《Reptile At Range》
Chapter 1: Revenge Against the Green Scaleless
Author note: POV starts as third person but switches to first. Most of the story will be in first person POV.
A lizard crawled out of a hole in the ground on all fours. Under its feet was soft and slightly damp soil. The hole behind it was a gap in a boulder that had been slowly split over the years by an ever expanding tree''s roots a feet away from it. It kept larger predators from being able to reach it while allowing the occasional prey to creep in searching for shelter. A perfect lair for the lizard, so perfect that it often had to compete with others of its species to keep this spot.
The morning sun peeked through the tree branches and shone upon the lizard. It moved onto a rock and rested, soaking up all the warmth it could. As it was cold blooded, it required warmth before it could actively move and hunt down prey. A long, forked tongue flickered out of its mouth every few seconds. With the smell receptors on its tongue, it could ''taste'' scents. Every once in awhile it would also lick its eyes to restore moisture as it had no eyelids to blink with.
Suddenly, it scurried off into the forest undergrowth and found a clearing. A dozen or more buzzing sounds rang out as flies circled the area. There was some sort of corpse lying on the ground, attracting all sorts of insects. The lizard preferred live prey and was far more interested in the insects than the corpse. It positioned itself in a patch of dirt next to the corpse and waited. Its grayish brown scales allowed it to blend in rocky outcrops and dirt easily when stationary.
It did not have to wait for long as a fly landed on the ground ahead of it and began cleaning itself while rubbing its front feet together. With a lunge, it threw its body through the air at the fly while opening its mouth wide. The fly reacted with unnatural reflexes, attempting to fly away. However, it was too late as the lizard managed to grab one of its legs, keeping it from flying off. For a few moments, the fly flew constantly, buzzing around but getting nowhere as the lizard silently gripped on it, waiting for it to tucker itself out.
Once the fly settled down, the lizard pinned it down with its front leg and opened its mouth to take a bigger bite out of the fly''s body. It would swallow the fly whole and spend a few days digesting it from the safety of its nest, only going out to warm up in the sun. Before it fully ingested the fly, a shadow covered up the sunlight and alerted the lizard of danger. It could not tell what was coming, but it was getting closer. It let go of the fly in its mouth and retreated towards its home as fast as it could. If only it could slip into the crack there it would be safe from this predator.
Long, sharp claws dug into the earth around the lizard, trapping it. Rough scales pressed down on it, crushing it with brute strength as the claws closed around it, digging into the soil as it was scooped up. A few seconds later it was tossed into the air. A chance at freedom it thought briefly as it started to move its legs so it could run once it touched ground again. Instead it met a sudden end at a sharp row of teeth slamming shut with a sickening crunch.
(POV switch to first person)
Small scaled ones were delicious as always. Easy prey when they were distracted with their own food. A nice crunch their tiny scales had which couldn''t be compared to bone. A pity that the dead one that attracted all of these smaller ones was a Scaled One. Although they smell worse, I would much prefer to find a dead Green Scaleless or Furred One than my kin. They had even gutted them and stripped off some meat to eat. I looted his body for a spare sling before tasting the air to track down the ones that killed them.
Three, no four, Green Scaleless ones were not too far away. They would die for this transgression. This part of the forest was our territory not theirs. I pocketed a few stones that fit in my hands nicely and followed their tracks. From behind a tree, I observed my prey.
They had started a fire and were cooking up the flesh of my kin. The smoke and burning flesh would cover my scent. One of them had a slightly larger head than the others and one that had an unusually small head. I moved closer, ducking behind bushes, dashing between trees, and even crawling alongside a tree root to reach a spot between two tall bushes where I could stand up without being too obvious. Not only that, but it was close enough to use my sling accurately. I slipped a rock into its pouch and began swinging it around in the air. If not for the crackling flames, the Scaleless ones would have heard the air cracking with every swing until the rock was released.
My target was the one with the large head, easy to hit and likely the only one of them smart enough to fight back. With a loud crack, blood and brain juices burst out of its head as the rock hit on target. It wasn''t until the body fell to the ground that the other Scaleless reacted, picking up their weapons and looking around. Ducking behind a bush, I slipped another rock into the sling. They still outnumbered me and could kill me if they discovered where I was. All I had to do was kill one more and it would become an even fight, if not a little bit to my advantage.
