For the first time since it had appeared on its hilltop, the dark one was staring somewhere other than the castle. And that somewhere happened to be the frog.

  Just as with everything else about it, the creature's attention couldn't be felt in the way most creatures' could. Beyond that mysterious, already all but faded connection, there was nothing at all. Nothing to gauge its intentions. It was a wonder the frog could understand it was looking here in the first place.

  What would happen now?

  By any means, this should be terrifying. But all this immensely satisfying progress, all this deep-seated depletion, were such that it couldn't summon up the will to worry. And rather than cowering or running for its life, the frog followed a very strange and unreasonable instinct:

  it waved a hand at the creature.

  The dark one stared back. Unmoved, for a while…

  then turned away, with no further reaction. And went back to stare at the castle, as if nothing had happened. So the frog turned too, and started dragging itself towards its little cave close by. The next surge would take a while to come, but better be careful in its drained state.

  ...

  Such a reaction shouldn't have been much of a surprise, really: the dark one had hardly done anything at all since dispatching the bison. Even if it would've been nice to have some form of... to have its efforts...

  No matter.

  How long had that state lasted? It had felt like no time at all, but the frog's memories begun during the peak of the surge - when some part of its mind compelled it to walk right into the swarm, for some absurd reason - and only cleared up now that it had ended.

  What a frightening experience.

  Actually slipping inside the cave took some focus and effort, as one of the reasons why it was a good haven was its imperviousness. But in the end the frog managed, and rolled inside until it slammed to a stop against a boulder.

  The experience had felt... extreme. And contradicting. Like it could move and act with an effortlessness, a perfection, beyond any reason. But also, like it was on the very edge of something truly, profoundly bad…

  Probably nothing to worry about overmuch. Of course, it would try to be careful, but would something big like that ever happen again? Most likely not.

  ... It would have to be content with what it had gained.

  There was now such smoothness, flowing into limbs. Such readiness. And an all-around improvement to its instinct! As if its moves had smoothened it over and then embedded themselves into it. And more.

  It would never be anything comparable to the trance, but even this was just so immensely better than before! And when it eventually got to the bison's body and transformed...

  About that, it was finally time to focus. Things might have been quiet, but that could change at any moment. Practicing its new abilities, though very, very, very tempting...

  ...will have to come later.

  So much effort had gone into this. So much time, during which the guards and the knight had been far from idle. Now that the frog's purpose was accomplished, the bison situation needed to be solved before it became a disaster!

  Just some time to recover and feed - because this might have been the most draining experience of its life - and then it would move to pillaging the bison, no matter how much nicer and funnier it'd be to try its moves!

  The frog emerged from its latest fight feeling quite good about its progress.

  Stolen story; please report.

  The monitor lizard had been about half as strong as the beaver and yet had stood almost no chance. True, when the thing had seized it by the foot hadn't been a good time. Not at all. But as long as it kept its distance and did not get caught, its new moves made the frog invincible.

  It was really growing comfortable with them. And felt so much better, so much stronger, that it was almost starting to feel good about this place. If only it could have managed that wondrous, powerful trance again... Though the smarter part of its mind knew this failure was probably a good thing.

  After all, the trance might be the reason why the dark one had taken notice and, as it had slowly realized when the emotional high came down, that was a bad thing. A very, very bad thing.

  For how much more capable it had grown, the dark one’s mastery still felt unapproachable. Even if the frog were stronger physically - which was not at all a guarantee - that was not remotely enough to bridge the gap, as the bison’s demise had shown.

  Getting the attention of such a creature was a death sentence. And the frog had waved its hand at it. Like a provocation! It was extremely lucky that the dark one hadn't taken offense, staying put on its hilltop.

  If only everything else had been similarly idle while the frog trained...

  The creatures coming in had increased again and again, and the surges had become much more brutal. If the pattern stayed true, there would soon be so many that it would be a struggle even finding a crevice to weather the disaster in.

  And their desperation was understandable. The feeling of anxiety and dread had grown more prevalent. The pull towards the castle more extreme. Lately even the frog - that usually pitied others for falling to the temptation so easily - had occasionally found itself walking towards the castle in a daze, when its focus wavered.

  All together, a very unpleasant situation. Even the hummings had spiked! Of course the creatures would be even crazier!

  Worst of all, despite the pressure increasing so much, the guards had still gained a dangerous amount of ground. Actually, they had picked up the pace, mostly due to the knight stepping up the frequency and scope of its outings. Many times, they’d come so close that the frog had almost rushed over.

  The only thing that saved it was that the knight had remained hesitant to be out for long enough to reach the bison, and that the guards were still unable to truly hold the ground their champion had conquered, without its support. So, they had to conquer back the same space many times over.

  But still, all it would take was a longer outing.

  Things were getting dicey, and the frog couldn’t really contain its ambition for the bison's strength any longer. Maybe it could squeeze in a bit more practice and smooth some things over... but shouldn’t push it too much.

  Honestly, it was as ready as could be. Short of the owl's or the bison's likes, what could even try to stop it?

  Still, the frog remained a cautious creature, that preferred to be certain. There was one last quick test that it would like to attempt.

  The way these guards were lazying around here was bizarrely amusing.

  Even if the overall amount of creatures assaulting the castle had only increased in time, the alternating nature of their comings would occasionally cause these pockets of dullness for some of the trails.

