The gryphon placed its talon on the corpse it was feeding from. Its hind claws dug furrows as it flexed them. Its golden eyes never left mine. Its wings arched, feathers catching the wind, stirring it as if it wanted to lift it skyward.

  I crouched low, every hair along my back stiff. It wasn’t stupid. If it left the ground, it would have the advantage. If it stayed, I could tear its throat. But it looked like it was defending its meal.

  Keagan’s voice was right behind me. “Lucia, if it gets airborne…”

  “I know,” I growled, never breaking eye contact. “Now stay back.”

  The gryphon rumbled deep in its chest. It didn’t speak, but the message was clear: this was its territory, and the penalty for trespassing was death.

  Kill or be killed. Time to work.

  I lunged forward—not for it, but at its shadow. My claws ripped up dirt in a spray. The beast flinched, wings snapping wider in instinct. That was all I wanted. Its wingspan was enormous, but it also made them vulnerable.

  It backpedaled, faster than I liked, talons carving trenches. Then it struck. Faster than its bulk suggested it would, it surged in, talons aimed at my back. I jumped to the side. The impact exploded the ground, and the shockwave rattled my skull.

  My vision blurred for a second, but I hopped up and snapped at the wing joint. It tried to lift it out of my reach, but I got a mouthful of feathers. They tore free when I dropped back to the ground.

  A superficial wound only.

  The gryphon roared, beating its wings hard enough to stagger me. Dust and leaves swirled, stinging my eyes. Its beak darted forwards, stabbing for my shoulder. I rolled aside and felt the wind shear past fur.

  Too close.

  I darted right, feinted again, then hooked left as the gryphon shifted to follow. Just as its right wing dipped low for balance, I fired off an ice shard. Because I aimed high, it lowered the wing further.

  That was my opening. I lunged, my fangs clamped down on the thick muscle where the wing joint bent. Hot coppery blood flooded my mouth.

  The beast shrieked, a terrible, piercing cry that rattled the trees. It thrashed backwards. As it spun, I was lifted off the ground. My jaws clamped down harder. The wing jerked wildly, the joint in the middle snapped, and I was thrown into a tree. The slam drove the breath out of me.

  Searing hot pain washed over my whole left side and spiked with each breath I took. I spat out the mouthful of feathers and little bit of bone and muscle. While I had several broken ribs, the gryphon’s wing from where I bit down was completely limp and dragging on the ground. It wasn’t even trying to hold it up anymore.

  Blood trickled from its wound as it then turned to leave. I took several measured breaths. Apparently, I’m more trouble than I’m worth. But more importantly, it's grounded.

  I licked the blood from my lips as I stood with my legs trembling but steady. “Not so high and mighty now.”

  The gryphon turned its head back and snarled. Then its beak clicked. “You’re a threat.” It stopped and turned back around. “I’ll tear you apart, and then the little one.”

  My fur stood up straighter as I lowered my head. My vision shifted to bright red. “You will not touch the boy. He is mine!”

  The gryphon darted between trees. Every dash kicked up a gust, making leaves rattle. Each of its footfalls pounded the ground. The one good wing it had swept forwards, trying to angle its blasts to push me to ruin my footing and to push me into a smaller clearing where it could use speed and reach. I hugged the trunks.

  My ribs protested each sudden movement, shortening my breaths. Since the gryphon was willing to charge me, I was going to wait. Making sure to keep me between it and Keagan. The gusts died down as the gryphon saw its tactic wasn't working.

  I moved in slow, patient arcs. The gryphon mimicked my movements. Each of us waited for the other to make the first move. The gryphon kept its head low, ready to pounce in an instant.

  I made my way closer this time. But I always kept close to a tree for cover.

  Then it saw me poke around a tree trunk. It raised a talon and swiped. I pulled back. The gryphon’s natural weapon splintered into the tree. Broken shrapnel sprayed outward, but it didn't cut the tree down.

  When it got stuck, I struck. My paw hammered into the trapped foreleg. The bones snapped, and a deep gash opened up. I darted into its reach; I let my ice mana build in me.

  The gryphon dislodged its talon, pulled it close, and limped away from me. But I was already too close. With my other claws, I raked open four red lines down the base of its neck and its chest.

  Keagan crouched behind a tree thirty feet behind me. “Lucia, be careful!” he shouted.

