Slowly coming to within my alcove, I took a deep breath in. My sides pushed against the confines of the fissure I took refuge in as I did so, just uncomfortable enough to push me from the last vestiges of sleep. I woke up hungry, my meal from earlier apparently not enough to sate my appetite, likely because I did not have the time to finish it. I stretched as much as the claustrophobic walls would allow, before glancing around me.

Nothing of note in view. The crack in the ground was still empty for all save me, and the crimson sky still loomed overhead with no change. I sniffed the air, looking for any hint of active predators. The blood I could smell was at least hours old, though it was hard to tell, and the faint smell of sulfur and ash was as I remembered it, even if I hadn’t realized that was what I had been smelling before.

Warily crawling out of my hiding place, which I could now safely assume was around 8 feet deep at it’s lowest, I poked my head out of the ground. Nothing around but more dry ground and blackened, leafless trees. Listening, I was able to pick out the sounds of distant crackling, as if a giant bonfire burned bright somewhere beyond my vision.

Heaving myself out of the crevice, I stood on my hind legs, back hunched and mind alert for danger. I could still see the scuff marks in the ground where the spider-like demon had slammed itself against the ground in order to get at me. The outline of it’s form looked smaller, somehow. Leaning down, I took a closer look at it. Sure enough, it was just slightly smaller than I remembered it being. Not by much, and I’d have been just as likely to leave it unnoticed, but looking closer I could see the difference.

Perhaps I had overestimated it’s size in my fear of the thing. Righting myself, I set out into the woods around me. I picked a direction and left the relative safety of my home for the night. So as to not lose it in case of an emergency, I took to scratching a gash into every other tree on my way, planning to follow them back after I had fed.

It wasn’t long before I spotted a demon. Perched atop a large rock, this one looked similar to a toad, if not for the third eye in the middle of it’s forehead, two stubby horns, and a spiked ridge running along it’s back. Not to mention the fact that it was wider than I was tall by a few orders. It was certainly much smaller than my prior assailant, but larger than me nonetheless. Attacking it would pose no small danger, and in a fair fight I doubted I’d be able to emerge victorious, considering the difference in our weight and that it likely had abilities available to it that weren’t obvious at a glance.

Too dangerous a fight. Maybe I could kill it, maybe I couldn’t. If I took a risk such as this one every time I required food, I doubt I’d make it a week. Something more manageable, then. I continued walking, careful not to alert the demon to my presence.

Several minutes later, I heard rhythmic beats sound out above me. Instinctually, I quickly dove under an overhang of a nearby root, partially concealing myself from above. It proved incredibly fortunate I did so as a large shadow big enough to cover over 20 feet in any direction passed overhead, the beats growing more powerful before fading away as the shadow continued.

The experience over, I sighed in relief and continued my journey. After seeing several examples, I had already come to the conclusion I most probably was one of the smallest creatures in this ecosystem. Every other demon had been larger than me besides my hatch-mates, and even then I doubted I was the largest in the litter. I only stood a bit over three feet tall, after all.

Stuck in my musings as I was, I barely noticed the dribble of blood fall from a tree ahead of me. I froze, scanning the plant for the cause of the disturbance. At first, I saw none, but thanks to a well-timed twitch of it’s neck in order to rip out a chunk of it’s meal, I noticed a large lizard-like creature the same blackened color as the tree. It had a long, conical spike sticking out of it’s snout, dripping with blood. It was laying in a thicker branch, consuming a smaller demon similar to me in size. It was difficult to tell with how the lizard blended in so well, but it looked to be roughly ten feet from tail to snout. Likely an ambush predator, based on it’s stubby, weak looking limbs relative to the rest of it’s body. Longer than the earlier toad, but far less wide and likely far less heavy.

This was it. I most likely wouldn’t find better prey. Still, though, it would be dangerous, as evidenced by the scraps of what used to be a demon roughly my size still in the creature’s jaws. Fortunately, it’s greatest asset, it’s stealth, had already been taken out of the picture thanks to the situation I had caught it in. If it hadn’t been in the middle of eating, the most likely result would have been me stumbling in front of it, blind to it’s existence, shortly followed by a quick stab to my gut and an easy meal for it.

