The lizardman's corpse lay cooling at my feet, blood pooling in the cracks of the stone.

  I was still breathing hard. My shoulder throbbed where its claws had torn through scale. My arm burned where venom had splashed though the pain was fading now, replaced by a strange tingling numbness.

  *I won.*

  The thought should have brought relief.

  Instead, all I felt was the *hunger.*

  It coiled in my chest like a living thing, urging me to tear into the corpse again. To devour more. To grow stronger.

  I forced myself to look away.

  That's when I felt it.

  *Eyes.*

  Watching me.

  I looked up slowly, claws instinctively flexing.

  Two shapes circled overhead, silhouettes against the faint light filtering down from cracks far above. They moved in lazy, synchronized patterns—wings buzzing faintly, casting shifting shadows across the cavern floor.

  A screen flickered into existence:

  [SPECIES IDENTIFIED: SKYNEL]

  Again this system

  I could *see* what they were.

  Each one was roughly three feet long, insectoid bodies covered in chitinous plating that gleamed dully in the dim light. Their wings were translucent, veined with color—one shimmered blue-green, the other a sickly yellow-orange. Compound eyes reflected the ambient glow, unblinking and cold.

  And at the end of their segmented abdomens—

  *Stingers.*

  Long. Needle-sharp. Bigger than my claws.

  They hadn't attacked during my fight with the lizardman.

  They'd just... *watched.*

  Waiting.

  My stomach dropped.

  *They're not scavengers. They're opportunists? *

  They'd waited for me to weaken myself. Waited for me to bleed. Waited until I was vulnerable.

  And now

  One of them folded its wings.

  And *dove.*

  I barely had time to react.

  The Skynel shot downward like a missile, wings snapping open at the last second. A gust of wind exploded outward, throwing up a cloud of dust and grit from the cavern floor.

  I squeezed my eyes shut instinctively—

  And felt something whistle past my head.

  I lashed out blindly with my claws, aiming for where I'd heard the buzz of wings.

  My talons met empty air.

  *Damn it—*

  I opened my eyes just in time to see the Skynel dart backward, moving with an agility that shouldn't be possible for something that size.

  *It's fast. Way faster than it looked.*

  The creature circled me slowly, wings humming. Its stinger twitched, venom glistening at the tip.

  I crouched low, trying to track its movement—

  *THUNK.*

  Something slammed into the wall beside me with enough force to crack stone.

  I whipped my head around.

  A stinger. Embedded in the cavern wall. Still quivering from impact.

  *What the-- *

  I followed the trajectory back to the second Skynel, still hovering near the ceiling. Its abdomen was... *empty.* The stinger was gone.

  And even as I watched, the embedded stinger tore itself free from the wall and shot back through the air like a missile, reattaching itself to the creature's body with a wet *click.*

  *It can launch its stinger? And get it back?*

  My blood ran cold.

  *That means I can't just wait for them to attack and waste their weapons. They have infinite ammunition.*

  The first Skynel buzzed closer, wings creating another gust of dust.

  I closed my eyes again—

  But this time, I *listened.*

  The hum of wings. The scrape of chitin against stone. The faint whistle of air displacement.

  *There.*

  I dove to the side—

  *CRACK.*

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  The second stinger punched through the space where I'd been standing, drilling into the ground with terrifying force.

  Too close.

  Way too close.

  The first Skynel darted in while I was off-balance, stinger aimed at my exposed side—

  I twisted, bringing my claws up to block—

  Metal scraped against chitin. My claws met the stinger mid-thrust, and a strange sensation shot through my arm. Not quite pain. More like... *wrongness.* Like something was trying to burrow into my scales.

  *Poison.*

  The realization hit me a second too late.

  The Skynel pulled back, and another gust of wind slammed into me. Dust filled my vision. I stumbled, coughing—

  And felt a sharp, searing pain erupt in my wing.

  I screamed.

  The second stinger had punched clean through the thin membrane, leaving a ragged hole. Blood dripped from the wound, hot and sticky.

  The first Skynel didn't give me time to recover. It shot forward, body low, and *rammed* me.

  The impact sent me sprawling.

  I hit the ground hard, ribs screaming in protest. My vision blurred. My arm throbbed where the lizardman's venom had burned me. My wing felt like it was on fire.

  *I'm going to die here.*

  The thought was cold. Clinical.

  *I'm too weak. I don't know how to fight like this.*

  The Skynels circled overhead, wings humming in eerie synchronization.

  Waiting.

  Always *waiting* for the perfect moment to strike.

  I forced myself to my feet, legs trembling.

  *Think. THINK.*

  My gaze swept across the cavern, desperate for anything that could help—

  And landed on the crevice.

  The same narrow gap in the wall I'd noticed during the fight with the lizardman. Barely wide enough for my body.

  *Too small for them to follow easily.*

  A plan started forming in my mind. Desperate. Reckless.

  *But it might work.*

  ---

  I bolted toward the crevice.

  The Skynels reacted instantly.

  Both stingers launched simultaneously, cutting through the air with deadly precision.

  I dodged left—

  The first stinger grazed my side, tearing through scales.

  I dodged right—

  The second stinger punched into my hind leg.

  **Pain.**

  White-hot. Blinding.

