I began to follow without thinking too deeply about it before being briefly pulled aside by Sybil.

“She didn’t say much about why you needed to go. She just said that the Swarm Alpha wanted to talk with the brood Alpha. Said they’d heard there finally was one, so they needed to talk to you.”

I nodded my thanks and continued following my guide. We walked in silence for a while, until I realized exactly how deep we had gone. We had been walking at a good clip for at least a full minute, and I continued to see new offshoots and small dens. Each one had at least a dozen full grown keelish within, though most were far from as remarkable even as my guide, much less Rulac or Wisterl. They were maybe a step or two above the ten that had joined my pack, so I guessed they had maybe the same Stats as I did. Remarkable for a regular keelish, but not at all considering the benchmark my own pack was going to set.

Before I began to speak and ask any questions, I realized something–my [Quest] asked that I get control over 15% of the swarm. I had 5%, and that was 58 subordinates. That put the total number of members of the swarm… at over 1000. Stars above. I’d never considered that the swarm could be so large, but it did stand to reason, if a single clutch laid had over 60 spawnlings at hatching. That didn’t count any unfertilized eggs, unviable individuals, or those too weak to hatch. I didn’t know how many eggs were laid in a single keelish clutch, but I knew that most keelish could lay up to three clutches a year. 180 new adult keelish in one year, and that wasn’t counting if there were any broods that had overlapping timelines.

Staggered by my most rudimentary of maths, I turned to my guide.

“What was your name?”

She looked sidelong at me. “Surprised it took you so long to speak. Histy.” The name flowed naturally from her tongue, but the hard consonant after the hiss was a struggle for me as I repeated her name back to her.

“Histy, why does the Swarm Alpha want to talk to me?”

She flicked her tail, either in irritation or as an approximation of a shrug. “Not my place to ask. You’ll see soon, little Alpha.”

I couldn’t keep myself from bristling at her casual dismissal. I tried to tamp down my frustration, but her words cut through my internal discussion. ”If you want respect, you earn it. You’ve done alright in your brood. You’re still a child.” She resumed her silence, and before long, we reached what seemed to be our destination. There, Rulac stood.

With him standing before me, I realized that my recollection of Rulac had, in fact, been incorrect. He was even bigger than I remembered. If I was, in fact, nearly three feet tall, he was just under six. That alone was something I’d never considered in a keelish. The largest I’d ever heard of before being reborn in this den of giants was maybe four feet tall, and that beast would be dwarfed by Rulac. Different from Histy, Rulac was not thin and defined with muscle. Instead, he was built like someone had constructed the rough approximation of a keelish out of thick cuts of beef, every inch of him packed in functional, powerful muscle.

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It was surprising to think that the Swarm’s Alpha would be visiting newly hatched spawnlings, but there was a special “program” of sorts set up to ensure that the hatchlings grew safely and quickly, so I supposed it wasn’t too strange for the concerned leader to have some vested interest in observing the hatchlings while still young. I was still trying to decide what to say or how to address Rulac when he started laughing.

“See, I knew it would be you, brood-killer. I knew you would NEVER allow someone to be above you.” His laughter echoed throughout the tunnels, and Histy shook her head knowingly.

I wasn’t sure how to respond to his words, and he continued to shout speak, “I’ll take you the rest of the way, brood-killer. Redael will be seeing you soon, and I wanted to talk to you before he got you all scared.” Again, before I could respond, he continued, “Usually, the new broods have a true alpha a lot quicker than yours did, but there’s usually a lot more dead by the end than yours has. So, there’s a give and a take. I prefer leaders like you, that know what they want and go ahead and get it. You know? A leader who leads. Redael’s like that. He was our brood alpha, you know? Didn’t take long before he took over all the swarm, and here we are.”

His words continued flowing out like a tide, disregarding my engagement or understanding, just flowing mindlessly from wherever.

“So, Rulac. You aren’t the Swarm Alpha?”

“Me? Oh, no. I could never. Be in charge like that? Nah.” His laugh echoed once again through the tunnels, and we were about to leave to walk deeper into the den when Histy walked up and trailed her tail down Rulac’s chest.

“I did as you asked, Rulac. So I’ll be seeing you soon?”

His voice became throaty and… sensual. “Yes, of course. I’ll know where you are. Be ready.”

That was unpleasant. What was worse, a thought crossed my mind at Rulac’s obvious insinuation. What if I was given a [Quest] to reproduce? Stars above but I didn’t want to have that breathing down my neck. I could guarantee that there was one for it, given that a keelish’s way is to grow stronger and, beyond that, a Keel supposedly was one who created and ruled nations. That requires offspring, and if I were to lead my swarm into that ascension, I would at least be considered among the ruling class, if not royalty, who have a duty to reproduce.

Yet, I had yet to finish my sixteenth day, so instead I could pass my time with finding, hunting, and devouring everything that crossed my path. I disregarded everything that Histy and Rulac said and insinuated before finally returning to our path deeper into the den. Once separate from the female, Rulac’s demeanor changed dramatically, becoming serious, and perhaps more correctly, severe.

“Look, Ashlani.” I didn’t know how he knew my name, and his speaking it immediately drew my fullest attention. “I’m not like Redael. Nobody is. I’m happy to play around with you. Redael will not. He’s a beast unlike any other, and if you do something stupid, nobody can help you, and nobody would anyway. Listen to what he says, do not argue, do not disagree, and if you think of doing or saying anything, don’t.”

“So I just go in there, listen to what he says, and leave when he says?”

A slight grin showed itself at the corner of his mouth. “Now you’re getting it. We’re just about there.”

Somehow, I knew what Rulac said to be true. I could feel a presence ahead, one that demanded obedience and reverence and fear, a complete being. And, for some reason, it wanted me.