This time they heard me as I started swinging and started charging me. It was already too late as the sling built up to maximum speed and threw another rock. Had they chosen to take cover instead of lining up for me, I would have struggled to hit them and eventually run out of rocks to sling. The second rock hit one of the Scaleless in the chest as it was a bigger target than the head and reduced the chances of a miss. Not that it was any less lethal as it knocked the Scaleless to the ground and they weren''t getting back up. The one with the small head kept charging me while the other living one backed off and fled stupidly. Two on one they at least had a chance to win.
As the small headed Scaleless reached my position, I swiped my claw at its weapon, knocking it into the underbrush on the side. Then it sorta just gave up, looking over where its weapon went with a helpless look in its eyes. I grabbed onto its shoulders roughly, my claws drawing foul smelling blood, keeping it still as I opened my mouth wide. There was one other reason why I killed the large headed one first; With such a head, how could it fit in my mouth? A satisfying snapping sound rang out as I closed my mouth around its tiny head, decapitating it with nothing but my teeth. Before it shut, I could taste the Scaleless ones'' fear.
As its lifeless body dropped to the ground, I spit out its head. Green Scaleless ones unfortunately did not taste good. Would only eat it if starving or having a weird craving. There was only one part on its entire body that tasted alright, the heart. I pulled out a tusk from a chargebeast, sharpened to a blade, and cut open each of the Scaleless to consume their hearts. As is tradition, the predator must eat the hunted prey, if not just a few choice bits. This was important in establishing the relationship where they would fear us and never strike us while we can freely consume them as needed.
My blade cut deep into their bodies, prying open their rib cages before cutting all the bits attached to the organ and bringing it to my mouth. Their hearts tasted lean and young, but their bodies were that of adults. Ground-born Scaleless ones. Inferior to hatched-ones such as myself. This meant that a new nest had popped up and the Scaleless that ran would lead me straight to it. Before the ground-born could learn to fight properly or grow in numbers, I would destroy their nest as this was our territory.
I was guided to a hollow carved out of a small cliff by the fleeing Scaleless one. Along the way, I picked up a few more good throwing rocks, as many as I could fit in the roughly sewn pockets on my clothes. These clothes had been taken from a Non-Green Scaleless one. While they chafed against my scales, I''d only be able to carry two or three rocks without them. With them, my hands were free even with ten to twelve rocks and my knife. My Scaled Brethren, despite being superior Hatched-Born like myself failed to see this point, leaving me with this outfit and a spare back at our den.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
From behind a low ridge, I laid down and observed the Scaleless nest. New scents had alerted me that I had reached my destination. Three of them were at the entrance, two guards and the one I had followed there. The guards turned their heads away from the runaway, ignoring its pleas for help. Their job was to keep watch there, not go out and avenge every death of kin. Shockingly, they had better weapons than ground-borns should have. Blades made from the shine rock that the Non-Green Scaleless create. Even a ground-born could tell that it was a better armament than a rock or wooden club, but from where did they get them with such a fresh nest?
Nonetheless, no matter how good their weapons were, it would do nothing for them if they never got a chance to use them. The runaway served as a perfect distraction, making plenty of noise to cover up any sounds and they purposely looked away from it which just so happened to be my direction as well. A bit more distance than before, enough so that I would be shocked if I managed to hit them on my first try but also enough so that I could make a few more attempts. Plus there wasn''t any closer trees or underbrush to use to creep closer. On the other hand, less places for them to hide after I started slinging.
My wrist twirled as the sling snapped at the air, building up more and more speed until it found a way to escape the spin. Right into the woods behind me, bouncing off a few trees. Not seeing the rock fly forward, I ducked to the ground and found that the Scaleless ones had not noticed my blunder. Checking the sling''s pouch, I found the seams ripped open. An easy fix with a bit of needlework but I didn''t bring the necessary materials or tools so the sling was useless. Silently thanking my fallen kin, I pulled out the spare sling I took from their body and made sure it wasn''t in rough shape. Almost pristine, as if they never got the chance to use it before dying. A likely outcome if they got ambushed by the Scaleless from before.
