“Yes, baby devourers, even smaller than you. They only live a week or so.”

“Why?”

“Same as everything else, something eats them before they grow strong.”

A pit opened in my stomach at Noseen’s words. The rules of the jungle were clear, eat or be eaten. If you don’t grow, you become something else's food. I shivered at the thought, and moved closer to the tall riverbank, staying away from the water and the crowd of bugs.

A white branch hung over the bank, but not close enough to jump and pull myself up with. Then, as I was about to move on towards the fallen tree, I realized it wasn’t a branch, it was a bone.

The bone graveyard had been in this direction, and I wondered just how big that mud pit had gotten. I thought the bone graveyard had been closer to the compound than this, but I didn’t know how big it was along the riverbank, and I hadn’t passed it yet. There were too many unknowns, and no map.

I quietly picked up my speed. Mosquitoes were one thing, larger things with teeth were another, and something larger had taken out that creature.

“The mosquitoes won’t bite you. Devourer blood is off limits.”

I tilted my head and thought about it. “You haven’t taken a sip from me?”

“Of course not, I’d probably kill you and ruin all the fun.”

One sip from them and I’d die? Then again, Noseen had turned other creatures into dust after eating them. Maybe they removed all liquid from creatures' bodies when they ate.

My gaze wandered over the crowd of bugs, and I froze, catching sight of something moving in the very center of the water. All I could see was a dark shadow, but that was enough to put me on guard. I didn’t move to grab my knife and instead just waited. It would either move on, or attack. The waiting game was one we ‘played’ before we were approved to go on our first hunt in the jungle. The goal was to sit in one spot and not move for as long as possible. Predators were very good at that in the jungle, and we had to be better.

I hated the game.

Yet, this time, with my heart pounding and literally seeing the shadow in the water move, it was much easier to be still. I let the sweat drip down my back and kept my breathing soft and steady. My stomach grumbled a little, but I doubted it was loud enough for the thing to hear. Time ticked by, and the shadow eventually receded, heading downstream.

I still waited another five or so minutes before I let myself move from the spot. Then, I slowly headed toward the downed tree and the vines. The sooner I was back at the crystal, the better, though I doubted getting back to the shuttle before nightfall was an option any longer. It might be tomorrow morning at this point, and I just had to hope John could hold on.

Concern filled me as I kept an eye on the water. A roar in the far distance caused me to jump. It sounded similar to the cat that Noseen had commented on before, the cat I very much did not want to see again.

“Interesting, that Alpha cat is closer,” they muttered.

“Closer to us?”

“Yes, that is concerning.”

This was the first time Noseen had sounded worried, and it caught my attention. Normally, it felt like he was following me around for entertainment value, only speaking up here and there when it seemed funny or, maybe, helpful. This sounded more… paternal, in a way.

“How so?”

“You did kill a pack member, it could be seeking revenge.”

That I didn’t understand at all. I’d only killed one cat. Hawk had killed… how many? Not to mention the flier had taken out at least two, possibly three. Plus, it was only a beast, right? Right?

“I’d be on the bottom of that list,” I said with a huff.

Noseen buzzed in response, not agreeing.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Right?” I finally asked, my eyes searching the water again for any sign of the shadow.

“It isn’t going to attack the bird, and the fence will keep it away from the other humans. While you are outside the fence, you’re easy pickings in the jungle.”

When Noseen put it like that, I could see the connection. Still, that seemed a little extreme for a beast to do, and it seemed silly to think of a monster putting that much thought into revenge. Just how smart were beasts and creatures? Noseen spoke, but he had to be, like, level 50 or something like that, maybe. I just didn’t know. But he was clearly not just a beast, even though he wasn’t human. Still, the dinosaurs we’d encountered hadn’t been smart, at least, as far as we could tell.

The cloud of mosquitoes finally noticed me and moved in my direction. I resisted flaying my arms around, trusting Noseen. Not one of them landed on me. Instead, it felt like they were checking me out, but not getting too close. It made me wonder about other bugs. Were they all devourers? Did I unlock a bug class?

