(PoV Sylvia continuing)

I am still carried through the air. Meanwhile, I am deep in the heart of the Everglade forest. The bird begins to fly lower, so I suspect that we are about to reach our destination. I look around searching and after a short time discover a nest in a particularly large tree. I can recognize other smaller birds of prey in the nest, I suspect it is the brood of my kidnapper. As we come closer they begin to screech, indicating their hunger.

The big mother or father bird, I can’t really tell from my position, sees no risk with me and approaches the nest in order to feed me to the chicks. Tense, I extend and retract my claws at the ends of my fingers. My breath quickens and I get ready to act. As my tension increases, I notice something new that I hadn't consciously noticed before. Something inside me changes, hormones are released and prepare my body for the coming conflict.

By now we are directly above the nest and the bird of prey is slowly sinking lower. This is my opportunity! I extend my claws fully and drill them into the clawed feet of the bird. I don't penetrate deeply, but the long resting phase has lulled my tormentor, so that he drops me out of surprise when I suddenly put up a fight he no longer expected. My sense of time becomes slower and slower and my senses become sharper as a result of the hormones released inside my body.

From a height of about one meter I fall with extended claws on the chicks below me. The chicks are about the same size as me and there are three of them! I use my fall to sink my claws directly into the neck of my first victim, right next to its torn open beak, which it used to scream for food earlier. With a bloody yelp it collapses while the other two start snapping at me with their mouths. I dexterously dodge and pounce on the wings of the next one.

The large bird of prey swoops down and pecks at me with its beak, which I can no longer fully avoid. I get a bloody slash along my back, which I can hardly feel in my current state. Finally in range, I take a quick bite with my shredding teeth while at the same time bringing my body behind the chick to use it as a meat shield against further attacks. I don't have to wait long as the other so far uninjured chick tries to snap at me. Due to my positioning however, this remains unsuccessful and it hits its comrade instead.

The big bird, on the other hand, hesitates and tries to move sideways around me. My victim screams agonized for help, while a lot of blood flows from the bite wound on his wing. I grab his head and use my increased strength to resolutely snap his neck. One more chick and after that there is only the big bird of prey. With another leap, I pounce on my next victim. It reacts much too slowly from my point of view and I cleverly dodge its beak. The big bird dashes forward, but I have already reached my goal. My claws bore with such force from below into the throat of the last chick that it falls over backwards.

This came somewhat unexpectedly, which puts me in an awkward position towards the big bird. This one uses his chance by attacking me from above with his claws. The first one I escape narrowly, but the other finds its target and bores itself deep into my right shoulder. I release a hissing sound and grab the claw with my left hand, pulling it forcefully out of my shoulder. Surprised about my increased strength the bird of prey stumbles back a step, providing me with a breather. I roll away to the side and quickly stand up again.

I sprint towards my last opponent. He lands with his feet and uses his beak to peck at me. This turns out to be a serious mistake, as I swiftly dodge it and in turn am now in range of his face. I use the last remaining strength from my healthy arm and ram my hand, claws first, directly into the enemy's eye. While doing so I notice a big chunk of energy leaving me, giving my whole arm a blue glow. My claws bore through the eye, breaking bone, and the bird of prey collapses. I pull my hand out of the bird's head again and notice that it is only a bloody remnant with dislocated fingers and completely fractures bones. I bleed from several wounds and exhaustion begins to kick in.

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My injuries are too severe to recover from quickly. In addition, there is the price of my explosive condition. I will need a lot of nutrients and time, so I start to devour my prey. It is a risk to stay here, as the bird of prey surely has a mate who could come back. However, in my condition I would not get far and would have to do without the meat I desperately need to recover from my wounds. I am eating as fast as I can and my body is already starting to stop the bleeding. The fatigue continues to increase, but now is not a moment to surrender to it. I need these nutrients now, before I pass out! Only half a minute later with almost a full stomach I collapse between the bloody corpses and start my regeneration phase. I close my eyes and darkness surrounds me as I drift into unconsciousness.

I wake up again and keep my eyes closed. I don't move a muscle and listen for dangers in my surroundings with the goal of not drawing attention to myself. I can hear the sounds of the forest around me. I don't notice any predator in my immediate vicinity, so I carefully open my eyes and turn to the side, blinded by the sun. I don't know how long I was unconscious, but it's daytime now. My wounds have closed again, even though there are still distinct marks. It will take much longer for these to disappear as well. I notice the bloody remains of my fight lying next to me in the nest, the blood now completely clotted.

I suspect I don't look much better myself and am probably covered in blood from top to bottom. But that doesn't bother me and I fall back onto the next carcass. While I was unconscious, my body used up most of its biomass to heal and pay for the consequences of my overdrive state. I try to move the fingers of my still injured hand, which has not yet healed enough, so my endeavor fails. With my shredder teeth I drill into the meat in front of me, which is turned into a paste and then led directly further into my stomach. In my haste I don’t have the time to eat properly, which causes small chunks of meat to get swallowed whole. In this manner I rip through skin, tendons and muscle alike right to the bones.

I manage to sate my hunger and I am also able to extract a new Strain. It’s called ‘Feathery Wings’ and it can only be equipped by creatures with the prerequisites for flight. The Strain increases their flying speed, keeps them warm in cold climates and provides increased protection from wind or rain. In combination with other Strains it could also be used for some non-flying Sylv creatures in order to give them the ability to fly.

Enough with the food, this nest is dangerous and I have to get out of here. At any time the mate of the bird of prey could arrive or other creatures could become aware of the bloody remains. I turn to the edge of the nest and estimate that I am about two to three meters above the ground. I turn my attention back to my injured hand, the fingers of which are still broken off at crooked angles. At least the skin has closed again and the hand itself looks much better. My body blocks most of the pain receptors in my hand, which is a subconscious process that reacts automatically.

With my other hand, I reach for my first finger and break it back into its correct position in one swift motion. I repeat the process until all fingers are back in place with a crack. The healing process will do the rest, but I'm already trying to evaluate the improvement by trying to move the fingers again. This time it works much better and two of the five fingers even react. I decide to continue eating and to make a new test with the injured hand every few minutes. Eventually after about half an hour I am able to move all my fingers again and I start my descent from the nest. I use my claws to climb down the tree and then proceed to go deeper into the forest. I don’t remember the direction I need to take in order to get back to my previous lair, but I have memorized some prominent landscape features that will help me determine my approximate position and the way back. I just need to find them and then some more time to find my way back. There is only one problem, the Everglade forest is known for its abundant and dangerous wildlife, which certainly considers me a tasty snack. I won't make it on my own, but I've eaten enough biomass to start a new swarm once I get a little further away from the predator nest.