  I collapsed, momentum carrying me forward in a tumbling roll. My leg screamed. Blood poured from the wound, mixing with the grime on the cavern floor.

  The stinger ripped itself free and shot back to its owner.

  I lay there, gasping, vision swimming.

  *Get up. GET UP.*

  But my body wouldn't obey.

  The Skynels descended slowly, cautiously. Their wings buzzed softer now—almost a purr.

  They thought I was done.

  *Good.*

  I let my body go limp. Let my breathing slow. Let my eyes glaze over.

  *Play dead. It's the only chance.*

  Through half-closed lids, I watched them approach.

  The first Skynel landed a few feet away, antennae twitching as it tested the air. Its compound eyes reflected my motionless form.

  The second remained airborne, stinger aimed at me. Ready to strike if this was a trick.

  *They're coordinated. They've done this before.*

  The grounded Skynel crept closer. Inch by inch. Its legs clicked against stone with each careful step.

  It was close enough to smell now—sharp, acrid, like burnt metal.

  It leaned in, mandibles clicking as it examined my face.

  *Not yet.*

  It moved to my neck, where blood still oozed from earlier wounds.

  *Not yet.*

  Its mandibles opened. Began to bite down—

  *NOW.*

  My eyes snapped open.

  My claws shot up, driving into the soft joint where its head met its thorax.

  The Skynel shrieked—a high-pitched, metallic sound that echoed through the cavern.

  I didn't let go.

  I bit down on its neck, tasting bitter ichor, and *dragged* it toward the crevice.

  The second Skynel panicked. It launched its stinger—

  I twisted, using the struggling Skynel in my grip as a shield.

  *THUNK.*

  The stinger punched through its companion's abdomen. The creature's screams intensified, legs thrashing.

  *Perfect.*

  I shoved myself backward into the crevice, pulling my captive with me.

  The space was narrow. Cramped. My wings scraped against stone. But I fit.

  Barely.

  The wounded Skynel writhed in my grip, trying desperately to escape. But in this tight space, its wings were useless. Its legs couldn't find purchase.

  It was trapped.

  Just like I wanted.

  ---

  The second Skynel hovered outside the crevice, stinger raised.

  It fired.

  The projectile shot toward me—

  I yanked the wounded Skynel up, positioning it between myself and the attack.

  *CRUNCH.*

  The stinger punched through its companion's carapace, piercing deep into its thorax.

  The creature's screams turned wet. Gurgling.

  The stinger retracted, pulling free with a sickening *squelch.*

  And the second Skynel made its mistake.

  It flew into the crevice after me.

  *Got you.*

  The moment it entered the narrow space, its advantage vanished. Its wings couldn't fully extend. Its mobility was gone.

  And I still had one weapon it didn't expect.

  I opened my mouth.

  And *spat.*

  Venom—the lizardman's venom, absorbed and repurposed by Devour—sprayed from my fangs in a pressurized stream.

  It hit the Skynel square in the face.

  The creature shrieked.

  Its chitin began to *melt.* Smoke rose from its carapace as the acid ate through layers of armor, exposing the soft tissue beneath.

  It thrashed wildly, trying to retreat—

  I lunged forward, claws extended, and drove them into its compound eyes.

  *CRACK.*

  The eyes shattered like glass.

  Ichor sprayed across my face, bitter and foul.

  The Skynel convulsed once. Twice.

  And went still.

  I didn't stop.

  I tore into it, ripping through weakened chitin, claws finding soft organs beneath. The first Skynel—still alive, barely—tried to crawl away.

  I grabbed it by the wing and dragged it back.

  More venom. More claws.

  More *hunger.*

  By the time I was done, both creatures were unrecognizable.

  ═══════════════════════════

  [UNIQUE SKILL ACTIVATED: DEVOUR]

  ═══════════════════════════

  You have consumed aerial predators.

  Traits absorbed. Body adapting.

  ABILITY GAINED: [PIERCING CLAW]

  Effect: Claws can now detach and launch at high speed.

  Once embedded in a target, they return automatically.

  Range: 15 meters

  ═══════════════════════════

  The words barely registered.

  I slumped against the cavern wall, body shaking.

  My leg throbbed. My wing ached. My ribs screamed with every breath.

  I used what was left of the Skynel corpses to block the crevice entrance, wedging chitin plates into the gap.

  A makeshift barricade.

  Not much. But it would have to do.

  And then, in the darkness of that narrow space, alone with the smell of blood and ichor... I am tired...

  I started to cry.

  I couldn't hold back anymore.

  *I'm scared.*

  *I'm so scared.*

  *I don't want to be here. I don't want to be this.*

  During the fight—during *all* the fights—I'd felt something else. Something that wasn't me.

  The hunger. The thrill. The *smile* on my face as I tore into them.

  *I'd enjoyed it.*

  And that terrified me more than anything.

  *I'm losing myself.*

  *With every kill, I feel more like a monster. Less like...myself.*

  I thought of Alice. Wondered where she was. If she was safe.

  *Please be okay. Please don't be going through this.*

  My eyes grew heavy.

  My body finally gave out. One last thought drifted through my mind:

  *How many more times can I do this before there's nothing human left?*

  As I lost consciousness---