The gem in its hand looked no different from what it had been when inside the creature’s chest. No trace of the filaments.

  Yet all their potential was now hiding inside. A little thought, a simple command, and the transformation would begin anew.

  Most important of all, the frog would be capable of doing this again, now. Easily. Just as with hiding the gem it fed on, it had learned a new, better way to feed and transform which it would always be able to make use of from now on.

  A resounding success. Exemplified by the precious treasure in its grip.

  The frog threw it away, distractedly.

  It had made peace with the impossibility. Somewhat. But after having even the faintest taste of something so alluring, something it didn't know - it couldn't know - but desired so primally...

  ... It shouldn't be so ridiculous, really: it had taken the first step towards an immense prize, one that was possible, and that would elevate it far beyond anything it had ever been, to a strength it had never even thought possible!

  No use pining after what couldn’t be, when there was more testing to do.

  It may have got what it wanted, but spooling filaments around their gem was still too slow a process, right now. As long as that didn't change, the problem remained: the frog would be stuck, exposed and vulnerable, in the middle of chaos and under the guards' gaze.

  It was time to do what it had done after learning to hide pesky, floating gems.

  Time to practice and get better.

  The world hummed, shaking all around. But the frog had long since got too good to be dissuaded by something like this, and kept a firm grip on the gem throughout, while the filaments finished wrapping up. Though admittedly the steep increase in the hummings lately was rather unsettling, if only for the way the creatures here reacted to even one as weak as this.

  In fact, better get moving, and fast, if it didn't want to be swept away.

  As soon as the filaments finished their thing,

  it dropped the gem onto the ground and ran for the hills, feeling quite satisfied with its progress, but fearing it might have been too reckless this time. The silence and calm were deepening in the valley at an alarming rate.

  The way back was long and slow-going, anxiety threatening to turn into full blown panic. If anything went wrong, if any kind of issue came up...

  Fortunately, for once, there were none: it reached its latest favorite spot - a recessed cave, with the perfect view onto its favorite performance - and slipped inside, just as the surge was starting. The convenient layout in the vicinity, with so many much more direct paths to the collateral, ensured it wouldn't be disturbed.

  That safety was sorely needed.

  It watched with no less trepidation than the first time, as the swarm below and around billowed out more and more... until there was no more space to fit.

  But they still kept pushing, increasing the pressure to critical levels closer to the central hill. Once caught, no creature had any hope to fight back: they'd be stomped down and raked to nothing by the unending multitude of claws and hooves, if they tried; or squeezed and pushed and ground down so hard they'd be turned to dust while standing.

  Only the biggest, toughest ones had any chance to survive if they found themselves in the wrong place.

  It was a disaster. The frog had grown unfortunately quite used to massacre since emerging into the wider world, but such a brutal scene was always hard to watch, even for its experienced eyes. And there was no reason to believe this trend would ever stop. It had been this way since the swarm had changed, after all: from a brutal but constant flux, to this rotation, alternating calmer downtimes, with immense surges, for no apparent reason.

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  The first time had caught every creature unprepared, even the guards for once. In fact, they had suffered the worst.

  As soon as they'd noticed the swarm had lessened, they'd assembled an enormous group to send down, committing a huge amount of their numbers.

  It had been a terrible thing to watch: there had still been many frenzied creatures to slow them down, but far from enough to stop them. They would've soon reached the bison and been able to carry it away, with so many. The frog had been sure then that it might be all over. All its efforts for naught. It had already started moving away from the valley!

  Which might have saved it, in hindsight, as it had been able to see the first, enormous surge coming, and to take refuge before it arrived.

  The guards hadn't been so fortunate: caught so far from backup, they'd been surrounded and crushed, no matter how much of a fight they'd put up.

  It had been such a devastating loss - they'd left their line so weakened - that the frog had hoped they might be defeated in truth. And they might have, had the knight not come out to hold the swarm back.

  Truly disappointing, but at least it confirmed the frog's theories about their champion.

  Then, they'd gone into a frenzy themselves, bolstering their barriers and their efforts on those strange endeavors: the hole they'd been digging went all the way around the castle now. Which truly exemplified their efficiency, given the way hummings - and the often unstable ground in general - kept eroding at everything they did.

  They'd been stuck at the summit since, no matter how long a downtime lasted, except again for the throwers on top of their outcroppings – maybe the biggest reason why no strong creature had gotten ideas with the bison's body, as they got skewered if they even thought to try. They'd even stopped sending smaller groups out! and the knight had gone back to hiding, never surfacing again.

  No doubt they'd start again soon. But, altogether, this had granted the frog some more time to get used to its new filaments-snatching ability.

  And it had used that break well, getting much better and faster.

  Still, it could do more. Better to be at its best when it finally tried recovering the bison. Even that strange sense of urgency agreed that the process should take an acceptable amount of time.

  If only it weren't forced to wait in here and do nothing during the surges… But it should just be happy that the hummings had come, and that it had realized they were linked to the changing of phases, somehow. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to avoid the worst and make such progress, when the best filaments predictably were in the most dangerous places, where the surges hit harder.

  Not to mention that there was something very interesting to watch!

  When it had popped back on top of that hill, the dark one had been terrifying... but it had never looked over here specifically. It was just looking over the valley as a whole. Or rather, at the collateral.

  The frog didn't know how it was so certain, since there were no eyes anywhere on the dark one's body, but it just knew that was where the creature was always staring.

  Was it maybe friends with the guards? Logically, they should be. It hadn't attacked any of them after all, and had even helped the knight kill the bison.

  But somehow that didn't feel like the case. The frog knew this just as it knew where the thing was staring.

  Even if it was in fact quite similar to a guard, on closer look: a comparable amount of limbs, placed in about the same spots; no eyes or pseudopods, and a small mouth which they never used properly - only for their strange chattering in the guards' case.

  It was really quite peculiar how similar they were in those ways.

  Which only amplified their differences.

  The guards were stocky and rigid, looking quite like a bunch of smoothish rocks. And the way they moved was so very jerky and stiff! Even with their marvelous whisper, they were just amplifying something that was crude at the base. The knight itself wasn't that much better, in that regard.

  But the manner in which the dark one moved was so much more... more.

  To leverage such a thin and frail-looking body into something so deadly... truly awe-inspiring.

  The way it stood completely still on its hilltop despite the surge, weaving around and cutting down any creature that got too aggressive. Without ever taking a step away, without even acknowledging them...

  To think that it would ever feel such enjoyment watching things get killed...

  Whatever the dark one's secret, the frog wanted it. That wasn’t pure strength or anything unreal like what the knight did. It was just... moving better.

  If it could learn... that would be incredible, even with this average body. It might be the difference on its own. And after it got the bison’s filaments and transformed, it would be unstoppable!

  And also... Even if it was likely the most dangerous thing in this world, even if it had killed the bison with one strike... the dark one was fascinating. Entrancing.

  With all the creatures passing by, it wouldn't get angry if a quiet frog got a bit closer, would it?