Chapter 129 (Patreon)

The Speakers’ College of the Red Abbey will now implement mandatory self-defense courses for all students and faculty. The focus of the new self-defense courses will consist of descriptions and practices of specific and efficient approaches with how to deal with and potentially when to flee from humanoids with natural armor and weapons, as well as mediocre magical talent. As stated above, these new courses are mandatory and will take place one a week. Any individual, staff or student, who misses two courses within two moons without written dismissal of their absence will be dismissed.

-excerpt from the second wave of educational reforms of the Red Abbey, 203 years after its establishment

Though I was anxious to finally find a human squad, I couldn’t be sure if they would be willing to appear before me, especially with the company I brought with me. While I had decided to keep our numbers low to appear more “enticing” as a group for a quick subjugation, our pack of seven was made up entirely of khatif. I was nearly the largest, with Took and Treel maybe six and four inches taller respectively. Took was definitely the heaviest and broadest of the seven of us, with her beginning to curl horns and broad shoulders pushing loudly through the brush that filled and clogged the jungle. 

Foire led the pack forward, trying his best to sense and detect any new creatures nearby, but he was frustrated to find that he had no such success. I had tried multiple times to explain how I thought he might be able to sense the humans through their beralts, but I couldn’t begin to understand how his detection skill worked, much less how a human deliberately hiding from it might circumvent it. All I knew for sure was that his ability to sense creatures was somehow different from our thermal vision, since he could find the pythons within a certain distance, even though they didn’t appear at all to all the rest of our perceptions. Regardless, though, either we never got even remotely close to humans, or their beralts were able to keep them hidden from Foire’s senses. Either way, the longer our hunt continued to be unsuccessful, the more Foire had to fight to keep from displaying his obvious frustration.

Eventually, Treel stepped closer to Foire and quietly began to discuss something with him, and as we paused there in a more hidden, quiet space, Sybil stepped close to me and nearly whispered into my ear, “Why did you bring me?” I flicked my frills forward, paying her attention as I cocked my head in askance. With my obvious question, Sybil continued, “Is there any reason to have brought me over any other member of the pack? Ytte is a more effective hunter, as are Solia and Brutus, to name just three.”

I was becoming accustomed to my innate anger that simmered deep within me and surged in even the most mundane of situations, so I didn’t allow myself to display it. Instead, I simply spoke, “I wanted those I trust more than any other to be on this hunt.”

“Why is it so special to you, and to the pack? We know that this unknown predator is dangerous, but you seem almost obsessed with it. There is something that you know that you have not shared beyond how they somehow hide from us.” 

Sybil’s tone wasn’t accusatory or unhappy in any way, simply matter of fact and curious. Even so, I couldn’t hide the slight snarl in my voice as I retorted, “There are things I know! You have seen me lead this pack forward without worry or difficulty, you have seen my personal growth and my ability to lead others to grow in the same way. Now you question me?”

Sybil bowed her head. “Never, Alpha.” I awaited some additional retort, but it never came. Sybil simply accepted my undeserved browbeating and humbly waited for what could easily have been a punishment. After gathering myself for a moment longer, I took a deep breath.

“I know things you wouldn’t understand. I can’t really explain how, but I do.” I didn’t feel like I was unable to share that I had been reborn as a keelish, but perhaps it was stubbornness, or pride, or fear, or something else entirely. Regardless, I didn’t want to explain where my knowledge originated, and I wasn’t going to. “These predators, I’m nearly positive that they’re something called humans. They’re about our size, stand on two legs like us, and their greatest strength is a magic greater than our own, greater than the wolfstags’.” No, that was wrong. I shook my head and immediately recanted, “No, their magic is powerful, but their greatest strength is their numbers. They are individually as strong as some of our strongest, and there are potentially hundreds, if not thousands of them. If they’re what I think they are, I don’t know if we’ll be able to survive.”

Sybil wasn’t the only keelish who had been listening to me, and the rest of the pack went silent as I spoke. After the silence had fully settled over the pack, Sybil spoke up. “Will you lead us?”

“Through blood and war, famine and death. Yes, I will lead.”

“Forged in battle and tempered in blood, I follow.” Sybil’s response was immediate and honest, and it was quickly echoed by the rest of the pack nearby. As I accepted the renewed pledges of loyalty, all seven of us were startled by the terrorbird that strode too close to us. In an almost comedic fashion, it looked at each of us, and though it was more than two feet taller than Took’s own impressive six and a half feet, it was outnumbered and quickly began to flee.

Without thinking, Took, Foire, and Treel began the chase, and, thinking that the hunt would at least allow us to expend some of this nervous energy, I gestured for the rest of the pack to follow suit. Something bothered me at the back of my mind, but in the immediate need to react to our prey’s flight, I tried to push down the indescribable instinct. Besides, we would be able to take down this terrorbird, large and imposing or not. 

With its panicked flight through the trees, the terrorbird attempted to escape from us, these hunters that it knew were superior to itself, but it couldn’t gain any distance. Even with its long legs, built for swift flight through the thick brush, the terrorbird continued looking around, its eyes wildly turning in every direction, looking for where to flee. There would be no way for it to gain the distance it needed to escape us for–

“STOP!” I commanded with magic from my sonilphon pulsing through my throat. All of my pack strove to follow my command, but even as khatif, or perhaps especially as khatif, larger and heavier than before, we couldn’t bring our weight to immediate stops. In the front, Foire was the first to halt, and Took shortly after him, but Treel stumbled forward, less prepared to listen to my command. 

Before I could begin to explain my worry and what my conscious mind had begun to put together, there was the twanging of several strings in unison, and the wet sounding impact of something piercing scales. Treel stumbled, and I saw the arrows protruding from her shoulders and chest. Immediately, as two figures stepped out into the clearing with Callings tumbling from their lips, I shouted to [Innervating Address],

“We’ve found our prey! Kill every one you find!”