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I stalked closer to it’s tree, careful to not disturb the twigs near my feet, and stepped a few feet to my left in order to put the tree between me and it. Slowly, methodically, I began my ascent, using my claws and tail to make my way up the rough surface of the tree. Eventually, I had reached where I estimated the demon lay, and began slowly making my way around to it’s side. Thankfully, it was facing away from the tree, looking outwards towards potential prey. I could hear it’s soft breathing and occasional light crunching noises now. Smell the blood in the air clearly, fresh and warm.

One quick stab from my tail, then wait for the paralytic to take effect. Capable of burst movement it likely was, I doubted it would be able to keep up with me on the ground. A hit and run, returning for extra stabs to my weakened foe when necessary. Taking my place behind it, I readied my tail for the strike, extending it’s barb and positioned myself in a place to quickly leap away. I tensed, holding my breath while lining up the blow. It must have caught a whiff of me, or otherwise heard my thumping heart, but it began to turn it’s head around. Too little too late, as I quickly jabbed my natural weapon forward, meeting only token resistance as it plunged into the beast’s flank. Fast as lightning, it spun and took a stab at me, thrusting it’s head in my direction, but I was ready. I already let go of all my handholds and pushed off the tree for extra speed as I could hear the thwack above me of it hitting where I had just been standing.

I hit the ground and broke into a mad scramble as soon as I landed, my limbs groaning in protest at the impact. An action proved useless as I glanced behind me and saw the lizard still struggling to free it’s spike from where it had lodged itself in the tree. It didn’t take long for it to free itself, but it was plenty time for me to gain enough ground that I was comfortable it couldn’t jump onto me. I watched as it turned around at me, furious. I grinned, taking delight in it’s anger. It hissed and launched itself, going farther than even I had suspected it could towards me. All for naught, however, as I still had plenty enough room to scurry back. My guess was right, it was downright sluggish on the ground, but still it seethed at me, starting to grow stiff as it crawled at me.

What surprised me was the fireball it spit at me. Not hot enough to burn me, really, but plenty enough to blind me temporarily as I fell back from the sudden blast of warmth. I scrambled backwards on all fours, before bringing myself to my feet again and rubbing my eyes while backing up. When vision returned, it was still far enough away for me to only take a few scampering steps away to regain my distance.

Then it spoke to me. “Coward! Weakling!” It hissed in demon tongue, fury in it’s eyes. Impotently it raged, growing weaker by the second. Only when I judged it could barely move did I circle around it and stab it again, in the tail this time, near the base. It struggled weakly to stop me, of course, but poison-addled as it was I was able to inject into it a second, stronger dose of venom. Soon, it had stilled completely, though still it drew breath and still it’s eyes tracked me.

I wasted no time before beginning to eat it, not even bothering to kill it first. Something could come by any time now to steal my prize, especially now that it stood out against the ground. I took bite after bite, stuffing as much food in my mouth as quick as I could, scarcely swallowing before working on another mouth full. Lucky I did as well, for before long I heard something large coming closer, pounding footsteps drawing near, and decided to leave. I had eaten more than three pounds of flesh, filling me and ensuring I wouldn’t have to hunt again for some time. I didn’t stick around to see what would finish eating my meal, doubtless it was much, much larger than my venom would be able to paralyze, let alone fast enough before it killed me in retaliation.

A successful day, I thought to myself, returning to my lair. I would be fed for at least a few days, if not a few weeks with what I had consumed. Content with my outing, I attempted to crawl back into my hiding spot, only to find that I would barely fit. I might have been able to squeeze myself, but that would not solve the other issue. I was bigger. There was no doubt about it, I was bigger than I had been when I first slept in my hole. If I did go to sleep in there again, there is no guarantee I would have been able to extract myself after I woke up.

I would have to find somewhere else, then. It shouldn’t be too hard, I had noticed several root knots that I could dig under for shelter and at least a modicum of safety compared to sleeping in the open. Making my way back, I began to do just that for several hours. I got lucky during this, only having to hide as I detected an incoming demon twice.

Eventually, I had dug enough of a burrow to fit my whole body into. Digesting my food, I began to drift off into a light sleep.