Landing on the man with the bow, I rolled forward as he fell thanks to my impact. I had hit him at an angle. My knees hit his shoulders.

Grabbing his head, I slid my fingers under his jaw as I actually fell forward and past him. I bumped into his bow as I did, and we both fell to the ground.

Clinging to his head, I waited for the tug. The pull. I knew from fighting and wrestling my siblings how strong people were… so I had been expecting him to try and tug his neck free of my hold. Yet although he seemed to try… it had been… or was… strangely still.

My hands slipped off the man’s head as I rolled a little too far. I panicked for a moment, since it meant he’d be able to get back to his feet. I had failed to kill him right away. But something… off had been about how his head had slipped free. It was almost as if he hadn’t done it himself, but rather…

Rolling on the floor, I ignored the weird shrieks from the other humans. I especially ignored the cry from the woman. Somehow her scream made my eyes want to dart to her, as if to check why she was screaming. As if to make sure she was okay.

Ignoring them, I focused on the man on the ground next to me. He had landed harshly, unlike me who had rolled upon falling. Crawling back over to him, I got my hands on his head again… and was about to twist and tug, as to expose his throat as to bite into it… until I felt the familiar feeling of a broken neck.

“What…?” I couldn’t believe it. Although I had obviously planned, and tried, to break his neck upon jumping on him…

I had not planned for it to work at all.

So when I twisted his head, and heard and felt the broken bones within his neck, I couldn’t help but gawk a little in pure shock at the dead man.

Really? I killed him already?

Maybe he had twisted his head far too strongly, expecting me to roll the other way or something as we fell. Had he further broke his neck on his own? Somehow? So weird…

That was why I had not been able to hold onto his head then. It had turned and slipped out of my grip thanks to the broken neck and…

I ducked, and flinched away as a large foot brushed along the top of my head. It hit my ears, which hurt, but it was better than being kicked in the face.

Instead of running away, I quickly stood up. The man who had tried to kick me in the face was still in his attack. His foot still up in the air.

He was hollering something, roaring at me, but I couldn’t understand it. Though I understood that look on his face. The anger and terror in his eyes.

I recognized those emotions well.

This was one of the men with those huge packs. It made him feel far bigger than he was, but at the same time made him slow. Sluggish. He tried to stop, and get his foot back to the ground as to get away from me, but he couldn’t do it fast enough.

I stepped forward, and sent my hands out. I clawed at his face, grabbing at eyes.

He renewed his roaring as I felt my nails dig into flesh. I felt my nails cut into his skin. Puncture eyes. Grab and grip chunks of flesh near his cheeks, and…

The man tried to pull away. To spin and put the huge pack on his back between us, as to protect himself, but I didn’t let it him. I took hold of his face and head, grabbing hair and an ear, and stepped up onto the back of his thigh. I clambered up onto the man’s back, and the pack, and positioned myself right above his head.

More screams from those watching, and the man I was attacking, but my fast beating heart kept me from trying to interpret any of the words. I dedicated my whole focus to finishing the deed.

Keeping firm hold on the man’s head, I reached down with my other hand and grabbed at his throat.

This man had a beard. It felt oddly scraggly, but it provided no protection. My nails sliced and dug into his throat a little too easily. As if he was really old or something, even though he didn’t look it and…

Yes. I felt his whole body twitch right as my hand grabbed something hard. Something that made every muscled in his body go taught and hard.

Then he collapsed, going limp.

I didn’t fall with him, but instead leapt off the man and the pack he carried. I jumped over to the other man I had already killed, and slid along the path for a moment as I hurried to grab some of the arrows stuck under him.

Getting a handful of the things was easy, and pulling them out from under him proved to be even easier.

Standing up, I turned the arrows a little to make sure the pointed ends were facing the right way. I held them in such a way that they were facing downward, to the ground.

Yes. Perfect for jabbing into something.

But there was nothing to stab at anymore.

