<~> CHAPTER 17

The fog was thin enough now that I was able to scout ahead. If anything, doing this was better because my friends could still see me and I wasn't blocking their vision with glare. The monster in front of me looked somewhat like a bear, though it was a lot smaller than a typical bear would be. At first, I was worried it was a bear cub or something similar but all of the monsters that look like this seem to be this size, larger than me but only by a bit. It walked on all fours with a lumbering heavy gait, it had a large head for its size with big yellowed fangs. Its face looked gnarled and strange, almost as twisted as a witch's face is to a person's. Its black beady eyes scanned around looking for something, the thing was more focused on its quarry than the hunter stalking it.

I was crouched near the top of a hill as the monster trudged between them. I took in the scents around me. The thing smelled more like an animal than the things we found in the forest. There was still this tinge of... wrongness to it though. I don't know how to describe it but it didn't smell like a normal animal. It struck me as weird considering we still hadn't come across any actual wildlife on this floor but that's what my instincts told me. From this angle my bright white eyes didn't look out of place to the thing, the glow just blended in with the obscured sun behind the fog above us.

("Can I try and fight it on my own?") I asked.

After some time that I assumed was filled with the three of them pantomiming messages to each other, Luna finally replied, ("You can try, we'll rush to your aid if you need help. Just be careful...")

Her heartfelt plea made me smile to myself. It was hard to deny that I was growing attached to her, it felt like she really cared for me. In a different... frankly less professional way than the other two. Maybe it just came down to being able to freely communicate with each other, something we both were reliant on each other for. I think there's more to it though... I hope there is.

I shook those distracting thoughts from my head and refocused on my prey. I stalked forward, making a point to keep the sun near my back without giving away my scent. My fur was a smoky black but it was my eyes that I was most worried about giving me away. I felt lucky that the direction coincided with the direction of the wind, the bear-thing was upwind of me. I could smell it quite clearly but I didn't think the opposite was true. It didn't act like it could sense me.

I got as close as I thought I could without alerting the bear-like creature to my presence. I relied on pure instinct to know where the line was, where I couldn't get any closer to it. I coiled myself like a spring, ready to pounce on the beast. For an agonizing moment I waited to strike and then... it paused.

With a leap, I bounded at it from behind and felt my sharp claws sink into its thick fur. I tried to get a hold of it before snapping at it with my teeth but it twisted in my grasp and threw me away before I could.

The roll I made in the air felt graceful as I managed to land on my feet, barely. It was fortunate that I had, because the monster was nearly on top of me with a swipe of its large clawed paws. Five lines of pain bloomed over my shoulder and upper arm. The slashes were superficial and the pain was easy enough to ignore. I darted to the beast's side and slashed through its unprotected flank. My experience with the goblin king made me remember not to lose sight of the thing as I spun around, I kept all of my focus on it, not wanting to let it hit me with some kind of sneak attack.

A loud roar spilled from the mouth of the bear monster and it spun around to face me again. It jumped at me with uncontained rage but its attack wasn't clever or subtle and it was almost clumsy compared to me. I darted to its other side and slashed it again, careful to not lose sight of it as it twisted and impotently slashed at me as I passed. I felt confident I could win this altercation and that might have been why I let my guard down.

The fucker feinted me. I hadn't expected this level of intelligence from the beast, it roared again as if it had been consumed in anger, and just as I was about to take advantage of another wild pounce it shifted and grabbed at me instead. While I hadn't been expecting this, that didn't mean my reflexes were poor enough to do nothing about it. I managed to catch the bear creature's claws with my own, forcing me to switch from hit-and-run tactics to a straight wrestling match. I did get the unfortunate irony of being in a wrestling match with a bear.

My muscles tensed as I held the bear's paws with my own. The thing was strong but I was able to make it up in leverage. Training for a triathlon gave me a much better sense of proprioception than when I was a fat girl forcing myself to go on jogs. I shifted my stance to give myself a lower center of gravity. I twisted and pulled my arms to force the monster's into an awkward position. Despite the disadvantage I was in, I was winning.

It roared at me again, I could see the frustration in its eyes as it struggled to win a direct test of strength. I could tell by its reactions that this wasn't something it experienced regularly because it didn't know what to do, it just futilely tried to push harder. In its frustration, it tried to roar at me again and the moment it did I twisted my head to the side and bit down on its neck.

That got a reaction. The bear monster thrashed in surprise and its struggles were enough to throw me off and away from it. I rolled on the ground much less gracefully this time but I got back to my feet before the bear-monster could take advantage of me. It was much more wary of me now, it didn't understand why I wasn't going down as easy as the other things it fought but it knew enough to recognize I was a threat to it.

Normally being wary of me might be the right call but the blood of an umber hound pumped through my veins. I was much more comfortable hunting a monster that knew I was its predator. My instincts really kicked in now, its shift of demeanor strengthened me rather than made things more difficult. I, or rather my instincts, weren't used to fighting on even footing. They were however very used to being on the offensive.