  As I predicted, it was going to snap its beak on my tail. I released my mana and created the largest ice block I could. The break buried into the ice before it could reach me. My ice cracked and broke apart, but it had done its job.

  The gryphon made a sound that was a cross between a squawk and a bark. It dipped its head again. I pounded with everything I had into its neck. My jaws dug into its neck, my front paws digging just below, and my hind legs curled up and hooked into its collarbone.

  I worked all four legs to start shedding the gryphon. They made quick work of the feathers and hide.

  The gryphon fell to the ground on its side. It tried to scrape at me with its one good talon. But I kicked it away and thrashed my head from side to side.

  Muscles split and opened up to the vulnerable veins and arteries. My claws tore through those too. I slammed a paw on the side of its neck and twisted my head hard in that direction.

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  A wet snap and the gryphon went instantly still.

  Enemy defeated. Progress to level 4: 33%.

  I slowly got up after releasing my death grip on the corpse. The world still moved a little slower as the adrenaline continued pumping through my body.

  Keagan crept out from where he hid, eyes wide, and when he saw the blood on my flank, he pointed to it. “We need to get you patched up,” he said, voice trembling. “You did… you did it.”

  It looks like he got me at the end, but I didn't feel it.

  I stood on legs that felt like lead. I was coming down hard. “I did something,” I corrected. The pain was rolling in fast. “Kid, I think I'm going to lie down for a bit.”

  Keagan exhaled like he had been holding his breath for too long. He stumbled toward me and fell to his knees. “Lucia?” He reached for me, hands clumsy.

  I dropped to my side where my ribs weren't broken. “Kid, get the water and first aid kit. This isn't the time to lose your nerve. Do exactly what I tell you.”

  Keagan balled his fist and swallowed hard. “Okay.” He reached into the saddlebags and pulled out a waterskin and the small wood case with basic first aid supplies. “Now what?”

  I nodded to the wound on my flank. “Clean that out and use the thread and needle to stitch it shut.”

  There was a moment of hesitation in his eyes. He shook it away and followed my instructions. I hissed and grunted from the stinging of him cleaning the wound.

  His stitch work really needs help. “Kid, pull it tight between each stitch. Otherwise you're not doing anything.”

  Slowly, the boy found his rhythm, and with a little more correction on his technique, the wound was stitched up. Although he dug the needle too far in every time. He wrapped a bandage around it as tight as he could.

  “Good,” I said. “That's all you can do for now.”

  Keagan eyed me closely. “You're hurt elsewhere, aren't you? You're taking short breaths.”

  “Perceptive,” I groaned. “There's at least a couple of cracked ribs. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do for those.”

  “You know, these wounds are a lot like what Dexter inflicted on you,” the boy chirped.

  “Please, don't try to make me laugh.” I didn't hold back the smile. Pain in my legs started to spread from the joints. “I keep cracking ribs because I have a lot of ribs to crack.”

  “Is that a joke?”

  “Maybe,” I teased. I lowered my head. “Sorry. But it looks like we'll not be getting home today.”

  The boy knelt in front of me. I let him take my head between his palms and press his forehead to mine. “This is why I said you need higher stats before you go hunting. It's dangerous.”

  Pain shot through my ribs. “And next time, no talking,” I whispered to him. “Then I will show you how I truly hunt. We're going to rest here. For the rest of the day, behave.”

  “I promise.”

  I tasted iron in my mouth and felt the ache. I took another look at the corpse. An urge to feast welled up.

  Maybe food will help me relax. “Hey kid, you might not want to watch this part.”

  He sat on a fallen branch. “You're going to eat it now, aren't you?” I nodded. He waved to the gryphon. “I might as well watch. I've got to get used to it somehow.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  Since I was close to the chest, and it had been opened up from the right, I started there. Peeling back the hide and feathers with one paw, I started biting into the meat.

  Oddly enough, the gryphon was pretty good. The texture was a bit tougher than its light flavor would suggest. The desire to keep devouring the monster grew as I ate. I suppressed it but kept eating anyway.

  I've got one hard-to-deal-with compulsion. Two will be very annoying. Wrath is my sin, not gluttony.

  “So, uh, how does it taste?” Keagan asked, making the awkward moment a little more awkward.

