The world wants to teach us all. All broods. Predators and prey. The lesson is simple. Live.

-From Aphorisms: 1:38-42

The neonate lay under a fern. The sun was glorious and warm. Perfect to bask in.

She was constantly tired and hungry, so it was a treat to rest like this. She was still figuring out how to feed herself. Hunting took energy as well, which was a depleting resource. Adding to the pressure to figure it out with each passing minute.

Food. Her Instinct gurgled from her empty belly.

She shivered, remembering her last attempt to feed at the nest. Her bruises still ached.

The neonate did get scraps, but that’s all they were. Scraps. She needed more if she was ever going to catch up to the others in size.

She pushed the worries from her mind. Wanting to take some time to nap. She refocused on how to find quick filling meals.

Perhaps termites? She had thought of a possible method using a stick, but she would have to try it first.

A river emperor dragonfly hummed past. That would be a meal. As big as she was and packed with delicious protein. They were far too fast though, and in some respects it would be a shame to kill off another predator like that.

Fool! Other things do not think that way. Meat is meat. Consume! Survive!

Something rattled off in the far distance. Too deep to be a woodpecker. Another rattle answered, this one a little closer.

That made her think of eggs. She had yet to find any of those.

Birds make excellent prey.

Her Instinct grunted.

Something rustled through the underbrush. The neonate’s eyes snapped open.

It wasn’t loud, but something about it was… sinister. Something made her muscles tighten. She let her tongue flicker out for a moment.

No scent. Wind is bad though. Her Instinct hissed suspiciously, sliding from her nose to her eyes, making them rove in all directions.

It feels like… being watched…

She shifted colors, hoping to hide. She continued to search for whatever it was, not moving her head. Only her eyes. Not wanting to give herself away.

RADADADADADADADADADADADADADADAT!

A shadow blocked out the sun.

Run! Her Instinct screeched, slamming into her legs.

Mud churned. Dry leaves crackled. She shot forward. Acidic fear burned in her belly.

The predator slammed into the earth. The avian beak scraped the top of her tail before she was out and away, sprinting.

A massive taloned foot pinned her down for a moment. She wriggled madly, squeezing out from under it as the beak crashed down again. The sides of it were razor sharp, cutting her leg as she fell onto her back to get away. Facing the predator.

She looked up into the terrifying gray eyes of an enormous bird. More than four times her height, nearly five and a half feet. She could almost have fit entirely in its domed beak. The single hook at the tip glinted as the mouth opened slightly.

Run! Kingbill! Run! Her Instinct demanded.

RADADADADADADADADAT!

It rattled its beak together, and she hissed in terror. Her hand landed on a rock as she was scrambling back. She threw it at the beast, making its head lean back. She scrambled to her feet.

Dodge, now!

She dove to the right and the beak crashed next to her. She ran the other way, hoping to confuse it.

It rattled again, head swiveling. Searching. She slid into the reeds, burrowing in as deep as she could. Her hand landed in something slimy. Her tongue flickered out.

Eggs!

A huge mass of amphibian eggs. She would have to remember this location if she wanted to-

The sun grew brighter. The Bird had started snipping the reeds with its beak! It spotted her and lunged in. She dove into the slimy pile of eggs to avoid it, going deeper and getting into the water proper.

A long toe pressed her down, she gurgled, but wriggled free once again. Through the water’s ripples she could see the wobbly shape that was the Kingbill. It moved closer, feeling with its long toes for her.

Getting worse! Land!

Her Instinct was right, she wasn’t fast enough in the water, and she didn't want to get sucked downstream. Away from the Island and the protection of the Provider.

The beak plunged again, and it was only the reeds that kept her from being bifurcated by the obsidian sharp edge.

She squealed as she was lifted high, the beak opening as she was tossed to be facing head first towards the throat.

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No! I am not dying here!

Fight!

She dug her claws into the fleshy tongue, snapping with her own jaws. It was hot, slimy, and she felt her teeth sink into the flesh. Blood.

The massive bird squawked, deafening her as it opened its mouth and shook its head, sending her sailing through the air.

She tumbled painfully into the dirt, the Kingbill’s saliva and blood making the soil into mud as she scrambled back to the safest place that she knew.

The nesting site.

The bird followed.

Other hatchlings saw the bird chasing the neonate and fled. It flapped its wings as it ran, nearly eight feet across. The wind generated blew one hatchling off of a rock as she tried to run.

She was small like the neonate.

She watched in horror as the other little female splashed into the river, screaming as the current pulled her away from the island.

Distraction! Run!

The bird didn’t slow, focused on the neonate. She turned away and ran even faster, gasping. Needing Tok. She hoped just his size would make the bird leave.

She crashed through the ferns into the clearing of the nest, and saw… nothing.

He wasn’t there!

Just the remnants of the eggshells and the stripped bones of the last meal the Provider had given them, another gulper.