The bear stepped back and I took advantage. I moved into its space and raked my claws deep into its shoulder and bounced out of its space before it could retaliate. It tried to shift its position to block with the less vulnerable parts of its body but I just took advantage of that and sunk my claws in deep, creating deep open wounds to slowly bleed it out. Now when it tried to attack me head-on, there was more hesitancy in its actions and I took advantage of that too. The monster's movements became haggard and sluggish as it lost its resistance. Finally, I got behind it, and with a twisting pull, I broke its neck.

I fell back on my ass after the large limp body fell to the ground and became motionless. The thing's hide wasn't too torn up, there were gashes in its hide where I stabbed deep holes into it, but for the most part, the thing was in one piece. I turned and looked up at my friends on the hill, they had been watching for a while, I had smelled them, but they had just been watching and letting me test my strength on my own.

I raised a clawed hand up at them and gave them a toothy grin. My sign must have been reassuring to them because they carefully came down the hill and approached me.

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("Helena, are you okay?") Luna asked.

I nodded. ("Tired, but I got 'em.")

She came up to me and traced her fingers through the fur on my shoulder. The open wounds where the bear-creature had slashed me were gone, not even scabs had been left behind. That had been early in the fight, I was surprised she had seen that.

She smiled. ("Looks like you came out of the fight okay. You're stronger than you look, I was surprised when you started grappling each other.")

I was feeling a little mischievous so I leaned forward and gave her a wet dog kiss with my long tongue. Her tail poofed out to twice its size and she looked disgusted.

("What was that for?") she groaned out.

I shrugged. ("I wanted to give you a kiss.")

I only realized after I said the words the implication they gave. I turned and saw her bright red like a cherry tomato, embarrassedly wiping the drool from her face with her sleeve. She wasn't even able to reply because my embarrassment made her embarrassed too.

Clearing my throat I stood up and walked to the corpse that Maxwell was looking over.

I poked at the body with a claw and spoke one of the very few words I'd managed to pick up, "Good?"

He turned to me with raised eyebrows, it appeared as if I'd caught him off guard. "...Good," he said with a nod. He turned to Luna and started saying something to her out loud. She smiled as her tail lazily swung back and forth behind her.

("He's surprised you're picking up our language so quickly. He wanted me to tell you that you did a good job, there's some damage here and there but much less than would have been done with a sword. He doesn't know if the pelt will be valuable but if it is, then it's in great condition. Do you want anything from the body?")

I hesitated. I was conflicted about asking but I knew it was what my new body wanted. ("I want its meat...")

I flinched a bit when Luna gently put her hand on my shoulder. ("It's okay Helena, the three of us won't judge you for eating your kills. Sharing the pelt with us is more than enough. We don't know... what exactly you are now or what you're becoming but as long as you stay sane we won't judge you for your more... grisly habits. I trust you. Uh, I mean we trust you.")

I put my clawed hand over hers on my shoulder. Her words were more of a relief than I expected. I was worried, not just over their opinions of me... but also because I could tell I was changing. They had noticed and were okay with it... for now. I just hoped I would continue to feel mostly human.

Luna walked over to Maxwell and relayed my desire through some more pantomiming. It wasn't a very efficient way to communicate though it seems they have done this often enough to relay a lot of the meaning to him. He asked a question and she confirmed it with a nod.

At the top of one of the nearby hills, I kept watch of the surrounding area as Maxwell bled out the monster and started skinning the thing for its pelt. I could smell the meat. I was able to wait though, my instincts told me that sometimes protecting my kill for a while would be necessary, my human side said I could wait until he finished carefully removing the pelt. So, my warring sides agreed with each other and I watched and waited as I began to salivate to the smell of blood. It was these moments I felt the most different, the least recognizable to the old me and so, despite the danger of the dungeon, I shifted back into my human form to watch and wait.

Even in this form, the thing closest to my normal, I still felt like a different person. I was stronger, more agile, I could hear better, see better, smell better. But being in this form made me feel... somewhat normal for a minute. The raw need to rip the carcass apart to feed on it had abated... just a little.

I glanced over at the people who had quickly become my friends in this strange place. Piper was chatting with Maxwell as he worked and Luna was watching the other direction. I turned back around and scanned the horizon again.

"Helena!"

I turned to see that Maxwell had called my name. Encouraged by my attempts at speaking their language, Maxwell had asked once again for my name earlier. It sounded strange from his lips but I couldn't help but smile. This was progress.

He pointed out the small pile of meat. My mouth watered and eyes dilated. He was finished and I could feast. I tore into the skinned bear. The meat was rich, a unique flavor compared to the other things I've eaten. I tore off large chunks and swallowed them down. The wait had been worth it, instead of trying to peel the skin and hide away or eating through it directly, I could focus on ripping the meat from the bones or in some cases crunch down on the bones themselves.

I spent probably around twenty minutes finishing off the meat while Maxwell continued preparing the hide. Then I found it. The heart. I was still not sure why my instincts screamed at me every time I came across one but I couldn't resist, despite being near full my mouth again salivated as I bit into the tough muscle. I again entered that fugue state as I feasted on it, the taste of iron invigorated me and made me shiver. I felt a bit woozy by the time I finished but I didn't have any noticeable adverse reactions this time.

I licked my chops and closed my eyes as digested my meal. I could tell I was changing, I just wish I knew how far these changes would go.