I paused, stretching my senses outward for the location of the next target. I got the sense whatever it was, it wasn’t prey, since I couldn’t pick it up well. The stone near Dengu and I glowed a deep purple. Lenna and Hammy still fought back aways down the path, before the ferns had turned a darker color.

Everything inside me warned me that the fact that they were still engaged in the last battle wasn’t good.

“Guys! Run!” My yell caused Lenna to finish the creature in front of her by stabbing it. She took out one of the two next to Hammy, who had blood soaking through the bandage on his arm. He kicked the last one in front of him and started running.

[You have gained experience from combat against Level 26, Microraptor. Your experience is banked.]

Dengu’s head snapped up from the dead creature. A deep growl came from his throat. He padded closer to me, staring slightly off to the right, near the location of the transition from red to purple ferns.

The last Microraptor still standing backed slowly into the ferns off to the left, letting Hammy and Lenna go past. Then it vanished from my senses.

I waved at Hammy to not stop running as he slowed down approaching us. Feathers stuck to my left hand, but I kept the claws out. Anticipation raced through my body as I bounced on my toes.

Lenna's eyes widened as she caught sight of Dengu. “Don’t stop, keep going! Dengu, go!” She sped up next to Hammy.

Hammy thumped by with Lenna. The smell of blood, and way too much sweat, made my eyes water as he passed.

Dengu didn’t so much as flinch until Lenna went ahead of him. I turned to move, keeping pace with the dinosaur and going much slower than I’d like, but we both wanted to stay behind the others.

The glowing boulder pulsed twice as we went by, and the ferns behind us shook. A heavy thud shook the ground.

I smiled.

Three more giant footsteps followed. My eyes darted down the trail, which had two more boulders that both glowed. I said nothing as I slipped off the trail right behind the second one.

The group continued on without noticing I’d vanished. I triggered stealth and kept behind the boulder, out of the line of sight from the trail. I pressed up against the far side of it, near the ferns, until I could see a sliver of the pathway behind us through the leaves.

A large feathered creature broke through the plants, standing taller than the Microraptors. Bright purple and green feathers covered its body. Large talons clicked with each step of its feet, which were a deep purple and covered with scales. The feathers started near its backward knees. Its head reached the same height as Dengu. Yet, it had the same flared tail as the Microraptors, just longer.

[Greater Microraptor, Level 30, Predator. Tastes like Chocolate.]

My smile widened, and I drooled.

Hammy screamed after glancing over his shoulder.

The Greater creature took off down the trail after the running trio. Within seconds, it sprinted past my position, chasing the rest of my team.

Dengu roared at it, but kept following Lenna as the three of them ran toward the next set of boulders.

I crouched down and took a deep breath. Then, I leaped.

My boots dug into the dirt as I sprang forward faster than ever before. Time felt like it froze as the Greater Microraptor’s talons reached out at Dengu’s back, stretching farther than possible as a faint glow covered them.

My spear made contact, slowing me down before I slammed into the creature’s back off-center. The feathers covering it softened my impact, but the rough landing still knocked the air out of me. The predator stumbled to the left as I slid off the side of the creature, shoving it by the weight of my impact.

Shreds of leaves floated through the air as its attack missed, my weight throwing it off balance. It recovered within seconds, its head twisting around to snap at me, and I danced back on the path, ferns grazing my shoulder. Teeth snapped, just missing my head.

Three arrows buried themselves into its side and it jerked back, roaring in fury.

Hammy kept running away, while Lenna slowly paced backward down the trail.

I stabbed up as it reared back, but missed as Dengu body-slammed the creature with his shoulder. My glowing crystal tip missed him by mere inches.

Claws flashed out, again longer than possible, cutting into Dengu’s shoulder. He whimpered and jerked back as the creature moved in closer. Three more arrows flew by, but only two landed, hitting the enemy's right shoulder.

Its black eyes narrowed, glaring at Lenna. The arrows stuck in its body, quivering.

I used the distraction to cut at its right ankle, easily cutting through the outer scales. Then I dodged away from its tail as it flew in my direction.