Blinking wildly, I looked around in a panic as I realized the other two were gone. Both the woman and the man were…

My heart nearly jumped out of my throat as I spun, expecting an attack or something, but instead I eventually found them.

Down the path. Heading away from me. Running.

“What…?” I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Predators. Running away. At full sprint…?

Unsure of what to even think, I quickly shook my head and looked around again. Surely something was off? Had they maybe seen my father or something? A bear? Another predator?

But no. Other than the two dead men on the ground near me, there was nothing else. The forest was a little noisy, thanks to my quick heartbeat and the rustling of leaves from the wind picking up… but there was nothing else amiss.

“What is going on?” I asked as I once again looked to the other humans. They were farther now, but not so far that it worried me. Was that really as fast as they could run? Maybe they were hurt. That would explain their attempts at fleeing instead of fighting… but in my experience; a beast injured fought a little harder one last time before simply giving up.

I coughed and looked down; to make sure I was okay. I didn’t feel hurt. One of the nails on my right hand had broken during my attacks, but other than that I actually felt fine. Even my knees and elbows, which had scraped the ground and the humans during the scuffle, didn’t feel bad. I felt the slight burn of little cuts and scrapes, but nothing worse than that.

Had it actually been this easy?

Even elk put up more fight than this…

I had expected to kill at least the man with the bow. But I hadn’t expected at all to get another, nor to do it without injury. I planned on being the one to flee, and then turn this into a battle of attrition. One where I hunted and pecked at them for days and days.

Yet here I was… standing over two…

“Wait…!” I panicked as I realized something important.

Father would probably consider this a failure.

He hadn’t specified I needed to kill more than one, but it had been obvious. He, like the rest of the family, expected me to kill them all.

Groaning, I stepped forward as to make chase. But hesitated as I remembered the arrows in my hand.

Could… could I use it?

The bow?

Stepping back over to the first body, I had to roll him over to get access to the bow. It looked fine as I dug it out from the weird leather holder it was in, but…

Holding up the smooth rounded stick, I frowned at it.

Where was the string thing? That propelled the arrow forward…?

It was just a stick. There wasn’t a string on it.

Uncle’s had a string. How else did it work? Did it maybe not need a string…? Then how did…

I fumbled with it for a moment, but realized I’d not be able to figure it out. Not if I wanted to give chase.

Discarding the weird bow that I didn’t understand, I instead chose to grab a few more arrows instead.

I wouldn’t be able to shoot them, but they were still sharp. Sharp and deadly.

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Coughing a little, since my throat felt oddly dry, I turned to start running.

Heading off the path, I found the two humans. They were much farther, but still in sight… and…

Still on the trail.

Really? Why were they still on the path?

Even a wounded animal in a panic didn’t stay on such a path when fleeing. What were they thinking…?

Could there… maybe… be more of them? Down the path? Was it possible?

Father had been waiting for these ones. But that didn’t mean there weren’t more nearby. He hadn’t said there weren’t more.

He’d do that. He’d leave out such an important detail, just to see what I’d do about it.

Grumbling I picked up my pace as I hurried after the two humans.

Strangely I was able to keep up with them easily. Unlike my family, who ran slower with me on purpose so I could keep up, these humans seemed to just… not be able to run very fast.

Maybe they were hurt. Or maybe the stuff they carried was just that heavy.

That pack on that man I had killed had landed rather harshly. And felt hard. I could just barely remember the feeling of my knees on it as I had attacked him. They hadn't sunk into it. There had been something hard inside it.

Maybe that was why those men had died so easily. They had been too overburdened. Too weighted down.

I had to slow a little as I almost caught up with the humans. As I did, I noticed the weird sounds they were making as they ran.

They were wheezing. And…

Was that crying?

Yes. It was. That wasn’t just them trying to catch their breath, or straining from exertion, but actual weeping.

And the woman wasn’t the only one crying either.

Fascinated, I drew closer… but made sure to stay far enough away that I’d both be safe and so that they’d hopefully not notice me. I stayed a few rows of trees away, and did my best to follow a chain of large bushes and brambles as to further hide me.