  Not enough for the guards to make use of, thankfully. But still leaving their defenders with nothing much to do. And this one was so much calmer that the frog managed to just walk all the way up to them, without too much impediment. An opportunity that needed to be taken, for it might be the last at the current rythm.

  Of course, these creatures were incapable of staying unproductive for any amount of time. So, the vast majority of them - those that weren't on active lookout - were working on the terrain one way or another.

  Knowing them, it must be some unfathomable trick to get an advantage against the next surge... but it was hard to chase away the thought they just wanted something - anything - to do. And were willing to play with rocks and dirt if it came to that.

  For how much funnier the frog's interpretations were, the guards were deadly serious, and formed up instantly when they realized a hostile creature was approaching.

  With so many, the sight was, frankly, daunting. Truly unfortunate that there were no more convenient patrols around, offering more approachable amounts of enemies...

  At least, they weren't taking the threat entirely seriously: while the vast majority built up a line comparable to what they would against a surge, there were still a sizable group loitering outside, and only a single one was approaching the frog at all.

  As if offering itself up.

  Clearly, they thought it just a stray creature, which could at most slip by and trouble their kind above.

  Unfortunately for them, the frog wasn't here to try and get through.

  Overconfident as any of its kind, the guard left behind its own ilk, without empowering itself.

  The frog let it come.

  Now, even if its moves hadn't provided anything to deal with that tough shell directly, they still allowed to spot weak points more easily. And the closer the guard was walking, the easier it was getting to aim.

  The spike came in fast and precise, but predictable and unimaginative. It wasn't hard to flow around, stepping into the enemy's space in the process... and jumping up to deliver an unfortunately just as unimaginative strike - truly the frog was getting bored of this same thing, but if it was effective... - straight to the one spot where the shell was less durable, precision such that its claws went through easily. Up to a point.

  The guard staggered back, with the frog hanging from what passed as its neck, surprised by how effective the counter had been. Even if the guard had survived, with a claw this deep inside, it wouldn't take much effort to finish it.

  Unfortunately the enemy did not crumple, and as the frog scrambled up to get better leverage, that haunting whine filled the air. It couldn't help some anxiety as it turned its gaze to the rest.

  The ones outside weren't digging around anymore. Fortunately most were hurrying to reinforce the line rather than coming to help their fellow, similarly to what they would against a surge. But a not insignificant group were indeed rushing over, and fast - the whisper very clear in each of their jaunty, unfairly quick, steps. Eroding the frog's resolve.

  It tamped down on the unhelpful feelings, and kept at it.

  The unfortunate guard was obviously giving its best to struggle, and having all its arms while empowered by the whisper, it should be quite a formidable opponent. But with the moves, ducking under strikes and rolling with frantic jerks wasn't hard, and the frog handily continued to dig in, messing around the creature's insides... until something finally snapped, and the thing fell limp to the ground.

  The frog dexterously landed on top. Victorious and no worse for the wear.

  Joy.

  Alas, there was not much time to feel satisfied, as the very next moment the reinforcements were onto it.

  And then it was struggle.

  What its expectations had been going into this fight, the frog couldn't remember. And neither did it have space in its mind to find out now. Not with the absolute focus required to simply keep existing.

  For a moment, at the beginning, it had thought it might endure. But things were turning bad very soon, and were only getting worse and worse.

  Its entire world soon became spikes from everywhere, desperate scrambling for space and painful dodges.

  It was such a deep focus, a state similar to a trance. Alas, of the actual trance of earlier, there was no trace.

  And the frog was trying really hard to slide into that.

  Even if it knew it was a terrible idea. Even if it knew the connection had been severed completely, and would never form again.

  That enormous power was denied to it the same way the whisper was.

  Just the same way, the frog would keep trying, until it succeeded.

  Unfortunately, the guards were too simple to understand the profundity of its thoughts, the depth of its resolve. And were beating it savagely all the same. Hopefully the dark one wasn't looking this way right now...

  Forced to face reality, that it was this or defeat, the frog made use of a painful plate bash on its chest - one so hard that it rocked the stuff inside its body - to use one of its oldest and most effective techniques.

  It ran for the hills.

  The guards didn't even try to chase, preferring to protect their spot, and they wouldn't be able to keep up regardless. Which left the frog alone with its thoughts and the result of its experiment.

  As expected, it could now face a guard one on one in a fair fight and win. Unfortunately, there was no such thing as lone guard. Not since the bison spooked them. And a group was still too much.

  Their durability, the way they acted together, empowering each other's actions and covering for weaknesses... even that first one had probably got back up and was on its way to recovery with the protection of its kind.

  Still, though disappointing, this was quite a positive result. For the frog had become capable of what it really needed: it had engaged in a fight with the guards and survived. Even smoothly enough, with nothing more than a few gashes and broken parts that would mend in little time.

  A bit of feeding to fix that up, some leisure time watching its favorite show...

  And then it was finally, truly, time.

  NUMBERS.

  40 ratings -> 1 chapter released immediately as soon as I notice

  5 reviews -> 1 chapter released immediately as soon as I notice

  DISCLAIMER: I'm NOT asking for 5 stars or glowing reviews (though it would be nice, obviously). If you decide to give feedback, give whatever you think this deserves.