With twice as many of us dragging each body on the way back, the journey went much quicker than before, and with Foire scouting and keeping an eye out for any potential threats, we made our way to the den without incident. The falling rain and muddied ground caused us to stumble and slip every so often, what with dragging the limp corpses that weighed so much more than us. With the light sheeting of rain, I might have missed the tree we were returning to, but Foire unerringly guided us to the correct tree, and then we began our descent.

In the expanded and widened tunnels, dragging the gangly-limbed deer wasn’t nearly so unpleasant as it would have been to descend through our usual entrance. I couldn’t imagine that we would have been able to get the bodies whole through the opening, and at the thought, I again struggled to withstand the anger at some high minded fools looking down on me slowly and terribly attempting to butcher the terrorbird corpses. They were lower than me, already weaker than me, and they would dare to think themselves better than me, simply because they willingly withheld information from me?

We continued to bring my prey through the den, and every so often, an adult keelish would poke their head out and watch us go by. Some seemed to be waiting for a different keelish’s arrival, and turned away when they saw us. Others, though, seemed curious when they saw us, and watched the younglings with their large prey. I could hear approving noises, and the watchers talking among themselves.

“They’re growing well.”

“How old are they again?”

“That’s better than we were.”

This could help serve my true goals. Before long, I would begin to spread my control within the swarm, and being seen making achievements would be highly beneficial. I would need to continue to gather my strength, to prove myself to the outcasts and the downtrodden, and with my own feats mixed with Sybil’s help, I would be able to begin to increase my influence. Regardless of influence, though, I needed to continue to build my own strength to ensure I could eventually wrest control from Redael.

Finally, we arrived at our own den. As we’d ascended towards our domain, the tunnels continued to thin until we could only just drag the bodies with gangling limbs forward without too much difficulty. The final turn into the den was joyous, no longer having to struggle hauling our loads, and we deposited the fruits of my hunt before the pack as a whole. Having arrived, I turned to Shemira.

“Good idea, bringing four. Smart to think of bringing an extra, so Foire could keep an eye out.”

She flared her frills, her tail twitching at the compliment. “Thank you, Alpha.” Then, her acceptance of my praise complete, Shemira turned to Sybil.

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“What do you need me to do?”

Sybil’s eyes flicked to me, surprised at the success of my plan. She was about to speak when I stepped to the side, towards my quarters, and called for Sybil to follow after me.

I could see the boiling question in her eyes, as she forced herself to hold it back.

“Ask.”

“How? How did one hunt change her completely like this?”

“I extended trust. I listened. She wants to be up in the ranks with the rest of us, and was never given the chance. Give her important but small tasks, see how she completes them. I’m sure she’ll try her best, and I’m sure you can find over time what she will be best suited for.”

Sybil flared her frills in assent, and I continued, “Have you found anything concrete about the swarm since we left?”

“Not yet, Alpha. I apologize, but these things take time.”

“I know. Talk to Shemira for now, see what she knows, as well as anything you can get from the others.”

“Of course, Alpha.” Sybil bowed, a new addition to her gestures of respect for me, and then walked out of my quarters. I turned to my bath, but before entering, shook what water remained on me off as best as I could. The sand could absorb liquid, but I’d learned from particularly bloody days that getting as much liquid off of me before entering the bath was ideal.

After a quick shake, I was ready and flopped down into the sands. I spun and twisted, fully covering myself in the sand as I languished in the bath. I laid back, happy and relaxed, as I remembered my sonilphon. Checking, it had refilled already. That seemed faster than before. Maybe the continuous use was finally influencing its rate of reproduction substantially, as well as its total capacity?

Either way, I sent the magic coursing to my whole body. As always, the subtle vibrations spread through my whole body, starting at my core. As the feeling spread out to my skin and scales, the gentle movement scrubbed deliciously with the sand. I subconsciously rolled my shoulders and back into it, luxuriating in the feeling. Without realizing it, I sighed in comfort.

I was about to do it again when I remembered the time I had tried to localize the sonic magic to my arms. With the last of the reserves from my sonilphon, I slowly, purposefully pushed the magic through my arms. Again, when it hit my right shoulder I could feel the pain from my injury, but this time I expected it, and the discomfort didn’t begin to approach the agony I’d experienced the time before. Through the pain and uncertainty, I forced the magic forward towards my hands.

Without conscious thought, my hand’s thick scales went rigid and I felt the vibrations concentrate on the tips of my claws. I could feel that I was on the brink of understanding something new, but just as I went to apply more magic and pressure to my hands, my sonilphon ran dry and the feeling disappeared. Since I had learned about how to become a khatif, I’d mostly just emptied the sonilphon without any thought, my only thought had been that I only really needed to continue to empty it to proceed towards evolution. Now, I realized just how stupid I’d been. I needed to experiment with it, continue to figure out how else it could help me. After all, I’d first created a magical phenomenon before I’d gotten the sonilphon, and it had benefited the whole pack. I’d gained the [Innervating Address] Skill, but had I ever really used it except for once, from a distance?

I would need to keep experimenting with my magic.