Revenge

The next day I checked and repaired my traps, there had been a few beasts who tried to break in but nothing that broke through my defenses. After adding a few more traps I made my way towards the spiders' territory, as I got closer webs became more prominent, they held a lot of small insects and a few small rodents. The spiders had advanced closer to my home once again, even after hunting them as much as I could their numbers just kept climbing if I couldn't solve these insects than I would need to move my home but I wouldn't be able to take my sword with me. Shaking my head to clear these unnecessary worries I refocused on going further into the spiders' territory, as I came closer I heard a new sound, it repeated itself at different intervals and was very loud and it came from the direction of the burrow.

Curious as to the nature of the beast or beasts making the sound I began to head in the direction of the burrow, making my way forward I spotted dozens of spiders rushing towards the burrow, they were on the ground and in the trees and they had spotted me a few times but ignored my existence and kept running. I picked up my pace to follow the spiders, as we got closer to the burrow the sound got louder and louder like small cracks of thunder releasing sporadically. I climbed higher into the trees and made my way forward, once I reached the burrow I heard voices, pushing past the branches and leaves I looked down toward the clearing ahead. Just at the edges of the clearing, there were a group of figures clad in black, they stood on two legs just like I did but they were in all black and a mask covered their heads. They were holding some kind of weapon that had fire roaring out of the front in spurts and anything that got in front of them was killed or severely wounded as they lay sprawled on the ground bleeding into the dirt. There was over thirty of them and all around them, spiders were charging towards them, yet to no avail as they were killed by the dozens.

A small horde of palm-sized spiders rushed out of a hidden hole in the ground, the figures threw a few black balls into the insects a moment later fire spewed out from underneath them and began roasts them alive, sharp screeching came from the inferno as they perished. I lowered my self into the shadows of the tree, I didn't want to be caught in this slaughter, time passes and hordes of spiders kept coming and the figures in black began to retreat into the forest. A few would move back while the others continued to kill the spiders, they dropped a few more of those orbs and ran while the inferno swallowed the spiders, they disappeared into the forest leaving hundreds of spider corpses strewn about the clearing.

Standing back up I decided to leave before the scent of so much blood and death brought a beast tide to the spiders' doorstep, it would be best to wait out the coming battle as I wasn't strong enough to participate in a beast tide.

I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head and then darkness."Target secured, we are headed back to the dropship."

I opened my eyes the bright lights blinding me, I blinked as my eyes readjusted, my blurry vision faded and showed me my fate. I was in a cage, and I wasn't the only one, all around me several beasts some large and some small were in similar cages. I could feel the energy radiating off a few of them and it scared me how such fierce beasts could be taken alive they would rather fight to the death than submit.

A growl like voice came from the cage beside mine. The voice sounded in my head, just like my mother, after so long I could actually speak with someone else!

"Oh, the young hatchling awakens, tell me young one how did you gain their form, no that's not quite right you look like them but you smell different, maybe just a higher breed than the others." Turning back I saw a massive cage, but inside was large white feline, though the cage was many times larger than necessary for it, I could feel that out of all the beasts here this was the oldest and most powerful.

I didn't hide anything from this old beast as we were both captives and who would he tell? "Old One, I ate the heart of one like them, she protected me from an entire beast tide but at the end fell to sneak attack. She was my first evolution and soon after I experienced pain beyond measure and when I came too I was like this. Though I have hunted and eaten many beasts stronger than myself, my power and physical body do not obtain the benefits...is there something wrong with me or my new form?" I had noticed my strength hadn't improved much since after my fifth hunt and that was so long ago and I still hadn't had any great gains, I was fast and a little stronger but after such a long time of hunting and eating beasts that were stronger than myself nothing had benefitted me again like my protectors heart.

"Well now that is strange, but not so rare I don't know what is going on with you and there isn't anything wrong with you after your body was remade the way you absorb life energy also changed. It happens quite often once you get to a certain strength where eating just isn't enough to bring about higher evolution or in your case increase the growth rate of your form. So you are just going to have to figure out how you absorb energy from now on, well that is assuming you make it out alive, they were highly interested in you when you were brought in and tried to take that shiny thing off of your arm." I looked down at my arm, most of my hides had been removed only leaving my legs covered while my torso and arms were bare.