They were yelling at each other, or maybe me, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. The weirdest part was… I couldn’t even recognize any of the words. Nothing sounded even remotely familiar. In fact if not for the emotions in their voices, and the fact they were saying them to each other, I’d likely not have realized they were speaking at all if they had been alone.

I’d have likely just heard weird groans and noises had they been alone. The same I heard from most other animals.

I wonder if that meant other animals talked to, when in groups.

I’ll need to verify that. I’d never considered that the reason I thought animals couldn’t speak was because the only times I’d heard them was when I was hunting them. When they were alone, and likely just screaming at me in pain or hate.

Hesitating a moment, I tried to stop myself from falling to my knees as my whole world just suddenly… became different.

Not actually, of course. But from my eyes it had. I had to blink a few times to focus as the humans neared a large tree. One that the path rounded.

What had just happened…? I had suddenly felt weak. Lightheaded.

As if I had just gotten hit in the head. I hadn’t felt like that since Glennessa had beaten me for trying to teach Fellisee how to catch fish. She hadn’t wanted to share her favorite lake.

Slowing, I crouched next to a large bush as I tried to calm down and understand what had just happened.

First I made sure I wasn’t actually hurt. I felt as if I’d been bleeding profusely or something. The light-headedness was akin to what it felt like when I was starving or…

But there was nothing wrong with me. At least not physically.

Then… what?

I gulped and shook my head. It barely worked. I almost fell back to my bottom, and I had to drop the arrows as to put my hands onto the ground and support myself.

Something was horribly wrong with me…

Taking deep breaths, I wondered if maybe these humans were like some of the creatures that could kill with a single bite. Maybe I had gotten stung by them or something…

I couldn’t remember it. But it wasn’t too strange a thought. I had attacked them at their throats, so they biting my hands during the commotion had been possible. I didn’t remember them doing so, but…

Or maybe it was just their blood, or saliva. My right hand was covered in stains from that second man. I had torn into his throat and…

A loud scream drew my attention away from my own issues. I peered over the bush and found the two humans not far away. Near the large tree.

They were fighting one another.

Dumbfounded, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The man looked as if he was being attacked by the woman. She had something in her hands, and she was…

Yes. That was some kind of sharp knife. She was stabbing him.

They were shouting wildly as they fought. I watched in awe through half-closed eyes as I continued to regain my normal mind. It was still light. Still weak and weird. But I could feel it getting better. At least I wasn’t feeling the tug of sleep.

The man finally got the knife from the woman, and stepped away quickly. He shouted something at her, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to.

The man was hurt. Horribly so. He looked down at himself and made a weird noise as he ran his free hand along his stomach and chest.

It came away a deep red. So soaked it dripped.

Why had she done it? Why had she attacked him…?

I wished I could understand what they were saying…

The two spoke for a moment, then the man rushed forward. To attack the woman, so I had thought, but instead he ran past her. Flailing as he ran off, I watched in wonder as he ran off the path. He ran towards the large tree the path rounded, and then a few moments later tumbled to the ground. He had tripped on a root.

She watched him like I did… but not for long. She hurried away, returning to running away. She shouted something as she did. It sounded short and full of spite.

It was interesting that even though I didn’t understand them… I could still hear their emotions. I could still hear the familiar tones.

They were yelling like my family did sometimes.

Slowly standing, I winced at the weird feeling of light-headedness again. It wasn’t as bad as before, but it still made me leave the bushes slowly. I walked out onto the path, and looked from the fleeing woman to the man crawling away. Or at least trying to. He was wheezing and gasping for air.

Maybe they hadn’t been friends…?

They had been laughing and talking earlier though. But it made sense.

My family would have attacked me too, if they thought that it would keep them alive. Maybe that was just normal. Maybe all families abandoned their weakest link in times of crisis.

Like a herd of animals sacrificing the infirm to the predators that hunted them. To sacrifice one to save many.

