"Rickshaw, I feel that I should once again warn you that willingly seeking out a Scourge lifeform is a poor idea at best," Cai said for the millionth time.

"I'm not looking for it for fun or something stupid," I replied. "I'm just going to the area that it stays in and I'm going to try to find any crashed coffins. With any luck I'll find one or two and we can start to really plan how we distract it or kill it so I can check them for what we need."

"I still feel this is a bad idea," Cai continued with his worrying.

"You can't feel anything," I snapped back at him, tired of his constant whining about this. "You told me that yourself. You said that as a Cybernetic AI you were outfitted with information processing and communication protocols, not emotion and empathy protocols."

"Whether I can feel emotion or empathy is irrelevant," he shot back. "I have examined all probabilities and I do not calculate one that does not end with an encounter with the Scourge lifeform whose personal territory we are approaching."

"Then maybe you should stop calculating them and focus on helping me not screw this up," I said. "If we work together, you scanning for the Scourge and me doing my best to stay out of sight, then we can try to stack the odds with us. You know we need to search for the other coffins' wreckage or we're never getting out of here. We're going to have to go against Scourge at some point anyway."

"Very well," Cai relented. "Please recall that I was vocally against this course of action when you attempt to place blame. I do not wish to have you blame me for yet another occurence outside of my control."

"You know I don't blame you for me being here," I replied, "I blame the Wardens and their stupidity."

"Many of the Wardens are much more intelligent than you have demonstrated yourself to be."

"I wouldn't have pinned all the hopes of intelligent life on a totally untested and untrained group from a just encountered race of aliens based on what was clearly entertainment rather than histroy." I snapped again, I felt justified just a little since I felt it was true.

"Touche," Cai said before going silent for the rest of the walk toward the Scourge area we were going to.

I had chosen this direction because it was to the north, pretty much the opposite direction that the Queen was supposed to be in. To me, that meant the chances of running into a stronger Scourge than the Hellhounds was pretty slim and since Hellhounds were considered to be on the weaker side individually, I liked those odds better than the other directions that were all much further out than the ten kilometers I had managed to search through already.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

As I moved through the low vegetation, I did my best to keep my eye out for anything that would indicate where the Scourge out here would be. So far I hadn't seen anything and I lay all the blame for that firmly on the plants. Seriously, in three weeks I hadn't seen anything higher than my head and the closest to a tree on this planet was probably me; everything was springy like long grass and the air was too wet to be a savannah. Cai told me that last bit.

Anyway, all that means is that while I was looking for signs of passing wildlife and Scourge, I wasn't having any sort of luck at all. Which is why when it slinked out of the longer grass and stalked closer to me, it took Cai's sudden warning to know there was something hunting me. Again.

As I turned to face whatever was coming at me, I drew my sword, I'd gotten a lot better at that, and took a ready stance, not so good at that.

"Cai, what am I looking at?" I asked as I examined the Scourge with my eyes and wondered if I was seeing something wrong or if the Scourge were more animalistic than Cai had led me to think.

"It appears to be a Scourge lifeform of the variation you have dubbed 'Hellhound,' however there is something that is troubling about it," Cai answered me.

"Oh good, I was afraid it was just me," I joked to try and hide my fear I felt rising. It did not work.

The Hellhound facing me down, hunting me, was taller than the Hellhounds I had managed to kill three weeks ago. Its body was thicker and more muscular than the others and it rose closer to my chin rather than my lower chest or upper stomach, middle of the torso? Whatever, anyway back to panicking. Its tentacle mane was thicker, with more stingers and they were longer too, reaching almost to the creature's tail. And that tail was something, longer and thicker without sacrificing flexibilty, it flicked back and forth like a cat's and gave me a great view of how it was different from its smaller counterpart's tails. The end of its tail bulbed out with blades on the end of it that reminded me of one of those maces that they kept in museums now. You know the ones, they don't have the spiked ball on the end but the ridges that just scream about breaking bones and whatnot.

Looking back at it, I think I did well not to run screaming like a girl. Especially after Cai told me the next bit.

"I have bad news Rickshaw," he started.

"Well don't beat around the dead horse, dammit. What is it?" I demanded as I began to circle with the Hellhound and keep it in sight.

"All record comparisons of this lifeform mark it as a former Guardian of the Scourge Queen on this planet," Cai told me unable to soften the blow. "It is one of the few Guardian lifeforms that leave the Queen's side without a brood of younger Scourge to follow and learn from it. It is speculated that this only occurs due to its nature as a lone hunter based off the profile of a pack hunter. It is unable to integrate itself with other Scourge lifeforms without the Queen to rule it. It is also much stronger than the typical non-unique Guardian types."

"Well, at least it won't have any backup," I replied. Brightsides, gotta keep looking on those brightsides.

"Indeed."

As Cai and I were talking, I continued to circle the Hellhound and tried to think of something I could do that would make the coming fight swing in my favor before it attacked me. I was still thinking when it sprang at me.