In the waning light of day, the creature prowled beneath the cover of the shrubbery, eyes fixated on a lizard armed with spikes along its entire length. It feasted on what looked like a furless-misshapen rodent under a low-hanging tree.

The creature’s chest heaved from exhaustion as it fought to get its ragged breaths under control to not give its presence away. A consequence of countless failed attempts to procure its next meal.

It bared its teeth in frustration. It hadn’t eaten ever since it left the cave. Each potential prey it stalked had proven more elusive than the last. Its temper flared when what it perceived as a simple repast evaded its every attempt at catching it, only to end up in the maw of the reptile sprawled on the ground in front of it.

It had attempted to quench its pangs of hunger by consuming the surrounding vegetation, but the recollection of its most recent experience made it shudder in disgust. While most of the plants left its tongue feeling funny, a few of them tasted even worse than rotting flesh. One plant, in particular, had shiny orange spheres hanging off its tips. They smelled delightful, but a single mouthful brought it to the brink of barfing out its innards. It was the worst thing it had ever eaten.

Not that it had much to eat since it awoke.

To add to the problem, prey was scarce. It suspected whatever caused the massive quakes was responsible for this somehow.

The creature cast its lamentations aside and refocused on the spiky oddity. It would have to make do. It hoped those lengthy protrusions, each half the length of its own claws, wouldn’t choke it.

Mindful of its steps, it closed in on the oblivious lizard, intent on rending the soft, spineless lower neck to end it in an instant. Going for the nape was a nifty little trick it learned by observing another creature hunt down its prey.

It lowered itself to the ground and waited for an opening. Its muscles tensed and coiled. The exact moment the reptile lifted its head to toss the rodent further down its throat, it pounced. Its jaws targeted the vulnerable, tender flesh of its neck while its claws aimed to maim and restrain.

The lizard reacted faster than anticipated. It angled its head so that one of the longer spikes at its side would gouge the creature’s right eye out if it stayed on course.

Seeing the impending danger, the creature knew it couldn’t move fast enough to avoid an injury. It tilted its head to the left, evading what would have been a grievous wound by a hair’s breadth. However, it received a large gash to the side of its face, beneath its right eye socket, and missed a decisive blow.

It barreled into the lizard, and an intense melee of claws and teeth broke out. They clawed, stabbed, and bit at each other. The scuffle lasted for several breaths of time before the creature found an opening in the lizard’s defense and ripped its jugular wide open, laying it to rest.

It roared to the sky in exhilaration at its first successful hunt. It savored the moment by tearing off a sizeable chunk of non-spiky flesh from the now-dead lizard and chomped down on it with relish. Its body was marred with puncture and scratch wounds, but none of them were deep enough to hinder its movements.

As it ate, its lacerations itched. It frowned at the unpleasant sensation. It looked down at itself and watched as they mended at a speed perceivable to the naked eye. How curious...

Then came the influx of power. This time, there was a subtle difference—so subtle that it almost missed it. On an instinctual level, it sensed that it could subsume parts of the lizard into itself. It focused on the sensation and delved deeper into its subconscious to comprehend what these changes would bring—the reptile’s greater physique, its menacing spikes, and its stocky tail.

With no reason to reject these alterations, it accepted them.

An itch stemmed from its rear. The stub it had in place of a tail grew in length and musculature, forming a thick and lengthy appendage that brimmed with strength. Once the extremity formed, the itch spread to the rest of its body, and it swelled in size. Its muscles became more defined, its hide thickened, and numerous protrusions sprouted along its being.

It felt considerably stronger than it did before. Strong enough that it was confident that if it fought the lizard again, it wouldn’t have much difficulty emerging victorious.

Yet, it didn’t feel right. Something was missing… And it realized. It gained in strength, but it did not receive any memories or snippets of knowledge like it did before. It couldn’t help but ponder. Was it because it killed the reptile itself? Or did the lizard not know much to begin with?

Curious as it was for answers, it didn’t dwell on those questions for long and scanned its vicinity. Darkness was creeping in, and it was getting colder. It looked to the skyline where the enormous ball of light was. A small portion of it was all that remained as the iridescent orb dipped ever lower below the horizon.

It took that as a sign to pick up the pace. While it could see with nigh perfect clarity in the darkness, it wasn’t deluded enough to think that it was the apex predator of this forest after its single victory. The mounting weight of its eyelids didn’t inspire much confidence either. Although its transformation rejuvenated its body, it did not rejuvenate its mind, and it could feel the mental exhaustion catching up to it, making it lightheaded.

It picked the carcass clean within a matter of minutes. It left the bones behind and scoured the area for a temporary shelter. The creature considered retracing its steps back to the cave it had awoken in, but the once cavern wouldn’t provide it adequate protection from monsters bigger than itself.

