I looked down at the corpse of my prey. For a moment I doubted my choice of hunt to complete my [Quest], but, after all, it was too late. I reached down, my vibrating claws cutting deep and easily through the hank of shoulder and freeing a good chunk to slowly eat through while I looked through my updated [Status].

[Calculating Quest result. Species hunted: Greater Surefooted Goat, Nanuk, Misti Hawar Chief, Greater Plains Ishabaak, Superior Greater Plains Oxfiend. Stat bonus earned calculated and applied respectively.

[Status:

Name: Ashlani

Race: Sonic Khatif Swarm Alpha

Titles: Killer of Redael

Fahvalo of the Moonchildren

Chosen of Nievtala

Current quests:

–Destroy or subjugate a non-keelish people. Must have a population of at least 1000 individuals and person-level intelligence. Rewards: Constitution, Strength +10, Agility +15, Intelligence, Magic +8.

--Speak the Keel Words of Power. Rewards: Constitution, Strength, Agility +10, Intelligence, Magic +7. Hidden Rewards also available.

—Hunt, kill, and devour 5 new species. Rewards: Varies by evolutionary level of prey. COMPLETED. NEW QUEST: Interact with 2 System users. Progress: 1/2. Rewards: Upgrade to the System’s authority.

Stats:

-Constitution: 118+2+10+5+4+10=149

-Strength: 131+3+12+6+4+10=166

-Agility: 137+3+6+9+4+4=163

-Intelligence: 145+1+6+7+2+3=164

-Magic: 127+0+7+7+1+2=144

Skills:

Innate Leadership—cannot evolve

Innervating Address–cannot evolve

Debilitating Diatribe–cannot evolve

Crippling Cry–cannot evolve

Pack Tactics—current evolutionary progress: 7/10

Combatant's Bloodlust—current evolutionary progress: Hidden

True Dominance—current evolutionary progress: 2/10

Raptor’s Eyes--cannot evolve

Exceptional Sonilphon—current evolutionary progress: Hidden

Tremorsense–cannot evolve

Evolutionary foresight

-Sonic Keel Alpha—Requirements: Acquire the Keel Words of Power, Receive the Blessing of Nievtala (Acquired)

-Khatif Heretic–Requirements: learn how to bend the governing laws to your will.

Other evolutions possible, but not currently foreseen.]

Seeing the bonuses offered by each creature I had hunted was novel, and a little frustrating when I saw the weaker results. Since now I knew what each point meant in a more concrete way instead of just a nebulous “increase”, I felt the loss of points possible from the goat or even the ishabaak. If only I’d waited, been more patient, paid more attention, and so on. For a moment, I let myself stew in frustration, but then pulled myself out of it. The Nanuk, something that had taken an entire pack to down while still almost killing Took, was a peak predator, not something you could find just anywhere. Plus, how could I have known that the bonus would be applied per creature, not as a lump sum? Having calmed myself sufficiently, I finally looked closely at my new [Quest].

Two [System] users… but I’d already met one? When? And didn’t the [System] just change the requirement if I’d met part of it before the new [Quest] was listed?

[The Administrator cannot tell you when you met another user. The Administrator changed the display for meeting the requirements for this Quest as a hint to you.]

But you can’t tell me who it was?

[The Administrative Body has deemed that to be information prohibited from being given freely. It is not prohibited to know that System users are different from a usual member of their species.]

And there is only ever one [System] user in a species?

[Yes.]

My thoughts began to race. I’d nearly forgotten the message I’d gotten those months ago, that the [System] couldn’t or wouldn’t help me when I was facing another User. Originally there were six High Speakers, but we’d killed two, so down to four. The leader was the Windspeaker, so I supposed they were the most likely to be the [System] user, but I wasn’t convinced. None of them had been particularly special, so far as a High Speaker went, none were using multiple types of Calling, and none stood out. Maybe the girl that had been with them? But she hadn’t been noteworthy in anything except her age. Which of the five could it have been?

