N13, Scaly Treats

Lately I only wanted to relax and take things slowly. That expedition to find the extent of the cave complex had ended up being a stressful experience. That was the main reason why we were by a sizable pond, to have some break time.

The stone in this place was slippery and more colorful than the whitish one of most other caves. Inside the water nearly all of it was covered by green and brown algae and the few visible rocks had more of those strange feather like creatures poking out of them. They were bigger and thicker than the ones I had seen in the caves, and some had some hues of yellow, red or brown. They tended to live close to each other, like some kind of colonies.

There were also tiny fish swimming around and crabs of various sizes walking on the bottom. They had different colors from those on land, brown and green being the most common, with some gray and whitish ones mixed in.

The ceiling of the cave was full of small stalactites that dripped into the pond. Inside the water there were also some thin cracks in the rock. The algae near them moved, revealing hidden currents that went in and out of the basin.

Most of my minions were looking at the water with a mix of desire and concern, it was their first time seeing so much of the liquid element in one place. Personally, I wanted to catch at least some of the bigger crabs on the bottom, the fish looked appetizing too, but I wasn’t confident in the swimming skills of my current body.

I tapped the ground with my front paws, telling my underlings to stay put before heading for the pool by myself. I didn’t want any of them to drown. I entered the shallowest part, where my feet still touched the floor and tested if my body could float.

Things went surprisingly well. The water was quite cold, but my buoyancy was remarkable. I had no problem moving around the surface of the pond. Then I tried diving, I aimed for a particularly big crab and submerged myself. I had no problem to see underwater, and managed to snatch the critter from the deeps. Once done I let myself get pushed to the surface like an air bubble.

In the wake of my success I let my minions enter the water. Only a few followed me at first, while the others probed the pond from the edges using their paws.

After being sure there would be no accidents I focused on the crab I had between my jaws. It was large enough for me to be unable to put it whole inside my mouth, not that I wanted to do it. I began to crack the hard shell, being careful not to smash it into tiny pieces. I would open the body and eat its innards. For once I was quite excited to taste something. These creatures would make a nice snack if they didn’t have such pesky carapaces.

Finally I managed to open the shelled critter. Despite living in fresh water it had a slightly salty flavor, maybe it was because it ate the algae in the pond. Those weren’t very palatable and reminded me of the moss in the walls that was also wet, chewy, and had a trace of saltiness.

‘Wait, is the moss in the walls are algae?’

The strange feather like creatures, the crabs, the algae, all of them were sea creatures, but here they also lived on dry land. How the hell did this place come to be like this? If I weren’t a rat trying to regain its human body I would probably find this mystery quite intriguing.

I took a look at the pond and made sure none of my minions had managed to drown themselves without me noticing. Only a few remained out of the pond, many of them were already catching crabs while others struggled to pursue the fish. A couple had even decided that munching on the algae was the easiest choice, one of them being Number Three.

I watched them enjoy the pond while I savored my snack, I would make sure to bring them here from time to time. ‘Happy underlings are loyal underlings.’ I thought joyfully.

“Shriik! shrii shriik!” Once everyone had enough fun I gathered the gang.

The food in the pond wasn’t bad, Number One and Two had even managed to catch a fish each, and of course my first follower had offered his to me. I only gave it a bite though, and patted Number One’s head for being such a well behaved subordinate. If everyone was like him I would have assembled an army by now.

Since we had already eaten some refreshments it was time to have a proper meal. I had already found the very good place for that a few days ago.

…

Our current spot was a bit close to the humans’ main routes for my comfort, but its advantages far outset that small inconvenience. Not only could I be sure there wouldn’t be dangerous beasts nearby. An easy meal was provided at regular intervals!

‘Hundred percent guaranteed.’

In front of me there was a cluster of scaly sacks, they were attached to the walls and the ceiling. Yes, this was one of those frightening nurseries. Lately I would only bother to approach them to find new recruits, but the one in front of me was special. I knew for a fact that the humans were also interested in preserving it, since it was surrounded by their signs. There was even some colorful ones that seemed to forbid the use of fire in this place. This was a lizard nursery, a birthing chamber for another species. The one thing I had failed to locate in the corridors.

This nursery had confirmed my hypothesis that most, if not all, of the creatures here were born from these sacks. While looking at it I also noted that the pods were attached to black roots, like the one I had seen the other day.

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‘Are we some kind of seed?’

Honestly, this place was really strange, the more I knew about it the more bizarre it got. I guessed my only option at the moment was to accept things as they were and keep going.

Everyone was waiting in a small passageway. We were hiding while waiting for a lizard to leave its sack. Just like rats, the newborns were fully grown as well as quite confused and dull after being released into the world. I could easily bait them, and once they were far enough from the nursery they were really easy preys. Specially thanks to the fact that there were currently four fierce rats in my band.