In their place, I would score a few kills to settle the game. Depending on how well it threw, I might even replace it as my main sling and leave the torn one for a hatchling to fix and use. It was not to be as it felt awkward when a rock settled in the pouch. Second try, I rounded up the sling and aimed for the Scaleless guard on the right. Instead, it smashed onto the ground a bit before them, startling them with the noise but not injuring them in any way. Now that they knew I was there, I didn''t bother hiding and readied the next rock. Despite the runaway shouting and pointing my way, clearly spotting me, the guards were slow to react. The third stone was aimed for the same guard but instead smashed into the back of the runaway''s head, splatting its brain matter all over the guards.
Still off target but a welcome result. Reacting to the mess in front of them, the guards failed to flee or chase me down. By the time they came to and drew their weapons to fight, I had thrown two more stones, both way off the mark, hitting a tree off to the left and the cliff above them, due to me trying to adjust my aim. Even though they were the same weapon, made the same way, out of the same materials, it took time and practice to get things right. Time I was running out of as I flung the sixth rock, skimming across the face of one of the guards, leaving behind a red line to contrast with its Green ugliness but otherwise no harm.
They were fast, speed and numbers were the main advantages the Green Scaleless held. Scaled Kin like myself weren''t as numerous and could even be described as slow, but we were stronger and had the ingenuity to fight at a distance like the Non-Green Scaleless. With them rapidly closing the distance, they became easier to hit and the seventh stone smashed the guard on the right''s knee to dust. It collapsed and cried out in sweet cries of pain. I reached for an eighth stone only to find none left in my pockets. Such stones that fit in the pouch and had the right weight weren''t too common so having enough to fill the pockets was rare but I swore I had more before. Must have lost a couple along the way.
There weren''t any suitable rocks at my feet so I had to fight with my knife. I couldn''t swat a shine rock weapon out of a Scaleless'' hand without losing a few fingers so I couldn''t take care of the last Scaleless the same way as I did before. It raised the shine rock into the air and tried cutting down. An easy to predict move that I easily dodged by moving to the side. However, halfway it changed direction and started swinging towards me from the side. Fast reactions or smart enough to predict my movement. To prevent my disembowelment, I raised my knife to block the swing and managed to stop the attack. A large nick was cut out of the knife and my hand trembled under the strain before pushing the blade off to the side and shoving the knife into the Scaleless'' stomach with a twist.
It fell to the ground, bleeding out as I continued to cut upwards, harvesting the Scaleless'' heart and consuming it fast enough for it to witness before its death. A bit more fat and flavor to it, a Flesh-Born. No wonder it was a decent fighter. Without a second thought, I threw away my knife and took up the guard''s shine rock blade. It would cut better and last longer, especially with that nick on the old blade. The Scaleless whose knee I crushed had managed to crawl halfway back to its nest, leaving behind a trail of blood. Testing out my new weapon, I slit its throat, granting it a faster death than its companion before consuming its heart as well. Another Flesh-Born.
Of course, the runaway was a ground-born like the others that had ambushed my kin. Four ground-borns and two Flesh-Borns weren''t a big deal as is, enough to kill a careless scaled kin, but given enough time and their numbers would multiply until they were a serious threat. The ground-borns would die out in the wilds while the flesh-borns would grow more numerous, eventually replacing the ground-borns entirely and getting stronger and smarter. Then it would require all of the Scaled Kin to assemble and wage war or risk deaths every day. This nest was especially dangerous due to it being in our territory. It could be tolerated if far away since we couldn''t bother with every nest or we''d starve, die out, or lose our territory. But this, this nest must be destroyed as it was right next to our lair.
Inside the nest of the Scaleless, there wasn''t much light. My eyes quickly adjusted allowing me to see and could do so even in pitch darkness. A single room with a pile of wood, a skeleton, and a crystal shining in the air. No more enemies to kill. From the size of the skeleton and the torn up pieces of cloth around it, it used to be a Non-Green Scaleless. Freshly killed and eaten guessing from the bits of flesh still sticking to the bone. If I had shown up even a day later, they would have gnawed that flesh off or even broke the bones open to get to the marrow. That explained the shine rock weapons they had.
As for the pile of wood, from how there were strange, unnatural pieces and no bark, it had to be one of the Non-Green Scaleless'' wooden beasts they used to get from place to place. This was bad news as the fresh skeleton meant the Green Scaleless had attacked a Non-Green important enough to have a wooden beast. The Non-Green''s desire for vengeance would drown the entire forest in blood or make it so that none would pass by for a bit. Hopefully the latter as we took many losses the last time a Non-Green died to the Furred Ones.