Before it could contemplate other options, it came across what appeared to be an entrance to a grotto at the side of a small hill. From what it could see, the crack led to an unoccupied area, spacious enough for it to rest without feeling constricted. The entrance is large enough for it to fit through, albeit with a tight squeeze, with its increased bulk and recent addition of spikes.

Head first, it squeezed through the crevice and crept forward. Upon reaching the back of the cave, it stretched to get a feel of the place, and as it had expected, there was ample room for it to lie down in comfort. Just as it yawned to settle down for a nap, a small blur lunged at its face from a dark corner, eliciting a surprised howl.

It winced from the sting to its forehead and swatted the offending pest off its face. It looked down at its assailant—a weird creature with eight legs, two arms, and an upper torso that resembled a human’s.

The ugly thing stared up at it and screeched. It felt offended. This minuscule vermin, no larger than its paw, dared to attack it, and now, it thinks its feeble shriek can intimidate it? It stomped down on the pest with a wet crunch, picked up the soppy mess, and ingested it.

It retched. Disgusting.

It wasn’t sure what it expected. Any delight it derived from killing the thing was dashed. The bitter, gooey aftertaste that lingered in its mouth left it bewildered. It couldn’t help but wonder why so many things in this forest tasted worse than rotting flesh. It let out a huff when it realized that it wasn’t just the larger monsters it would have to watch out for, but the small ones, too.

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It lay down, brushed any unnecessary thoughts aside, and forced itself to ignore the persistent tingle in its tongue. Dwelling on it wouldn’t make it feel better, so it closed its eyes and tried to sleep. Within moments, it drifted off into a slumber.

It woke up to the first rays of light, feeling refreshed and… sharper? The sensation was fascinating; its clarity of mind was unlike what it was before it slept. Its thoughts flowed smoother, and the world became more vivid. However, a dry cough interrupted its reverie. Its parched throat called for its immediate attention.

It thought back to the day prior. There was a river it had chanced across when it was out hunting, not too far from its current location, so it wouldn’t be a long trek. It turned to focus its hearing to assess the situation outside. It would have to be more cautious after yesterday’s incident; another sneak attack to the face was unwelcome.

A couple of minutes passed in silence. Not sensing anything amiss, it crept out of the entrance. After a brief look around, it drew a deep breath and left.

To its surprise, nothing eventful happened along the way, which made it both grateful and disappointed. Grateful that it wasn’t attacked, and disappointed because it had been looking forward to a quick snack.

It dipped its mouth into the river and drank. The cold water slaked its thirst and cleared its mind of any leftover lethargy. It stared at its reflection, and amber eyes stared back. Now that it wasn’t starved for food, the peace and quiet prompted the questions it had suppressed to bubble to the surface.

Was the monster it saw in its visions its parent?

Why was it left to fend for itself?

Why did it not learn anything new from the lizard after consuming it?

What are these bipedal monsters called humans, and where are they?

All these questions, and yet, it had no answers to them. The frustration of not knowing irked it. It contemplated in silence until a lightbulb went off in its head. The realization dawned on it. These humans might be the answer. Most of its newfound knowledge came from their flesh. If it could find and devour more of them, it would stand to gain significantly. Maybe even answers to all of its questions. But the biggest question remained. Where to find them?

The creature looked up and jerked back in surprise. It was so lost in thought that it just noticed the odd shape in the water less than three meters from it.

Whatever it might be, it was unusual. It looked like… a face? The round rocks at each side resembled ey—

A pink appendage lashed out of the water, wrapped around its neck, and pulled it into the depths.

Before it could even process what happened, something hard clamped down onto its torso with enough force to choke it on the surrounding water. Eyes wide in pain, it found half of its body inside what looked like a mouth. It flared its spikes and struggled to break free, but the pink appendage it now recognized as a tongue pulled it further in.

It panicked. It wouldn’t be able to hold its breath for long, and it needed to get itself out of this predicament.

Right now.

The creature clawed at the tongue and bit into it. Blood spurted everywhere, dyeing the water red. However, the monster it was inside of didn’t relent and pulled it deeper. The creature felt its spikes digging into the beast's throat, preventing it from drawing it in any further. Since a single bite didn’t work, it yanked more of the slippery appendage to itself and mauled it with everything it could muster.

The monster thrashed in what might be an attempt to dislodge it, but the creature dug its claws deeper and continued its assault by ripping chunks of flesh from the tongue. Its vision blurred from the lack of oxygen and physical exertion, but it persisted; it couldn’t afford to relent for a single moment, or it would die here.

With an abrupt thump, the water drained away, allowing it to draw in a mouthful of air in relief. In that fleeting moment, its hold on the tongue slackened, and it was flung into the air.

The world spun in a chaotic blur as it slammed into the ground, skidding over the river gravel for a few meters before coming to a stop. Its mind was in shambles. Everything looked distorted, almost as if the world itself were spinning around it. It regained its bearings half a dozen seconds later and struggled to stand as it turned to face its attacker.

