[Growth achieved. Status updated. Evolutionary Progress: Young Bloodletter Keelish: 10/10. Evolution unlocked.]

It kept flashing in the corner of my vision, but I knew I couldn't safely focus on that right now. I needed to keep my ears and eyes peeled to see if there were more enemies approaching. We moved at a steady clip, as fast as we could. At one point, Silf seemed to recover enough to begin to try to help Foire with his load. Until then, Foire had been lagging a little bit, but with a bit of additional help, we were able to up the pace a little bit.

Oncli didn't seem to believe my urgency, until, when we were able to see the clearing where the den was, we heard a keening cry coming from behind us.

"Run! Faster!" I barked at the pack, and everyone began to sprint. No longer concerned about any modicum of stealth or preserving our strength, we ran. Only self-preservation drove us, and we ran harder than any of us had before. As we approached the mouth of the den, I heard the crackling of ozone behind us.

"In, NOW!" I was bringing up the back and was shoving Oncli, who was in front of me, as hard as I could. He, along with Vefir who was still on his back, tumbled into the den when, after a crack of what sounded like thunder, I was thrown headlong into him. It felt like I had been punched, and that was through the cushioning of the cub I had on my back.

We all tumbled headlong down the tunnel, eventually landing in a heap in the spawnling section of the den. We laid there, panting, and not a second too soon. After the loud noise outside, I heard a cacophony of noise begin deeper in the den. Now that I thought about it, I'd never seen any adult keelish, except Greel. This was my opportunity to do so, as a true swarm began to flow out. Greel was small, compared to some of these monsters. I saw one male that must have been 1.7m, at least. He spoke.

"Redael says this might be that beta that killed our old beta. GIT 'IM!"

With his words, the swarm nearly flew out of the den. Dozens ran out, chittering and gibbering warcries as they ran towards where we came from. I heard another crack of thunder, then nothing more. Even as we laid, catching our breaths, for another 10 minutes, there were no returning keelish. At that point, we had recovered to the point that we could retreat back to our den.

I looked around the spawnling section and noticed that the only ones present were the builders from Shemira's and Tieran's packs. We dragged ourselves and the results from our hunt back to our space, and began eating, exhausted.

As I half laid while eating, I caught sight of the cub corpse I had carried on my back. It was scorched, and had a 5cm hole that went nearly completely through it. The wolfstag that had shot at me must have an affinity for lightning magic--I was more than fortunate to have survived an attack from a creature several times more powerful than me. I finally took the opportunity to check my [Status].

[Status:

Name: Ashlani

Race: Juvenile Keelish Bloodseeker

Stats:

-Constitution: 3

-Strength: 4+1=5

-Agility: 7+2=9

-Intelligence: 3

-Magic: 0

Skills:

Bloodlust—current evolutionary progress: Unknown

Dominance—current evolutionary progress: 4/100

Improved Vision--current evolutionary progress: 0/18

Evolutionary foresight

--Adult Bloodseeker: live 30 days. Progress: 4/30

--Young Bloodletter: kill 10 large organisms. Progress 10/10 COMPLETE

--Young Alpha: acquire 10 followers. Progress: 6/10]

I was particularly exhausted, so I didn't feel stronger or faster, but, in retrospect, I could see that I had carted the corpse back with me much quicker and more easily than I could have previously.

Well... how do I evolve now?

[Evolution requires a basic restructuring of your body. You will fall unconscious as the reconstruction takes place. Evolution to: Young Keelish Bloodletter will take 4 hours and 30 minutes. Evolution will provide a marked bonus to your stats, as well as certain obvious physiological changes.]

Ok. If it's going to take that long, I should wait until tonight. I don't trust leaving the rest of my pack without my guidance as Percral and the rest come back from their hunts today.

Considering I had only sustained minor injuries today, I recovered relatively quickly, and, by the time I heard movement outside our den, I was mostly fine. The rest of the pack, however, needed more time. I decided to set myself up near the mouth of the entrance to our den, to spot any oncoming trouble when it came.

It just so happened that right as I got to the entryway, I saw a massive head. This was the massive male keelish I had seen previously, and he grinned wolfishly as he saw me exit.

"Hey there. You the one who killed the pups outside?"

"... Yes, me and my pack."

"Good for you. Normally, we'd make you pay with the hunt you brought home for our protection, but since we got a lead on the bastard the killed our beta, and took most of the prey from your hunt that was left behind, we'll leave you with congratulations for now. Can't wait to see what you'll grow up to be. I'm sure you'll be better than that disappointment over there." With his words he gestured over to Percral, who had evidently returned in the last little bit. He looked harried and frustrated, and his pack was panting and panicked--their numbers had diminished from 9 in total to 6. It would appear that the upheaval from today had taken its toll on his pack. With the words of this large adult, Percral bristled, but the other male paid him no mind. "Hope you live to join us adults." The male again grinned and pulled his head out of the spawnlings den, allowing for Shemira and her pack to enter.

Once the adult was out of sight, Percral rushed up to me. "Shemira, I know what I said yesterday, but he needs to die." Shemira tried to come forward to placate him, but I interjected, bowing down and appearing as subservient as I could.

"I knew today would come, but, I would like one more night to live, if you would. Just give me until tomorrow morning. To sweeten the deal for you, how about I convince my pack to join you once I die? Please, I just need one day. I promise you a spectacle, a duel in front of everyone else." Internally, I gloated at the idea of murdering him in front of the rest of the spawnlings, and hoped to get at least of his pack to follow me.

Percral snorted derisively. "I don't need your pity, but I'll give it back to you. Tomorrow, all that is yours will be mine." He whirled around, head high. Shemira looked at me, curious, then, after a moment's thought, a smirk appeared on her face, and she teasingly poked my chin with her tail as she began to walk away... towards Tieran's den. She's more snake than keelish, that one. Don't trust her as far as I can throw her.

I retreated back to my den, still looking subservient, until I turned a corner and looked into the disappointed eyes of Took.

"Why?"

"I need rest to hone my fangs for the duel tomorrow. He won't know what hit him. I said we will lead the pack to victory. We started today, and we continue tomorrow. Trust me--I have yet to let you down."

Took seemed placated by my words, and nodded, then turned back to her rest. I, for my part, turned to my [Status] screen.

[Would you like to commence evolution?]