Lenna launched more arrows into the air, but the raptor limped closer to her, moving slower than before but still incredibly fast. All three arrows missed.

The green woman swore, backing up another ten steps. Dengu also took several steps back, blood dripping down his shoulder. He cawed three times in the air.

“There isn’t anywhere else to go,” called Hammy. He stood somewhere beyond the last boulder, out of my sight.

Either we needed to kill this creature, or all of us needed to get past that boulder. I couldn’t decide which.

It kept going down the trail, speeding up after Lenna.

My stomach growled again as I took off after it.

I just couldn’t let it get away.

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Lenna stopped in the center of the trail and took a stance. She pulled back on her bow as Dengu stood guard, watching the Greater creature get closer.

It leaped.

She let her glowing arrow fly.

The arrow missed, but I didn’t.

[You have gained bonus experience from combat against Level 30, Greater Microraptor. Your experience is banked.]

I landed on top of it, slamming into its side as it landed on the ground, one arrow jabbing into me. My stomach growled, and weakness rolled over me.

Eat it.

You need to eat it.

That voice, the one I’d resisted before, came back, louder than ever. I needed food.

Right now.

Dengu chirped, suddenly right next to me. It felt like he wanted to make sure I was okay.

“Get Lenna down the trail,” I croaked. “I need a minute.” A chunk of meat was in my hand, and I wasn’t sure how it got there. I tore into it while staring up at the Raptor. He turned and chirped, facing the trail. The first couple bites went down rapidly as I ignored that voice.

“Alex?”

An itch traced up my spine as I finished the fist-sized piece of meat. I scrambled for my spear, which lay at my side. “Go! I think there might be more!”

“But…”

“Go!” My voice came out as a growl as I stumbled to my knees. I stared at the dead Greater Microraptor and cut its head off. A movement of air let me know Dengu had followed Lenna.

Feathers were the worst as I cut deep, slicing the beast’s tail away from its body. I tried to yank it into my inventory, but couldn’t. The ferns rustled several feet away as I removed its legs. This time, pulling it into the crystal worked.

The torso vanished.

I rose from my knees and stumbled upright, first walking, then jogging down the path like I was drunk. Blood and feathers stuck to me in various places, but all I focused on was moving. Dengu’s tail vanished around a curve, leaving me alone on this section of the trail.

Another piece of meat appeared in my hand, this time my left one. This one was smaller than the first, and I swallowed it in two large bites before I sensed the creature that was hunting me. A glance over my shoulder showed me the lone remaining Microraptor from before.

Another bite of the meat caused my speed to increase, and I kept trucking down the trail toward the far stone. It didn’t glow like the other two we’d made it past. The sound of claws hitting the pathway caused me to move just a bit faster.

I knew that normally I could easily win this fight, but right now all I could think about was food and a nap. Somehow, I kept a hold of my spear as I sprinted as fast as I could. The stone flashed as I slipped by. The sound of being chased cut off instantly.

I slid to a stop, seeing the path behind me gone. A tall wall of bamboo covered the area, stretching from one side to the other.

Several moments later, Lenna found me sitting on the pathway staring at the bamboo. I’d eaten three more hunks of meat and felt somewhat better. Still not normal, still hungry, but somewhat better.

“Are you okay?” She stood over me, staring before looking at the bamboo. “The bamboo blocking the trail up ahead is gone.” She waited a few seconds before adding, “What happened to you?”

“I ran out of juice.”

“Juice?”

“Energy, food I mean.” I stood up slowly, picking a feather off my pants. “I eat more than a normal person. Without it, I can’t use my skills.”

“That’s a hard weakness.” She nodded slowly. “I understand not wanting to share that knowledge.”

“I trust you.” I didn’t add that at this point, I needed to. She had seen me frantically gulp down raw meat. Though, she might not know humans didn’t eat uncooked food like that. “Is Hammy safe?”

“Eh, sort of. His arm is healing slowly.” She motioned down the pathway. “He is resting ahead before the next stone.” Lenna walked beside me as we headed down the trail. “He leveled, but didn’t fight as well as I’d hoped he would.”

