Four days later it was beginning to be plain to see what kind of khatif each was. Frankly speaking, I didn't care much about the five that weren't from known parents, but I paid quite a bit of attention to my three children and Treel and Foire's two.

Over just a couple of days, three of the six packs were annexed and overtaken by the other three; the only three that remained were my daughters' pack, my son's pack, and the pack of the khatif that had stolen it from another. Her name was… I couldn't remember, but she was a passable Alpha, something like a mixture of Percral and Tieran, but minus the god complex. That said, her competition for being a great Alpha was steep, and she only had three subordinates (one had left her for another pack), so I couldn't imagine that her position would exist much longer.

Then there was the pack ruled by my daughters. Initially, they'd asked Sybil to name them, but she'd smirked and responded, "Well, being named by the Swarm Alpha is a great honor and could possibly lead to you establishing a greater control within your clutch." It wasn't soon after that conversation that they waylaid me on my way to rest after an exhausting practice with Wisterl. In the back of my hazy mind I could remember some mythical twins Inanna and Istar and made a slight tweak and named them Isnanna and Ishtar. As a side note, they weren't twins like Vefir and Silf, from the same egg, but were so similar they seemed to be.

They displayed a marriage of traits from both Sybil and myself, with greater political acumen than me and more physical power than Sybil. Most of the time they seemed to be carbon copies of each other, but there was one difference that most missed. Isnanna's specialty was similar to her mother's, manipulating the keelish around her, while Ishtar's was in tactical planning. Between the two of them, they were constantly whispering about this plan and that contingency, and I dreaded the day they went through a rebellious phase, because there was an 80% chance it would end in a coup d'etat. Fortunately, they were keelish and respected the absolute authority I had shown from their hatching.

That said, with all their scheming and planning, they were able to amass twelve subordinates, three of which were khatif. As they were sent on ever more treacherous and challenging missions and forays into the forest, they demonstrated the thoroughness of their planning, always having some backup plan, and their subordinates trusted them. Their pack was trained to know exactly what to do and when, and they functioned very nearly like a military troop.

Finally, there was the final pack, under my son. It was comprised of the rest of the clutch, making a total of eleven, my son and ten packmates. His right and left hands were Foire and Treel's sons that had accompanied him from day one.

Foire hadn't named his children, and simply said for them to name themselves or get one from me. I hadn't named them so they had come up with the names Trai and Foult, and they both lived up to their namesakes. Trai was built just as brutishly as his mother had been, all thick muscle and dominating attitude, while Foult was built like his father but stockier, with his arms slowly lengthening and becoming more dexterous and muscular. They both had become close with my son, their Alpha, and could be seen laughing and generally acting like teenaged humans. As I saw this, it solidified in my mind that we were a people, not just some other creature.

The day after I had given Isnanna and Ishtar their names, my son had hauled an entire Toothy Bullfrog before me and dropped it at my feet. That day, the packs had been assigned a hunt in the nearby forest under the watchful (and critical) eyes of the most experienced hunters, and he had insisted to his pack that he stalk, hunt, kill, and recover this prey all alone, never receiving any assistance. He was obviously exhausted from carrying something that weighed about 75% of him all alone over hills, through forest and down into the den, but proudly he dropped it at my feet.

"I have heard that names are EARNED," he pointedly raised his voice on the last word and looked over at his sisters, "so I have brought proof of my effort and power. Do I DESERVE," again, he raised his voice, "a name at this time, Swarm Alpha?"

I choked down my immediate inclination to laugh, knowing that it would wound his pride if I did, so I decisively bent down, picked up the Toothy Bullfrog, and took a massive bite out of its belly. A part of me wondered how long it had been since I'd eaten one of these, but the rest of me swallowed the bite and grinned down at my headstrong, proud, and slightly nervous child. "I accept your offering and proof, Iituli, firstborn of Ashlani."

Iituli stood tall and proud, and I couldn't help but notice the sparks fly between him and his sisters. They had gotten their names earlier due to their conniving and intelligence, but hadn't gotten this formal and public naming. I didn't want to incite jealousy or feelings of preferential treatment, so I spoke again to the spawnlings as a whole.

"There are many ways to get what you want. You all have different specialties and strengths, and that span of talent is what makes the swarm powerful and dangerous. Just know that you will be repaid according to your own actions: honor for honor, schemes for schemes, and blood for blood."

I nodded at the collective spawnlings then gestured for the four young Alphas to follow me. They did, Iituli still holding his head high, Ishtar and Isnanna quietly conferring with each other, and the final whose name escaped me looking confused.

Once we had gotten to a private location, I spoke quietly. "You are not more or less inherently valuable to the swarm if you are specialized in one thing or the other. All that you need to do to qualify for worth within the swarm is an absolute dedication to three things:" I let steel tinge my voice, "the protection of our interests, the unity of our people, and the growth of our power. Focus on however many of these three you consider yourself capable of, and you will be a valuable member of the swarm." I nodded then patted each on shoulder before I began walking away. I could hear whispered competitive words between them as I walked away, but I could hear that it wasn't tinged by ill intent or threats of violence and was at ease.

Only three more days until the spawnlings would have evolved sufficiently for us to begin the rigorous journey East. I had just begun to muse over plans and logistics when suddenly Durgal, the fourteenth of the Alqat, rushed in with an arrow shaft protruding from his shoulder.

Before I could say a word, he spoke.

"The humans. They're close. They're coming. We need to go."

…

And that concludes Volume 2 of Ashlani's Reincarnation: The Fires of War! Thanks for the patience as I struggled with motivation and planning and sickness and holidays and so much more through this volume. I've loved to read feedback and honest words from all of you and that combined with writing has filled a void in my life that I didn't know I had, so thank you.

That said, onto bad news. Real life is getting real busy and I think I'm going to have to go on hiatus for the foreseeable future. Sorry for any disappointment this may bring, but I need to put real life before my hobby.

Just kidding! I will be down to maybe one chapter every other day this next week or so, but I'll absolutely be continuing to pump out this book. I love it too much to stop. However, we're getting into a volume that's going to be HEAVILY focused on worldbuilding, and as such I need to make sure that my world is cohesive, logical, and complete before we go on this THREE THOUSAND MILE journey. We'll see multiple countries, cultures, peoples, enemies, and more in this next one, and I can't get into that before I'm prepped. So, there will not be daily chapters during the next 7 days or so.

Again, if you've enjoyed my story, thanks! I love to see comments and talk with people on Discord way more than any of the numbers. I often laugh out loud in my breaks when I check on the comments that you leave and it brightens my day. Thanks for being here, and I'll see you soon for Ashlani's Reincarnation Volume 3: The Pilgrimage of the Keel (name not set in stone, haha)!

VICTORY BY FANG AND BLOOD!