[Fen POV]

Fen smashed her horns into the Sunkindred in front of her. She felt the sharpened tips bury themselves into her enemy’s breasts and, as the blood flowed over her horns, she could feel the nourishing feeling of [Soulrending]. If she’d been alone, she could have indulged in the ecstasy, but no, she was in the middle of a battle to cross the Thnufir River. She could feel Varali’s Call begin to reach its tipping point, the heat beginning to scorch Fen’s eyes as she squinted and lashed out with her front hooves. These furry beasts were persistent if nothing else, and if Fen hadn’t had her magic and race then she wouldn’t have been able to do anything against them.

There was a brief flash from her pre-cognizance and, without thinking consciously, Fen dodged out of the way of the pair of stone-headed hatchets headed for her chest. Her scales weren’t strong enough to deflect something so heavy and powerful if it hit her head on, but she couldn’t think about that any longer, instead dodging back and forth in a holding pattern until the gathering flames could be held back no longer. Several times, a stroke made contact with her, but between her scales and her [Blessed Body], nothing notable happened.

With a roaring fwumph, the blaze burst into existence in front of the two. The torrent of flames lanced forward so forcefully that Varali was nearly thrust from the saddle from the blowback. Fen lifted her rear and braced herself so as to not be sent tumbling while Varali guided the cascading flames to annihilate the battalion of Sunkindred rallying before them.

The damnable barbarians had seen the assault coming though, and while there were about ten that left only smoldering ash as their corpses, the rest were able to retreat sufficiently to escape death. Varali growled her frustration at the countered assault and kicked Fen into a quick retreat. The impacts at her side started Fen from the ambient aura of death that had comfortably settled into her, and she began to beat a retreat.

Sure-footed, Fen tapped into the [Lifebringer] part of her magic and bolstered the small troop of Speakers that had been entrusted to Varali’s command as she led the retreat back across the fjord. Fen wasn’t sure how many there had been when they’d set out, and she wasn’t counting them now, but Varali wasn’t freaking out about any missing, so that was good. In her peripherals, Fen could see several other shock troop squads retreating back to the Veratocracy’s side of the river. Another pointless attack, then. She shook her head and continued leading the retreat while fires cracked behind her, beginning to be drowned out by cheers and cries from the Sunkindred.

…

Varali’s frustration began to bleed over into Fen while she was in the meeting with Mualtir. Fen figured that she was trying to convince the commander to commit to a full offensive again and wasn’t listening to the reasons she was being given. Fen didn’t care, she was exhausted from the attempted assault today and she just wanted to relish the oblivion of digesting the fruits of her [Soulrending]. She guided herself to her stable, where grasses and raw flesh were laid out for her to eat, whichever it was that struck her fancy today. Neither.

She slumped against the wall, her legs giving out underneath her as she placed her face in the corner. Fen let her eyes close as she felt the fog of soul digestion wash over her. She knew that she was being strengthened by this, but she didn’t want to look at the [System]. It hadn’t helped her, not really, ever. Sure, she was stronger and healthy now, but… all that she did was carry Varali around and help protect her these days. Some days, she couldn’t bring herself to stand up after waking, the exhaustion of facing another day making her want to cry, but the reality of crying was too heavy and tiring to actually do. Feeling nothing was better than being so completely and inexhaustibly fatigued, so she actively sought the loss of self she found in [Soulrending].

It was a while, but not long enough when the door opened. Fen didn’t look, she knew who it was. Frul, the Soulspeaker she had met with the others, back when Varali had become… what she was now.

Frul said nothing, just settling onto the ground with a grunt as she sat next to Fen. Her hand settled over Fen and the gentle touch of her magic began to loosen something within Fen. She wasn’t sure what exactly it was that Frul did when she used her magic, since Varali seemed to think that Fen and Frul’s magics were the same, but they weren’t. The desperately tamped down emotion within Fen was loosened, wave by wave, bit by bit, until she could finally allow herself to cry. Initially soft whimpers grew and crescendoed until heaving, wracking sobs shook Fen so strongly that Frul herself was shaking with each breath.

Outside, Varali waited, feeling more than hearing her bond’s cries for mercy, for her mother… for an end.