"Oh, I nearly forgot to ask you, where did you come from little one? There were quite a few spiders brought on board with you, including their queen, they didn't seem to like you very much, the queen kept calling you a pest before she was put to sleep by our captors." I went to answer the elder beast but before I could a group of the travelers came up to my cage. The one in the lead took off his helmet showing a tanned skinned man with black eyes and hair, with a small scar under his right eye, opening the door the tall man stepped into my cage. "Easy there kid, I am not here to hurt you, I just want to know how you got to this planet and where you got that armguard." I tilted my head at him in confusion, not that I didn't understand him but that I understood him, I guess my teacher from my dreams taught me more than I realized though I had never spoken aloud before. I kept my eyes on the traveler and with a raspy voice I choked out two words; pointing at the armguard I struggled with the word,"m-M I N E," placing my hand on the floor the next word came easier and not as broken as the first, "H O M E".

The traveler leaned against the bars of my cage, "Where are your parents kid?" I squinted my eyes at him and thought about my reply and decided to give the answer that was most likely. "Dead, my family was killed, by spiders." I clenched my hands into fists, I looked around the massive room until my eyes fell upon a set of cages that held the queen of the spider clan. The traveler followed the direction of my eyes, while he and his fellow travelers looked at the set of cages I stepped through the door and ran towards the queens' cage, "Shit! Stop him." The sounds of the travelers chasing after me came from behind but I had a good lead on them and the spider queen was at its weakest state and this would be my only chance to get at her.

Reaching her cage I squeezed through the bars and walked up to the massive spider, I didn't have my traps or weapons I extended my claws on each hand. I stared at the face of the enemy of my clan, they had destroyed my people and robbed me of my home and now I would take their life. I shoved my claws through its large eyes meeting resistance as I pushed towards its brain, large amounts of fluid splashed onto my chest, the spider shivered and began waking up. Out of confusion and pain, the spider bit into my side, how dare this insect fight back. I screamed into its face and push my claws in deeper until with a small pop my claws broke through a membrane and penetrated into its brain. At that moment where my claws reached its brain, I could feel a massive amount of energy that began to seep through my claws into my body. The massive spider screeched and shoved me against the bars, though its legs collapsed underneath itself still under the effects of the drugs.

At the rate I was draining the massive amount of energy the spider queen would long since recovered and there was a small chance of survival if it could move its body fully, I pushed away from the spider and removing myself from it mandible, tearing open my wound. Not having time to bandage myself I ran to the right of the queen and began clawing at the joints of its legs, the first two legs came away easy but working on the other became more difficult as the spider overcame the drugs. While I clawed off the last two legs the queen stood up, it wasn't very steady but it made it difficult to claw at the weaker joints, she tried to turn and face me but without a good portion of her legs she became unbalanced and slow. I ran beneath her abdomen towards her rear, she screeched and slashed open my leg as I passed under her, I stumbled my way out from under her rear. Stabbing my claws into her I began climbing her until I reached her back, she tried to spin and rock me off but I would not fall. She began slowing down and finally fell onto her belly, the floor of the cage was covered in her blood, I stood up and limped along her back until I reached her head once again.

I looked into her eyes, they flitted about in fear that satisfied me and I smiled while I communicated with her, "Just remember you slaughtered my people so I will slaughter yours!" I shoved my claws through her skull and began absorbing her life energy, she struggled a bit more by trying to stand, only to slip in a pool of her own blood. A few minutes later she finally stopped moving, as I absorbed her energy I wondered why this time was different. I had killed plenty of beasts with my claws, in the beginning, maybe I had to have my claws in a vital organ or close to the source of life? I would need to test this out later, just as I came out from my thoughts I looked around and saw the travelers surrounding the cage their strange weapons pointed at me and the spider.

Most of the energy had already been absorbed so I mutilated her brain with my claws and pulled them free from her skull, I jumped down from her body and squeezed my way back through the bars and sat down on the floor. The traveler I had talked to earlier approached me with a complicated look on his face but he didn't have his men stand down either. "Kid, what the hell was that?"

Looking back into his eyes I replied in as steady a voice I could manage, "Revenge."