“I think up to this point, Hammy picked his hunting targets carefully.” His level was high enough that he should be stronger, but, then again, could I compare him to me? We turned the corner, and he stood next to the stone in the middle of the trail. He stared away from us, but the ferns blocked the view again.

“Hey, Hammy, what's your highest stat?” I asked as we approached.

“Strength at 81.” He looked at me, his eyebrows almost touching. “Why?”

“Really?” asked Lenna. “My highest is in the low 90s.”

I noticed she didn’t give an actual number. I used Insight on Hammy.

[Hammy, Mech Warrior, Level 23.]

He’d only gone up one level, and I assumed he didn’t have any titles or achievements that affected the experience he earned.

“Wait, what about you?” He stepped closer to me with a frown.

“I have two over 100,” I said, also not giving exact numbers.

“What?!” He took a step back, his eyes wide. “No wonder you’re such a monster. I’ve been wondering how you're so fast... That makes so much more sense.”

Everything inside me froze at the word monster. I had a stat for that, too, but currently it sat at 5%. While I didn’t want it to increase, the skills I’d been offered were just so tempting, and who wasn’t a little bit of a monster on the inside? Maybe the stat just made me more honest about it.

“How about we take a rest?” asked Lenna, while staring at me. When I turned her way, her head snapped toward Dengu. “Dengu needs a moment.” Her lips pressed together as he approached her. The gash on his right shoulder dripped blood.

“Should we do something about that?”

“Oh no, Dengu,” said Hammy, moving closer and completely ignoring his own wounds. “Is your healing crystal ready to go? Maybe give me a shot of it.”

“Shot? What’s a shot?” asked Lenna, pulling the crystal out from under her shirt. She held it up, but still hesitated.

Hammy opened his mouth and then closed it.

I chuckled, not bothering to explain. “Use the crystal on him unless he heals super fast. “ I moved closer to get a better look. “How fast does Dengu heal? He’s an important member of the team.” The wound gaped, making me frown. “Let’s take a moment and I'll eat, plus Dengu can get some food as well.”

Dengu chirped twice and shook his head in an almost no-like way. Lenna didn’t respond to my question.

“You're not hungry? I guess you ate more of them than I noticed.” Just thinking about the feathers in my mouth made me want to gag. I had three Microraptors that I needed to cut up and defeather, but mostly I wanted the hearts. I moved back down the path a little and knelt down on the dirt trail.

Just going for it, I yanked out the Greater carcass. While its torso presented a bigger mass than the normal Microraptors, I wasn’t going to go after anything but the heart. My knife made quick work of the ribs and I basically cut the thing almost in half. Once the heart came into view, I worked carefully to not lose any of it.

My mouth watered, and I glanced up to see what the others were working on. Hammy was re-wrapping his arm, which didn’t look good, while Lenna used something on Dengu’s wound. The glowing blue crystal still sat around her neck.

The giant heart radiated warmth even as I cut it free and sliced off a piece. It melted in my mouth, but I forced myself to eat it slowly and intentionally, tasting dark chocolate cherries. I felt pressure to do otherwise, to gorge, but I resisted.

By the time I finished it, I felt so much better.

[You have devoured a Greater Microraptor and gained the potential skill Tensile Talons. Tensile Talons: Your talons can strike targets outside of your reach. You have the maximum number of skills. Would you like to merge Tensile Talons into Claw Strike?]

Slowly I smiled, reading the notification. This would make Claw Strike so much more useful. Blood still covered my left hand from the fight, though most of the feathers had fallen off.

Yes, I would.

I bit my tongue as my left hand burned. Every finger bone vibrated and my forearm felt like it snapped. My eyes watered at the pain, but it slowly faded.

[Tensile Talons has merged into Claw Strike, creating Tensile Claw Strike. Tensile Claw Strike: You can extend claws from your knuckles. Each strike can hit a target minimally outside of your reach.]

I flexed my hand, and four claws shot out of my knuckles. I swiped at the giant leaf near the edge of the trail, keeping the claws from actually touching it. Light flashed near the tips, and four gashes formed.

“How did you do that?” asked Hammy.