The bird swooped into the clearing. Landing and striking again in the same motion, making her scramble.

RADADADAT!

She could feel its frustration as it continued to lunge at her. That vicious hook glinted each time.

It kicked her and she tumbled, cracking her head on the gulper’s skull.

The Kingbill flapped its wings, stalking closer, turning its head one way and then the other.

In! Now!

Desperate she clambered into the reeking bony gulper skull.

Seeing what she was doing, the Kingbill rattled and shot forward. Its beak banged against the skull of the gulper, but she was inside.

It snapped again, shaking her this way and that. She snarled as the point of the beak broke through the skull, scratching her calf. Light shone in through the new hole.

The skull cracked, then lifted.

Yelping she dove through the throat of the fish and hit the ground running. The Kingbill noticed her and dropped the skull, squawking now.

She grabbed a rib, tearing it free of the dried connective tissue. Long and thin, it came to a point.

She spun and jabbed it at the massive bird’s eye. Hissing in defiance as the Kingbill launched forward yet again.

The bone sunk in! The Kingbill rattled and shook its head, beating its wings. She was blown backwards and ran into the ferns. It remained behind, head low, the bone sticking form its closed eye, scratching at it with a foot.

She scrambled up into the canopy, going up as high as she could. She shifted to match the colors of the mangrove, turning to watch.

The Kingbill managed to pull the bone from its eye. Unfortunately another hatchling had chosen that moment to try and flee from their hiding place. The Kingbill turned, tilting its head to regard her peer with its remaining eye.

The hatchling zigzagged, trying to double back into the ferns. The Kingbill seemed to consider for a moment.

RADADADADAT!

It startled the other hatchling and he fell.

The beak came down. There was a short sudden cry as the hook of the beak caught the hatchling. The Kingbill flipped the little Greenscale in the air and caught him by his head, snipping it off.

The neonate’s broodmate was dead. The head landed on the ground, eyes already dim. Rolling slightly so that they stared right at her.

The neonate watched, both horrified and a little smug as the bird picked up the rest of the body, orienting it to be head- well… neck first. With a single swallow, the corpse was gone. It then looked down at the head, tilting its head this way and that before plucking it off of the ground, consuming that as well.

With one last terrifying rattle, the Kingbill flapped its wings. Running awkwardly for a few steps it was soon in the air, circling the clearing before heading out over the trees.

Wounds. Her Instinct insisted, never missing a chance to remind the neonate of things she already knew.

She would have to wash them as best she could, but later. The wounds, while painful, had already scabbed over. She wanted to breathe and recover from her fright for a moment.

There was a buzzing hum. Another river emperor! It landed on the branch below her. It was eating a beetle.

She froze, staring at it. Her mouth watered. It would still be something of a fight for her, the insect was that large.

So much meat. She crawled closer.

Learn! Kingbill!

She stopped, her shadow almost covering the insect. She remembered. That was what had alerted her. She thought about how she had escaped as well.

Good. Where it will be. Her Instinct hissed from her jaws. Eager to crunch down on her target.

Her tongue flickered out. She observed the branch. A small branch to the left. It would go forward or right. It couldn’t go down, and she didn’t expect it would go backwards.

Best be safe. Aim for the middle. Not the head.

She estimated the distance one last time, coiling her hind legs behind herself.

She waited, searching for the perfect mom-

It wiped its forelimb over its large compound eyes.

She sprung!

Arms spread and jaws wide.

It started to fly backwards and to the right!

She tried to shift in midair, eyes unblinking. Her claws tore into one of the wings. Her other hand grabbed one of the middle legs.

It fluttered and writhed in her grip. She ripped through the wispy thin membrane. Laming its ability to fly. It still writhed, mouthparts working as it turned its head.

They fell down another branch. It crunched slightly and it’s movements became weaker. The neonate snapped her jaws onto its neck. Chitin crackled and the gooey innards were rich and delectable.

Finish! Her Instinct purred from her belly, waiting eagerly.

She tore the head free, crunching down on it. It was too large to swallow whole, but it took only two bites.

The dragonfly continued to twitch, shaking her, but weakly. Squirming now. Her stouter terrestrial build was enough to keep it under control now that it was dead.

Why does it twitch afterwards?

Body doesn’t know it is dead. Her Instinct hissed, licking its figurative chops as she tore into the gelatinous insides of the insect. The neonate had torn the wings away, discarding them and taking another bite.

She took her time, making sure to eat all she could. Eventually the only thing left were the glittering wings. Sparkling in the midday sun.

Satisfied for the moment, she crawled out onto the branch, basking again. She shifted her scales to match the mangrove even better than they already did. Putting in striations of color and pattern.

She thought she might try to get that nap now before she went to clean out her wounds.

Off in the distance, there was another rattle, and a chill clattered down her vertebrae.