“Are there different types of devourers?” I asked, careful not to breathe any members of the cloud into my mouth.

“All sorts, from big to small, and they all eat different things.” Noseen sounded careful in their response, like they could say more but didn’t. Or maybe like they knew more, but weren’t sure how much they were allowed to say. “You are a different type than me, but still a devourer. Not that all devourers like each other. We tend to need space from one another once we’re at anything like a reasonable level.”

The description noted it was an old class, and a feared one. “But, people don’t like devourers, or they hunt them?” I asked with a little confusion. The hints the system gave me about hiding my class had caused me to not mention it to my brother.

“Devourers are easy to eliminate when they are squishy like you. They are not so much when they’re more mature.”

That didn’t give me much, besides building on the idea I needed to be growing stronger to take care of myself and the colony. The fallen tree wasn’t far now and the crowd of bugs finally grew bored of me, moving closer to the water and away. Soon, I would be back on track, making my way to the shuttle. I would do this. Even if I was going to be a little late.

Though, now I was a little concerned about the Alpha Armored Cat that might be after me, not to mention that large thing stomping around the jungle, and whatever was swimming in the water. This area was a hotbed of predators, all larger and higher level than me. I just needed to get to the crystal, and then I could be on my way. Get to the shuttle, get it fixed, and then we would get out of here.

I paused before I made it to the tree to look at the situation. It had fallen from the bank above, and the very end of it sat in the water. But it looked solid, like I could use it to climb up. Plus, technically it was a tree, and I’d be climbing it, even though it wasn’t standing straight up. That should count for my movement skill with climbing trees, I hoped. From there I’d backtrack. Easy, right?

I moved only as close to the waters edge as I needed to so I could hop up on the tree. It was strange climbing one this way, but I easily kept my balance. The slope up the tree trunk wasn’t bad, and there were only a few branches I needed to move around. Thankfully, my skill did seem to be working.

Finally, things were going my way.

I made it a few yards upward when a hissing sound to my right drew my attention. In slow motion, I turned to see two small feathered creatures on the bank of the fiver fighting over fish scraps.

[Microraptor, Level 11]

[Microraptor, Level 10]

Neither of them were paying attention to me. While they were higher level than me, I was definitely bigger than they were. From what I saw, they would barely reach my knee. Compys looked more scary, with their scales, compared to the brightly colored feathers these creatures had. The wings on either side of their bodies were tipped with talons that matched the large talons on each foot. The faces were similar to Compys, and they had small sharp teeth.

I took another step, continuing my way up the tree and trying to not draw attention to myself. I didn’t need to be distracted and this was a pretty rough spot to get into a fight.

One yelped as the other dashed forward, eating what was left of the fish. The loser hissed again, then its eyes drifted up, locking on me on the tree trunk. Bright yellow slits stared for a second before it opened its mouth and yelped. It hissed even louder, drawing the attention of the higher leveled Microraptor. Now, four eyes locked on me, and I felt them examining my level.

That wasn’t good. Since when could beasts use Insight?

I moved a little faster up the tree, aiming for a better spot to attack from, which was apparently the wrong move. I knew it as soon as I jerked forward.

Only prey runs.

They both launched themselves into the air, gliding right at me. I yanked out my knife and extended it into my spear. As soon as one got close, I thrust towards it. It didn’t dodge. The knife cut into the microraptor’s feathers, creating a burning smell and making it whine as it jerked away toward the ground. The other sped up, flying faster, and dodged my second thrust with the spear. The creature spun through the air like an eagle, twisting about.

I wobbled a little as it wheeled around me. Talons scratched at the arm not holding the spear as it flew past. The spear was great when I could keep my distance, but the damn bird was too close now.

Pain crawled up my arm and I tilted backward. Frantically, I leaned forward to regain my balance, but the raptor darted in, aiming for my face. Sharp talons reached out and I shifted out of the way, my back foot finding only air. I crashed backward off the tree trunk, dodging the face attack through the fall.

Pebbles slammed into my back as I landed. Air rushed out of my lungs, and I gasped from the back pain.

Then the microraptor was on me.