  I turned to see him handling it much better than I thought he would. Then again, after what I did to Dexter and Bea after they burned our house down, this is mild. But he was in shock at the time.

  “Tastes just like chicken.” I licked my bloody lips. “Want some? You'd probably want to cook it first though. The raw texture might be a little too tough for you.”

  The boy looked like he was seriously considering it. “I don't have a fire or know how to make one. But I could try just a small piece. You really seem to enjoy it. I kind of want to see if it’s really that good.”

  There's no harm in that, right? It's as fresh as meat can get, so no bacteria has had a chance to grow on it yet. As long as he sticks to the muscle, there shouldn't be any parasites. I don't see any. I'd be in more trouble than he would if there were any.

  I nodded him over. He stepped over, avoiding the growing puddle of blood around me as much as he could. Gingerly, he picked a small bit and pulled it out. He held it in front of his face, likely second-guessing his decision as he baked with his curiosity. I was starting to get curious if he would try it.

  He closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and dropped it in his mouth. His face scrunched into a scowl as he chewed. He kept chewing.

  “Yeah, it's… it's something,” he said, the piece of meat still in his mouth.

  I sighed. “If you don't like it, you can spit it out.”

  He did. “Oh, thank you.” He retreated back to his seat as he shuddered. “So, uh, yeah. I'm not doing that again.”

  “At least you tried.” I gave the boy a smirk. “That's more than most people do.”

  I returned to consuming my way through the gryphon. My claws split and peeled back more of its hide as I worked my way down the rib cage.

  I wonder how its heart tastes.

  Keagan rinsed out his mouth with the water skin. “You do know that you're going to be covered in all that blood until we get back, right?”

  My tail flicked to the side. “Eating this thing isn't easy. Besides, no thumbs.”

  I ate my way through more than half of it. The heart was extra chewy and a great after-meal savory dessert.

  Gryphon consumed: +2 Power, +1 Agility, +2 Speed, +1 Toughness.

  With the notification of stats gained from my Gorging trait, I felt full. My injuries didn't hurt as much. They weren't miraculously healed in any way; it was just easier to think of anything but them.

  — — —

  Name: Lucia Silverbreeze

  Species: Fenris (Dire Wolf/???) [Ice Subtype]

  Level 3 [33%]

  Power: 303

  Agility: 195

  Speed: 221

  Arcane: 154

  Toughness: 109

  Resilience: 110

  — — —

  Keagan hopped off his branch, putting away the gem that allowed him to see my stats. “Lucia, you realize we can use this to get your Toughness up faster, right?”

  “And how would you know what stats I will get from eating which monsters?” I asked. “And is it really worth it to be picky? Shouldn't I eat every monster I kill?”

  “Well, if there's only one, yeah.” He waved to the gryphon’s remains. “If there was a second one, would you seriously be able to eat more?”

  My stomach is quite full. If the gryphon had been much larger, I would've had trouble eating more than half, which seemed to be required for my trait to activate. After all that, I don't think I can eat anything else for the rest of the day. I'm not going to make myself throw up just so I can eat more. That's a horrible waste and just plain awful.

  “I guess you've got a point.”

  The boy snapped his fingers. “So, that means we should try to be selective in what we hunt. You gained stats based on what the gryphon was average or above average in.”

  “So, you're telling me I need to eat a golem?” I raised an eyebrow. “My fangs are sharp, but not chewing-stone sharp. Don't even get me started on what that will do to my digestive tract.”

  He waved his hands. “Oh no, no. You need to consume non-construct-based monsters. There are many options. Onis, direlions, lindworms…”

  “Alright,” I interrupted. “You've made your point. If we see a bounty for a monster, I could get his Toughness or Resilience; we can prioritize those.”

  Keagan gave me a thumbs up. “Exactly!”

  “Pretty smart of you, kid.” I started heading back to the path home. “You figured that all out after the second time I got stats from it.”

  Keagan called the saddlebags and walked next to me. “It was no big deal. Though the first time you got stats was when you ate Bea. Let's keep you from eating kalands as much as possible. Maybe you could promise not to eat people. That would raise too much attention.”

  “Not in public and only those that deserve it,” I promised.

  The boy sighed. “That's the best I'm going to get, isn't it?” He straightened up. “It'll have to be. So, let's get home so we can get you healed and cleaned.”

  I could feel the blood drying to my fur. “Let's.”

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