I’d never really seen it myself, but I’d heard stories about such things. From my grandparents. From back when our ancestors had hunted for the gods.

As I walked over to the man, I was glad to find that my head became clear again. The weird lightheaded feeling was still there, but it was quickly fading. I no longer felt as if I was going to fall over, or dizzy.

I wonder what it had been. Maybe father would tell me later. He was watching after all.

The man groaned something, and I hesitated. My hands were empty.

Glancing back to where I had been, I groaned. Right. I had dropped the arrows. I had forgotten to pick them back up.

But… maybe that didn’t matter.

He was still crawling, but he was stuck up against a large root. One that was just a little too big for him to clamber over. Especially since he was…

Stepping up to him, I stopped just out of his reach. He was clawing at the root, trying to drag himself over it… but he wasn’t doing much more than getting his blood everywhere.

The grass and weeds around him were covered in his blood. He was actually leaking so much it was concerning. That was a lot of blood for a creature his size.

I took a step closer, but towards the root instead of him. I wanted to see his face closer.

He noticed me, and once he did he stopped clawing at the root. He went to glaring at me, and I saw past the blood marring his face.

That look was very, very familiar.

I’ve seen it many times before. On the face of my siblings. My brothers. My father.

That was the face of someone full of hate. Full of fury.

If he wasn’t so hurt he’d be trying to kill me right now.

“What are you?” I asked him.

His eyes narrowed in pain, and he gasped for a desperate breath. He then said something. Something meant for my ears, yet…

“Do you not understand me?” I asked. I hadn’t understood that either.

“No.”

My tail went stiff, and I almost fell backwards. Grabbing the root for support, I knelt down and stared in wonder at the man.

“No,” he said again.

I could tell he wasn’t used to saying it. It sounded weird. And not just because he was dying, or out of breath. There was a weird roll of the tongue being used. One we, I, didn’t use.

“No…!” he said again, this time harsher.

Reaching out, I was about to grab him. To flip him over. To see if I could stop his bleeding… but there was no point.

He stopped moving before I could grab his shoulder.

The man went still, his head lowered… and his breathing stopped.

Dead. Died. From his wounds.

Wounds that had been bad, yes, but…

Grabbing his shoulder, I forced him over. Onto his side. I couldn’t put him on his back since he still wore that huge pack thing. It got in the way. Yet even though not able to fully bring his stomach into view… I was able to get enough of a look.

I couldn’t see any guts. He was caked in blood, and most of it was coming from his stomach, but it looked like just stab wounds. There was likely several, but…

Would I have died? So quickly?

I’d been stabbed before. By not just claws and teeth, but sharp weapons. By knives. A few times in the stomach like this too. A few years ago all of us siblings had gotten into a fight over the last bit of food during winter. The youngest brother, being still too small and weak to fight on even footing, had snuck in a flat and sharp metal piece. One he had taken from our parent's kitchen. And I had been the one he had chosen to use it on first. He had stabbed most of us before Uncle intervened.

Though I hadn’t bled anywhere near as badly as this. Maybe he had been stabbed in something important. Too important to survive.

If so that meant I had been far luckier than I thought.

Standing up I stepped away from him and sighed. He had said something in my language. It had been difficult to him, and he had only said a single word… but…

Hurrying back to the path, I scanned the horizon for the woman. It didn’t take long to find her. She was farther away than ever, but she was still in sight. And she looked… was she even running anymore? It looked like she wasn’t.

Making the decision to follow after her, I tried to make sense of my mind and current situation.

“Even if they can talk… does it matter…?” I wondered aloud as I picked up the pace and started to run.

I stayed on the path, since it seemed it didn’t matter if I hid or not. She was definitely not running that quickly anymore. Maybe she had gotten hurt, or stabbed, in that earlier struggle too.

Chasing after the last human, I did my best to calm my confused and curious mind… and also did my best to remind myself that father was watching.

He was watching. So I needed to be careful.