The bison fell. It rolled down the side of the hill and bounced off rocks, picking up speed and dragging anything in its path with it, killing swathes of creatures every time its descent met with a trail.

  Until it slammed hard with its center of mass against one of the rocky outcroppings. The structure shook threateningly - making the unfortunate thrower on top plummet and disappear into the swarm below - but held. For the first time since the group of friends had left their haven, the bison was still.

  From this angle, where the head couldn’t be seen, the creature looked fine. Almost as if it cold get up and start stampeding again any moment. The frog knew there wouldn't be coming back from that. And felt...

  conflicted. Even after all that had happened.

  When the bison had joined their group, it had been scary: not knowing why such a strong creature would tag along, what it wanted with them, was disquieting. And it had been right to worry, in the end. Though its worst fears hadn't come to pass, clearly the bison hadn't ever cared much about the rest of them. But it had been a constant.

  Even if unintentionally, it had been their little group's fixed point. A presence that scared off, and warded them from, any strong would-be attackers. An always visible reference to gather around. It had been unassailable.

  And now it was dead. Like any other of the frog's friends.

  And it had been so easy.

  Even while appearing so weak and frail, the dark one had... where was it now? Where had it gone?

  The frog scanned the surroundings of the bison's body... but there was no trace there. It wondered for a moment if the creature might have been crushed under, but dismissed the thought immediately.

  Instead, its gaze retraced the trajectory of the bison's fall – already filled with creatures wherever possible – up until the top... and was surprised by what it saw.

  The knight was standing still, exactly where it had been knocked down, no longer alone.

  Bands of guards had poured out of the castle, much fewer than they'd been at the beginning, but still so many that it was a wonder how they'd fit inside. They were already pushing the swarm back from the area of the fight, rushing to form a line even without the knight's help.

  For its part, and for the first time, the thing seemed to be agitated, twisting around with its spike poised to strike. And much more important, the whisper around it felt even stronger than before. The twinge that had been there, at the end, had expanded into something real.

  The frog didn't know how it knew, but it was certain: somehow the knight was even stronger than before. Not dramatically so, but enough that it would have made a difference against the bison. Even much less than this would have helped in such a balanced fight.

  The sheer fact that it could grow even more powerful was terrifying on its own. But if it had been able to... why had it not done that before? The bison had been giving it trouble, so why not fight it off with all it had?

  Most likely, with all that frightening power, it was even more ridiculous and overconfident than the lesser guards. But whatever its reasons, the whole situation was oppressive, especially with the dark one still missing.

  A sudden, unreasonable panic filled the frog. That the dark one had come for it somehow, and was lurking just out of sight.

  Slowly, it looked all around itself, and then behind the corners of its hiding place...

  there was nothing.

  ... But of course there wasn't! Surely, the dark one must be somewhere down there, hidden amidst the swarm, all but invisible with its thin frame.

  Still, it wouldn't hurt to retreat back to a safer spot, would it?

  Their haven was a haven no more. Nor was it theirs.

  Even if most creatures rushed ahead, there were still a few cautious ones that wanted to rest and feed before the final stretch. Without friends or the bison to guard it, the place had been eventually mostly overrun, just like any other rise around here.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  If the frog wanted to be alone with its thoughts, this wouldn't do.

  And most importantly, there was something that made it feel bad. It didn't know why, as it had felt good here just a little time ago, but now...

  So, in the end, it went for its first, oldest retreat. It slipped into one of the many cracks in the ground, wandering absentmindedly until it found a nook big enough to curl in and feed. Since almost any creature around was scared to be down here, nothing should disturb it.

  It could be alone with its thoughts. Or lack thereof.

  Right now, the frog felt simply lost. It had gone through quite an… interesting time, since coming here to the collateral. And had the vague suspicion that it should be feeling something more complex - more profound - about the experience. But it just couldn't figure out what, beyond a vague, dull ache inside.

  It was very annoying indeed. Combined with the terror of having lost sight of the dark one - which could be hiding anywhere, up there on the surface – and with the certainty that there was no way to get past the guards... The frog realized that it was tired of this place. It didn't even want to know what was in the castle that much, anymore. The collateral was just a collateral after all.

  It didn't even matter that this whole trip had amounted to losing precious things, while gaining nothing of worth. It wouldn't subject itself to another long permanence in a terrible place. Not again.

  Only, this time it was even more out of its depth: the enemy was operating at such levels of sophistication that the frog failed to even understand what they were doing most of the time; they could summon mysterious powers that allowed them to do wonders. And there was an entire castle full of them!

  Their champion was many steps above: it had stood up to the bison - even when it had pulled out its ridiculous charge - and would probably have won in the end. It was so daunting that the owl felt like a critter, in comparison!

  And then there was the dark one.

  … what was the frog doing here, really? Such titans where roaming around, while it didn’t feel confident against anything above a common swarmling down there.

  Without its friends, without their support, it would be forced to go back to hiding again. Another miserable time passed crawling underground, to avoid death above. It didn’t want that. It just wanted to be away, somewhere else. Somewhere more appropriate to its distinguished and happy nature.

  Anywhere else, basically.

  But where?

  It could try to reach the epicenter - the calling was only growing stronger, after all. But what if that turned out even worse? What if the castle, the guards and the knight over there were even stronger?

  Of course they would be! It was the epicenter. While this was just one of many, small collaterals. Because it was obvious now that there were more places like this. What else could the tiny little pricks pulling every which way be otherwise?

  This one had only been the strongest of the fakes, or maybe just the closest. And if the frog couldn't even get past the first line here, what could it hope to accomplish at the epicenter?

  Maybe it could give up the whole thing and go back to try finding something to do, or some way to get stronger. The calling might be powerful, but it was not remotely so much that it couldn't be resisted. It was a wonder that the others were so blinded by it, really.

  But then, there was this worry... right there, at the back of its mind, that insisted it had to hurry. That even if it could resist, it would be a very bad idea to try, to give up like that.

  Ignoring this felt like a very bad idea. Which meant that there was no time to search for other things, right now.

  But then, it was back to the beginning. Even slapping away the annoyance brought little relief.

  The frog knew that it had to eventually reach the epicenter, one way or the other. Possibly to the collateral first, as it should be easier and informative, preparation for the actual challenge. Or it might even be enough on its own.

  There was no way to know.

  It only knew that it didn't have the strength to succeed, right now. And that it couldn't afford to waste time wandering about, trying to find it.

  The only guaranteed path forward was to provoke a slightly stronger foe - one that felt stronger, but not prohibitively so - and transform with it; improve with the new shape back to some amount of confidence and experience; then repeat until it got to the higher reaches of strength. Possibly at least around the badger's level.

  But the reason it hadn't done so before still stood, and heavier than before: it would be a prohibitively long process, having to grow into a new body each time, at least enough to face a stronger foe. And time was the very thing it lacked most.

  So, it was stuck.

  It needed to get stronger, but the one way it knew wouldn't work.

  If only it could have the knight's power! Just a small taste of the flow beneath...

  Even as little as the guards had would boost its strength so much, it might allow to fight a creature as strong as the badger and win. After all, if a lone, battered guard – so comparatively weak and clumsy and that had been losing badly – could turn around the fight, overpower and almost kill the frog... then the frog itself could do so much more with it!

  Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be: it had felt the clear impossibility when watching the knight. It had felt... it had felt impossible. For reasons that it couldn't fathom, maybe, but there was no denying the finality of what it felt. For now, at least.

  For now, it was solidly out of reach.

  Similarly, something like the bison's dash was out of...

  ...

  The bison!