That Which Devours

What the fuck?

I did not want to lick blood, except that I did.

The thought was enough to drive the brief hunger away, and I fought the urge to say something. Instead, I helped him put his shirt back on and stepped back as he sat down.

“You okay?”

“I will be. It already feels better.” He nodded to himself. “Like, a lot better.”

“That’s a good sign, maybe your healing is kicking in.” An increase in constitution let people heal faster, and given his level, it had to help.

“You need to get moving. It’s already heading toward midday.” He motioned toward the front window. The sunlight wasn’t the soft morning glow anymore. I had noticed the sun was higher when I was outside, but I hadn’t said anything because I’d been worried about leaving him alone and injured.

I patted him on the opposite shoulder, and he nodded. “Alright, I’ll see you in three days. The ship should be ready to go,” I said.

“It will.”

I moved toward the cargo box after grabbing the cloak and climbed up on it before cracking open the hatch. I couldn’t hear or see anything around the ship and opened it the rest of the way. The fresh air felt good as I climbed out of the shuttle. I slowly closed the hatch and then twisted the handle shut, hoping I wasn’t burying my brother inside.

The cloak swung around my shoulders even with the sun beating down on me. It would make it harder to see me within the ferns. I climbed off the shuttle and pulled my knife out, before heading north. Still, nothing moved that I could see within the underbush.

The wind blew directly at me, which was a stroke of luck. I could smell something on the breeze, but I didn’t know what it meant. When I focused on my hearing, the wind in the leaves and some birds in the distance were all I could make out.

Once at the first tree still within sight of the shuttle, I made the tip of my knife glow. I quickly carved a ring around the tree in the bark just above my height. It was higher than the surrounding ferns. Anyone observant wouldn’t be able to miss it, but the local wildlife wasn’t smart enough to know what it meant. Or, we didn’t think they were. Then, I turned to face the jungle again. Once I stepped into the undergrowth, I’d lose sight of the shuttle.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped next to the ferns and away. Trees towered above me with dense foliage blocking direct sunlight, while vines hung down from the tall branches. White flowers covered one of the vines and they gave off a crisp smell. Ferns and other plants with dark green leaves covered the forest floor, making my footsteps almost silent. The soft sound of birds and insects in the far distance filled the air. It was like a different world, with my enhanced senses.

I focused on using my stealth skill, praying I could figure out how to activate it. My body shifted positions, and I walked softer on the carpet of growth below me. Automatically, I didn’t step on twigs or crisp leaves, few though they were. This was nice, walking almost silently.

I kept to the shadows while not rustling any ferns as I passed by. I kept turning back to see if I could spot the carved ring in the tree. When I figured I was far enough away, I moved to another tree and followed the same process.

This was slow moving.

The wind kept blowing in my direction, and that smell was still there. Just on the edges. The thing that smelled so good. It made me want to go check it out, but I was pretty sure I was already on track to run across it, whatever it was. Everything else went quiet the farther away from the shuttle I got. The jungle was usually so noisy, between the birds and other small creatures, plus the sounds of things moving within the trees. Yet, today the jungle was hushed.

John had been right, things were all messed up out here because of the meteor shower.

I kept going, then paused as something groaned. It was very low, and I would have missed it if I hadn’t been focused on listening to what was around me.

Before I could really think about it, I moved forward after branding another tree. The smell and sound were connected.

Shattered trees, cracked stone and the shredded canopy greeted me as I made my way around a larger than normal tree. Full sunlight streamed down from above. The meteor shower had hit this area hard. Large divots covered the ground, and I had to slow down to crawl around broken trees.

The groan came again, and I moved closer with my knife out. Peeking around a fallen tree trunk, I spotted it.

Something large was on the ground, a tree pinning it in place, and this time when the wind blew in my direction I could smell it. Fresh blood.

My stomach growled almost silently, and I plotted. The large shape and tail indicated it was another Para, the same creature as we’d caught in the hunt. This one was bigger, but it was already pinned to the ground, bleeding. A pool of blood showed it had been here some time.

I could do this.