Yes, Number One and Number Three had finally evolved. It had happened in two consecutive days. First Number One, and then Number Three, the process had been the same as Number Two’s. I had paid great attention to it both times, trying to get some clue on how it was triggered.

With four fierce rats in the gang even normal lizards would have no chance in a fight, much less the young ones that appeared near this place. Two days ago we had caught a couple of them in the way here.

Splash.

One of the pods opened and a reptile fell from it. The creature looked like it had just awakened after a night of heavy drinking.

I gave it some time to compose itself and left the hiding spot. It would only take a bit of acting for the creature to focus on me. I walked near the passage making it seem like I hadn’t noticed the still wet scaly newborn.

Soon the lizard approached me, hungry for its first meal. What it didn’t expect was Number Two jumping from behind it and biting it’s neck, nor Number One and Three following him and also closing their jaws on its neck and tail. Number Three, my eager subordinate, had skillfully sank his teeth in the lizard’s weak spot, making it bleed profusely. Afterwards more and more members of the band clenched their teeth on its flesh, pinning the reptile to the floor.

‘As expected, a fast and easy meal.’

With this reliable food source and the advantage of having a bigger area to move around I was already making plans to drastically increase the number of goons. The evolution of my two subordinates had appeased my worries of losing control of the gang. Neither Number One nor Number Three looked more rebellious than before. If anything, my first follower had become even more zealous when it came to enforcing our social hierarchy. He was a perfect counterpart to Number Two, while Number Three was still as lazy and shy as ever.

I had decided that I would take in three or four new recruits every few days. I wanted to add about thirty goons, but I had to take them in small batches to avoid problems with the newcomers. They always needed some time to adapt and learn how we operated.

…

Not much time had passed since we fed on the lizards. We had ended up eating three of them, everyone was full before we headed back to the lair.

This was also one of my experiments to promote the evolution of my gang members, as well as my own. I was sure food had to be an important factor, because we needed to grow before experiencing the sudden changes.

At the moment I was exploring the area, looking for a rat nursery, it was a lot more difficult to find one in this place compared to the hallways. I had even thought about going back there quickly to gather my new members, but in the end I had discarded the idea. The hallways were full of humans and I wanted to be self-sufficient down here. These expeditions would help us explore the place. I was sure I would be able to find a rat spawner sooner or later if I followed the human signs.

In the middle of our journey, while moving along a cave far from the main paths used by the warriors, I spotted a new creature in a medium-sized passage. It was a dark green bipedal reptile with a small and elongated head that rested on a slender neck. It also had little arms and a long tail that were covered by brown feathers with some blue on their tips.

I couldn’t find a name for the creature, but I was sure I had seen similar things somewhere before. In any case it didn’t seem dangerous. It wasn’t slightly smaller than me and with its tiny mouth it would be difficult for the it to injure any of us. It also lacked a beak or big claws to defend itself. At most it might be able to fly a bit using those arms, but there was nowhere here for it to escape.

Some members of my band looked a bit nervous, probably because it was their first time seeing such animal. I decided I wanted to catch this prey, unless it flew far away, in that case I wouldn’t pursue it. I still remembered what had happened with the mouse.

I began to approach the bipedal reptile with caution. The air in the cave moved slowly towards the creature, but it didn’t seem to be bothered by our presence. Even if it had poor vision it should have heard or smelled us already.

Halfway in the creature opened its mouth in our direction, as if it was challenging us. The tiny cavity was riddled with minuscule teeth that I could barely discern. They were definitely not enough to pose a threat.

‘Something is wrong here.’ The thought suddenly assaulted me. That animal seemed way too overconfident standing boldly in the middle of the path. Was it a newborn? Or was its brain too small to understand the danger? If anything it remembered me of our ambushes.

I stopped in my tracks. I hadn’t thought about the possibility because the lizards always roamed alone, but if this creature was a member of a bigger pack… Then its behavior would make sense.

‘We are being baited!’

I quickly swung my tail against the floor repeatedly, we had to escape right now. Everyone stared retreating disorderly, once we were far enough I would order them to regroup.

Before we could even leave the passage some figures jumped from the crevices in the walls. They weren’t companions of the feathered reptile, but ratmen, bigger than the ones I had previously seen.

I didn’t have the time nor the wish to look at them. I rushed back with all my might while the humanoid beasts pursued us from behind. I needed to find a small space, one with a second exit, to slip away from them.

As I was focused on looking for an escape route a net suddenly fell on me, making me trip almost instantly. It had weights attached to it that made it difficult to move. Close to me I could see Number One who had also been hit by a net and had ended up rolling on the ground.