I grabbed the crystal and it suddenly started to glow from my touch, losing its ability to float in the air and resting in my hand. Left alone, the crystal would find a way to slip away and create a new nest. Throwing it to the ground, the crystal smashed into pieces with a loud ringing sound. Like that, the hollow in the cliff would slowly close up and sink into the ground beneath and no more ground-borns would appear. As I was about to turn to leave, the pieces of crystal reformed into an object. A curved piece of shine rock with a string hanging from both ends. Very similar in appearance to the Non-Green ones'' slings that don''t need to be spun but require long pieces of carved wood rather than rocks to kill with.
With such an appearance, how could I leave it behind. I brought it out of the nest and watched as it started to sink into the ground as usual. This shine rock weapon wasn''t the crystal in another form to trick me. There was still some time until sundown and I had eaten my fill, so I spent some time fiddling with the weapon. Mostly tugging on the string and moving it around for a better look as there was nothing to fire with it. Eventually, I held it like I had seen a Non-Green do with one, holding the shine rock out with one hand and pulling back the string to my cheek with the other, before letting it go. With it, a flash of blue light followed and cut into a nearby tree.
After a closer look, I found that there was a hole as deep as two of my fingers stacked on top of each other in the tree. A staggeringly powerful weapon that needed not rocks nor long, carved wood. Such a weapon... could clear out entire nests of Flesh-Borns and hatch-borns before they could even react. Our kin would fear no Green Scaleless or Furred Ones. Not even the Non-Greens would be able to do anything if we decided to hunt those that passed our territory. Not only that but the entire forest would be ours, not just the tiny corner we hunt and patrol in. That is the possibility I saw in this weapon after seeing it fire but once.
Author Note: I was tempted to go with a more childish/dumbed down narration to match a lizardman¡¯s thoughts but decided to just change out some terms and just make the protag an intelligent Lizard. Might change that in the future but for now, it¡¯s going to be like this as I find it easier to write. Going to release chapters as I write them, no schedule for now.
Terms (should be obvious but here¡¯s this to clear confusion):
Scaled- lizardmen
Green scaleless- goblin esque creature
Furred Ones- Not introduced yet, beastman thingy but not the half human type
Non-green scaleless- humans
Chargebeast- anything from buffalo, bulls, or boars. Knife is ivory cut from the tusk/horn.
Shine rock- Metal
Curved shine rock with string- metal bow
Chapter 2: Raid on the Furred Ones
A snake slithered into a clearing and glanced around, looking for prey while tasting the air. It worried not for predators as colorful stripes along its body warned about the potent venom in their fangs. Nothing but the most vicious of animals or dumbest would dare attack it and those that did would regret it. There was a scab halfway down its body from a battle a week or so ago where it fought with such an animal. It had just recently finished digesting that animal and was close to healing from the wound dealt to it completely.
As there was nothing of interest in the area, it continued on, traveling in an S-shape. Its body twisted back and forth as powerful muscles expanded and contracted, pushing it forward at a surprising speed for something with no legs. A day went by without it finding any food, everything in the area recognized what it was and gave it a wide girth and the snake itself traveled in full view, showing itself off rather than trying to hide. As it traveled more and more, its skin began to sag and flake, with pieces breaking off here and there.
Molting, it was shedding its own skin in its entirety to reveal a new set of scales underneath. It was constantly growing while its scales weren''t so flexible, creating the need to grow a new set underneath and cast off the old from time to time. Many snakes would choose to do this in a hiding spot, but this one simply found a rock jutting out of the ground and rubbed up against it, breaking apart the old scales and giving it more room to wiggle out. Even then it still took hours of scraping and moving to get it all off. Some pieces never came off and the snake went along its way as the final few pieces would fall off on their own.
The place where the scab had been disappeared with the latest molt. With every molt since that fight, the snake healed from the wound and the scars from that time would be cast off with the old skin. Now the snake was in tip-top shape, fully healthy and without a blemish to its name. All it needed now was some food to sate its appetite and allow it to live on a few more weeks until the next meal was necessary.
