The next morning, I woke beside Sybil. I didn't remember laying down with her, but after she had heard that I'd walked around smelling like her all day yesterday, she hadn't been too happy with me, so I'd expected to wake up alone after I'd exhausted myself with repeatedly practicing with my sonilphon. That being said, I wasn't unhappy with this turn of events, and I snuggled into her warmth. For several moments, she just nestled back into me, and we laid there together. Then, she decided it was time to get up, and she did while making sure to flick some dirt over me.

I shook my head, "What was that for?"

"It helps you smell better." She quipped back, and began to stalk out. I wasn't about to stand my ground when I knew I was wrong, so I gave myself a quick dirt shower, and decided it wasn't too bad. It got between my scales in a decidedly comfortable fashion, and helped scratch some of my itches.

As I tiredly walked out into the main space of the den, Joral excitedly approached me, "So, when can we go?" I decided I still wasn't quite ready to make a decision, so I didn't. I told Joral to stay close for now, which he bristled a little at, but I'd guided him to a different area of the forest to conduct his hunts, and the change of scenery seemed to be enough to keep him happy for now. I sighed. The need to prove yourself in battle was not new to me, but the visceral need for it among the keelish got to be tiresome sometimes. That said, there was nothing I could do about it, so I had to give all the promising spawnlings opportunities to grow and showcase their growth.

I then gathered up my own pack of 10 with the intent of quickly hunting and killing three new species. I wanted to grow as quickly as possible, considering a war was soon to be upon us, and completing these quests for growth before the war began was my best bet.

"Our goal today is twofold," I said as we walked out. "Our first goal is to hunt as usual. The second is to keep an eye out for anything that seems unusual or different." Cazala stepped forward.

"What kind of different do you mean?"

"Well... more than anything, it will probably be something you can't quite put to words. Let me know if that happens." I said this, realizing that the approach of a human that wished keelish harm would purposefully be made in a way that confused the senses we relied on most of all. Thus, I put a lot of stock into the instincts of my hunters. Cazala nodded and stepped back.

We set forth, and I kept my eyes peeled for anything I had yet to kill.

...

Our hunt was slow, but we did have several quick, easy hunts of some toothy bullfrogs. Now that we were grown, however, that didn't go nearly as far as it had previously. I kept my eyes up in the trees to see if there were some arboreal creature I had yet to kill. At one point, I saw a squirrel, but it quickly darted away, and I wasn't in a mood to try to chase it down.

I was slowly getting frustrated with my lack of progress when I saw a hare nearby. It had its eyes peeled, but I idly stalked closer as quietly as I could while I readied my magic in my throat. I got almost close enough to strike out, but it startled and began to flee. Surprised, I let my magic fly, and the blast of sound shot forth. The rabbit seized up and fell. I walked up to it, and realized that it had collapsed from the sudden stress, so I quickly nipped its head off. That was... easy.

I wasn't sure if I should have waited to find three sizable new creatures to hunt, but time was pressing, so I couldn't take the time I might have preferred to maybe qualify for the "May vary due to difficulty of the hunt". While I was thinking about it, I made sure to try once again to send out the energizing wave I'd done the day before, and seemed to be making some sort of progress, since I felt a shuddering force flicker out of me that seemed similar to what had happened before. I tried a second time, and this time the current passed from me and I saw a couple of my pack members look over at me, curious, when the wave passed over them. Seeing the results, I decided that it was good progress, and continued walking.

It wasn't long after that I heard a surprised squeal behind me. I wheeled around, and saw one of my pack begin to get sucked under the ground. It was a dulgar, a quadruped subterranean that lived by coducting little surprise attacks like this one. Its narrow mouth was opened and latching onto the tail of my companion as its clawed front legs were digging swiftly and powerfully into the ground, dragging it under. Quickly, I rushed the creature.

Dulgars weren't scaled like us keelish, but instead had thick skin that covered its body almost like plating. Their narrow faces were well built for tunneling, and the powerful claws were a deterrent, but they weren't warriors by any stretch of imagination. I quickly closed in to try to force it to let the keelish go, but it continued hauling its prospective prey beneath the surface. I screeched my challenge to the dulgar, and latched my mouth over its entire head. It was about the size of most adult dulgar, about 60cm tall and 1.4m long, its head almost disproportionately small.

It squealed in pain as I bodily hauled it upwards and out of its burrow, and I felt its spine creak under the pressure I was forcing on it while knifing my good left arm towards its throat. I continued heaving upwards, when it released my packmate and began trying to tear into my chest with its hefty claws. That was the moment I was waiting for, and I wrenched my head to the side and threw it bodily towards a nearby tree. It struck, heavily, and with a dull thud, fell to the ground with blood trickling down its face.

Dazed, it shook its head, but before it could gather itself, I pressed the advantage, and was followed by my pack. We made quick, painful work of the armored creature, and we had to dismember it completely before I could deliver a sure killing blow.

I wasn't hungry, but made sure to get a mouthful before turning it over to the pack while I looked around, pleased and looking for a third species to hunt. But... there was something off. I couldn't quite place it, and I cocked my head to the side, listening. I heard a low, almost muttered sound, then it suddenly clicked, and I hissed to my pack to get ready for a hard battle.

I was hearing Words of Power, and they were Calling for flames.