Before I could think much more, I extended my knife, turning it into a spear, and crept closer. The tree trunk blocked the great beast’s head and fin from view, but its long tail moved back and forth. I kept out of its reach, creeping.

The closer I got, the better I could see that the leg under it was completely crushed, while the other pawed the ground. Another groan came from the creature, but it was weaker than before.

Once I was close enough to stab it, I did, slicing into the side of the creature with my glowing crystal. A burning smell filled the air, and I stabbed it again, this time harder. It groaned louder, but not by much. I needed to hit something important to put it out of its misery.

I climbed around the fallen tree, keeping near the top of the creature. Its head pointed away from me, so it didn’t see me coming. This time, I stabbed it behind its skull, the crystal tip sinking in several inches. Finally, it stopped making noise and the thrashing tail stilled.

[You have gained bonus experience for killing a Parasaurolophus above your level.]

I paused at the notification, smiling. My first kill since I’d received my class.

My mouth watered as I moved back around the creature toward its back legs. They were the best for eating. I shortened my spear back into a long knife and cut into the entire leg. I couldn’t lift it free and had to shear off a smaller piece.

I sniffed the chunk of raw meat in my hand. My mouth opened almost without my thinking about it, then I chomped down on the meat. The most delicious taste exploded over my tongue, and I closed my eyes in pleasure.

It took too long for my brain to catch up to what I was doing. By that point, blood and flecks of raw meat covered my hands and probably my face. I stopped and stared at the hunk of what was left of the dino meat in my right hand. My knife was on the ground beside my foot. All I could smell was the tangy scent of blood and food. It smelled so good I automatically started moving my mouth to chomp on the meat again.

I forced myself to not move and closed my eyes, listening and thinking. Here I was next to a dead dino with blood all over. My knife was on the ground, yet I was gorging myself on raw meat. This was a dumb way to die.

[You have devoured a Parasaurolophus. You have gained some understanding of camouflage.]

I paused and opened my stat sheet to see if anything had changed. Stealth now had a little asterisk next to it, but nothing else had updated. The wording was even the same. Maybe once something happened from my class, I’d figure out what I could do instead of having to guess. Yet, that led my thoughts back to eating more of the meat. I wanted to, badly.

Closing my sheet I focused on trying to hear anything else around me. The birds were back, making noise, but that was it. My eyes snapped open, and I went to grab my knife, but stopped. My hands were a mess. I tossed the meat into the bushes and tried to wipe my hands off on some leaves, but it didn’t work well.

Taking a deep breath only filled me with the urge to chomp down some more of the meat, as the tangy scent of blood filled my head. I forced myself to focus and keep rubbing my hands on the leaves, doing my best to ignore the urge. Once my hands were as clean as I could get them using the leaves, I picked up my knife to cut off another piece of meat. This I put directly into the inventory crystal, resisting the urge to take a bite and be right back where I’d started. I added a second hunk, then a third, resisting a little more easily each time. All three were massive, but with my increased strength I could pick them up one-handed, and they weighed nothing once in the crystal, of course.

That had to be enough, as I forced myself to turn away from the carcass. Each step took more willpower than I thought I had, but somehow I managed it. I kept my brother in the forefront of my mind. “He is counting on me. I have to get the crystal,” I whispered to myself, picturing him back in the shuttle all alone.

My grip on the knife tightened multiple times as I fought to not turn back. I reached a tree on the other side of the small clearing and made myself carve a ring around it, before heading in what I hoped was the correct direction. Using just the sun, I was pretty sure I was on track, but I didn’t want to take a break and climb a tree yet. Not yet. I had to put more distance between me and the dead dino.

I also needed to find something to get cleaned up with, something better than leaves. All that went through my mind was that I had to be leaving a scent trail a mile wide behind me.

The wind blew in my face and I paused, trying to work out what I could smell. I pushed away a fern and saw two more dead Paras. Not much was left of these. Instead of a tree taking them out, they looked shredded. Four giant craters had decimated the area, creating an even larger open space where the sun beat down.

“Where are the predators?” I whispered.