Before it, an amphibian of substantial size rested on four webbed feet. Its skin was a mottled tapestry of grayish-blue hues that glistened beneath the sunlight. The protruding gray eyes it had mistaken for rocks emanated a promise of violence. A bluish substance oozed from its skin as its throat expanded and contracted, letting out a low-resonant croak. Without warning, it spat a blue-colored spittle that stretched out like a net as it sailed through the air.

The creature leaped to the side, evading the spit by a narrow margin. Before its front paw even touched the ground, the amphibian barreled into it. Stars exploded in its eyes from the blow as it careened along on the gravel. It skidded to an eventual stop and struggled to regain its footing. It shook its head to recover its focus but let out an unintentional roar when a spike of pain shot through it. A part of it felt like it was set ablaze; whatever substance the toad secreted burned.

It slashed at the aquatic creature in retaliation when it got close, but the monster evaded the attack with ease and spit right in its face.

The creature screamed.

Pain, unlike anything it had experienced before, overwhelmed it. Darkness overtook its vision. It struggled to breathe and even hear. The only thing it could feel with utmost clarity was agony as its flesh sizzled away.

The amphibian took full advantage of the opening in its defense to swallow it whole again, but this time, coupled with a mouthful of corrosive saliva.

Everything burned. The creature could feel parts of itself sloughing off, little by little. It wants to survive. It wants to get out of here, but this thing stands in its way.

If this is how it will die, it will be damned if it doesn’t fight back with every ounce of strength it can muster. The creature clenched its teeth and tore into the soft flesh around it with wild abandon. The amphibian flailed about to dislodge it, but the erratic movement only embedded the creature’s flared-out spikes deeper into its gums, allowing it to hold itself in place. It continued clawing until it snagged onto something large that pulsated in its paw. Despite the pain it was in, a manic grin found its way onto its face as the word for it came to mind.

The heart.

It tore the organ apart without a moment’s hesitation. The amphibian shuddered, twitched for a few tense seconds, and went still.

The creature dragged itself out of the bloody corpse and collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. Its mind was hazy, its lungs burned, and its limbs were faltering in their response. Everything was getting colder.

Fear.

It was scared. It didn’t want to die. It didn’t want to die. Itdidn’twanttodieItdidn’twanttodieItdidn’twanttodie—

Its eyes widened in realization. Food.

Of course. It healed faster if it ate. How could it have forgotten?

It dragged itself back in the general direction of where it remembered the corpse was. Once it felt the grimy flesh, it sank its teeth into it. Its tongue burned, but it powered through the torment. It hoped this would be enough to prevent the toxic saliva from dissolving its body first.

As it ate, it gained the much-needed boost of energy it required to eat faster. Yet, a barrage of maddening sensations assailed it—the piercing pain from the liquid dissolving it and the itch from healing warred against each other. It slammed its head down onto the carcass. The numbing ache provided it a moment of respite to gather its thoughts. It growled and channeled its emotions into a single point—anger at the monster who attempted to kill it—and devoted its being to devouring and nothing else.

Time seemed to stretch on for an eternity in the haze, but light eventually returned to its eyes. It looked up to study its surroundings. Everything looked blurry. It seems its sight hasn’t fully healed yet, but it couldn’t spot any obvious sign of danger. The constant sparkles it noticed from the left corner of its eye, however, let it know where the river was.

It trudged over to the river’s edge, where it appeared the most shallow, and placed a tentative paw in it. The water went up to its wrist, shallow enough for it to detect any massive amphibian from a distance. The water stung its wounds as it lowered itself into the stream, but it did a wondrous job of alleviating the pain. It rolled along the edge, enjoying the gentle flow and letting the water wash off the viscous saliva.

After a thorough cleansing, it drank a few mouthfuls to quench its thirst and made itself scarce from the river. It couldn’t shake off the impression that it was being watched, but it might have been its imagination since there was nothing in sight.

Fragmented scenes flitted across its mind while it ambled back to the carcass.

It was in the water with another amphibian below it that excreted translucent orbs while it excreted some black wriggling entity. They merged and floated to the surface.

There were also many shadowy creatures swimming around it. These things had the same round eyes and four webbed limbs but with tails and were much smaller.

In a flash of comprehension, it understood. It was mating.

The monster it killed was the parent of those small organisms, and the other amphibian was its mate. The creature paused mid-step. That meant it wasn’t alone. It turned to stare at the river. Seconds passed in silence, but nothing broke through the river’s surface, nor did it spot anything unusual.

Maybe it was worrying too much, but it should finish eating before its fears come true or something unwanted happened. It trotted to the carcass and took a large bite out of it.

Which was all it managed before it heard a splash. It swirled around to see more than one of those black critters hopping towards it from the riverbank.

…

It was going to hunt every one of these damned things.