Temperatures plummeted on the forest floor as the sun started to set. The snake''s movements began to slow down with the drop and its focus switched from food to finding shelter, preferably somewhere warm. A perfect location was nearby. The snake could taste in the air a bunch of warm bodies to intermingle with. Even though they were of a different species, nothing would dare oppose the snake if it so chose to nest alongside them for warmth.
A cave had risen from the ground with a tree growing on top of it. Long roots hung in the air as if the tree had been ripped out of the ground. These roots still dug into the ground below and the tree lived on despite this inconvenience. From there, the snake could see a group of creatures huddling up and generating plenty of warmth. Those creatures were cold blooded like the snake and couldn''t regulate their own temperatures, but in such numbers so close together, they still managed to generate plenty of warmth. Before it could reach that pile of warm bodies, a cold, scaly hand pressed down on its head.
Its body coiled around the arm of the creature that dared to attack it, squeezing down viciously and trying to strangle all of the life from it. When that failed, it tried to dislocate its jaw to pierce the hand on its head with one of its fangs. The hand foresaw this and lifted up before forming a fist and smashing down as soon as the snake put its jaw back and tried to retreat. Its head was flattened while its fangs jutted out from the sides uselessly. Despite the death of the snake''s head, the rest of the body flopped around, trying to accomplish something post-mortem.
A claw circled around its body just below the neck before cutting downwards. With a quick tug, the snake was skinned, revealing red flesh. A second tug on the head removed it and brought along all of its organs including a conspicious venom sack, leaving behind one long strip of bone and edible flesh. This was tossed into a mouth which crushed the bones and tore into the meat. Several times the meat was pulled out before being put back in at a different angle until it was chewed up enough to be swallowed. Drool flowed freely from this mouth. The Lizard Kin who owned this mouth wiped away some of the drool before walking out to greet another lizard kin who had just arrived.
(Switch to First Person POV)
After testing the weapon out a few more times, creating more holes in the ground, trees, and even rock, I returned to the home of my fellow Scaled Ones. One of them that I considered to be my friend, Forjaw, came out to greet me. The way I distinguished them from the other Scaled was that their low jaw jut a bit more forward than usual, making their voice deeper. They also had occasional issues eating as their teeth didn''t always line up properly.
"Strangescale, did you bring anything back to eat? I taste the scent of Softfleshes on you," said Forjaw as their tongue flickered out and tasted the blood of my enemies off my scales. I quickly shoved them away out of disgust.
Strangescale was my name. At first, it alluded to a scale that grew in funny as I was a hatchling. Such a name should have been changed as soon as I molted and lost the scale, but I had no other features to distinguish myself from the others and my supposedly odd behavior made the name stick. While I am strange in the sense of being different from the others, but I had the belief that I was simply being practical while the others were the strange and rigid ones.
"Forjaw, they are to be called Green Scaleless, not Softfleshes. We must keep our naming conventions consistent or we''ll risk language issues when our kin grow in numbers. First it''ll just be a few hatchlings copying your names, then a whole section of our tribe, and then full on conflicts as our understanding of each other wanes," I said to them, attempting to correct their faulty nickname for the scaleless.
"I"m sorry but it''s so much easier to remember things with my mouth than my eyes. Besides, aren''t you being a bit too dramatic. Our tribe is all Hatch-Borns, not those inferior Ground-Borns that get into squabbles with their own kin. Now about the prey you hunted down, any meat left?" asked Forjaw.
"No meat. I only ate the good parts and left the rest behind. Green Scaleless don''t suit my palate. All I brought back is good news. Smalltail was killed by an ambush of Green Scaleless but I have avenged them and destroyed one of their nests that sprouted in our territory. I also have new and better weapons now, including this," I said as I passed over one of the shine rock daggers to Forjaw.
"A good weapon. I always prefered these sorts of things over slings. Could never get the rocks to throw out in the right direction. But isn''t this a weapon of the other Softfleshes?" asked Forjaw as they tilted the blade back and forth.
"You can''t call them both the same term. That''s even worse than using Softfleshes. They''re Non-Green Scaleless and unfortunately they may come to the forest to fight due to some Ground-Born Greens attacking one of their wooden beasts. If we spot any we should shrink our territory a bit and go hungry for a few days in the hopes they''ll run off to kill the Furred Ones or Green Scaleless. And one more thing, I managed to get my hands on this," I said while pulling out the shine rock weapon and firing a shot at a nearby tree.
