'd put effort into raising and molding these keelish to be as powerful as possible, but it would take time for us all to grow into that and I'd be throwing that effort away if I were to get some of the pack killed in my haste. It galled me, but I knew how to wait. For now.

"Ashlani. You need to calm yourself." Oncli's voice shook me from my pacing while immediately inciting my anger. Looking around, I again noticed how much my emotions influenced my subordinates as they bristled around Oncli, not quite threatening, and I steeled myself. After a moment's deep breath, I centered myself enough to stand calmly and cease my pacing and erratic movements. After taking another couple of breaths, I was ready to respond.

"Thank you, Oncli." I nodded. "You were right."

A relieved grin spread across his face. "I can be. I follow you, I just want you to be happy with where you're going. You've been.. A bit off."

I nodded, admitting the point before turning to Foire. "Go see if you can find anything worth hunting nearby."

He clicked his tongue in a form of assent and began to turn to go. Oncli called out, stopping him. I looked over, a bit surprised.

"I haven't been able to fight as much, since I was hurt. I want to help scout." Oncli looked at me, searching for approval.

I thought for a moment, then nodded and sent him on his way. It wasn't long before Oncli's screams of terror washed over us.