Forjaw went over to the tree and inspected the hole before saying, "That weapon is nice, but not as good as food. Let''s go hunting together tomorrow. You always have better luck than me. All I could eat today was some stupid Colorful Legless Tenderflesh."
"The Colorful Legless are the ones that''ll kill you if you get bitten. Careful with those as while there''s herbs that can treat it, it still hurts a lot and we don''t have much of those. You know what, even though the sole reason I get more prey is due to you not using your sling, I''m fine with hunting with you tomorrow. I wish to demonstrate to all of our kin the amazingness of this new weapon and the practicality of the Non-Green Scaleless clothes, starting with you I guess," I said while walking into the den and digging around my stuff for my spare set of clothes and sewing kit.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Doubt any of us will take to it as much as you, but I''ll pretend as long as my stomach is full. Also, can''t we just call them Tall Softfleshes instead of Non-Green Scaleless. Much easier to remember," said Forjaw as they laid down near the others who had already turned in. Night was coming and they intended to sleep soon.
"Actually a decent idea. Tall Scaleless shall be their name from now on, pass that on to the others when you wake up. I''ll need to stay up a bit late to fix a broken sling. Also let them know Smalltail died as well. It''s sorta assumed they''re dead if they don''t come back, but some solid confirmation is always nice to crush ill-gotten hope," I said as I glanced at the broken sling''s pouch with a needle in my mouth. It was going to be a long night.
Forjaw never responded to me, probably already asleep by that time or too tired to respond. I could always push off fixing the sling with the excuse that I had a spare or the new weapon, but the new weapon wasn''t reliable, wasn''t fully tested while I wasn''t used to the second sling. I tossed the second sling that had belonged to Smalltail to a corner of the den with other slings and various clubs and bone daggers sat. It was a ''general'' area where lizard kin could leave and take things from freely. My experience of having to get used to a new sling was something most of my kin dealt with on a daily basis.
Only I had the know how to realize if I always used the same one, I could increase my accuracy and spend less time aiming. On the other hand, a lot of my kin could get used to unfamiliar slings quite fast, if not as good as me with my personal one. So there were upsides and downsides to my strategy. The clear winner was me still as I could repair my personal one if overused like this and I always ate well and sometimes even brought back extra food for the rest. Yet they stubbornly stuck to their own ways. They were like Ground-borns to the superior Hatch-born like myself. Perhaps kin like me would be the norm after a few generations.
Before the light in the sky completely disappeared and the cold would prevent me from moving properly, I finished sewing my sling back to good condition and checked over my clothes. Then I snuggled up against my kin to settle down for the cold darkness, eliciting a few hisses of annoyance from those still not asleep. Although Forjaw was my friend, I kept far from them due to their bad sleeping habits.
In the morning, I awoke to find myself laying on the nest floor all alone, having slept in far longer than my kin. At the very first light peeking into the cave that we called home, they would travel outside and get started with their day. Meanwhile, I would not wake until the sun was properly up a bit, making it easier to soak in the warmth. Dragging myself outside, that was exactly what I did, let the light wash over me and get my blood flowing.
Strangely enough, there were only the young hatchlings by the den, all of our adults weren''t around. Usually some would stay behind to teach the youth or protect the den. I went over to one of these hatchlings to see if they knew anything about what happened while I was still asleep. Their name was threetoe due to one of their feet having two claws merged together from birth. Apparently they may separate and become separate toes if they were cut apart, but that would risk losing both and becoming Twotoe.
"Threetoe, where have the rest gone?" I asked.
"Off to wage war on the Furred Ones as they hunted in our territory or something like that," said Threetoe as they suddenly lunged at the ground to grab a fat Loud Black to eat.
"Why didn''t they wake me up for something so important? Nevermind, point me in the direction where they went so I can catch up," I said as I went back inside the den to grab my sling and shine rock weapon. If there was a war, then I was obligated to participate to help the tribe. It would also act as a great testing ground for my new weapon.
"Dunno, but they said something about water ending. Their talks got boring so I went back to hunting," said Threetoe as they moved a boulder to the side and began combing the area for small prey.
"Water ending? Like a waterfall or a pond? No wait, the underground river right next to the Furred Ones territory of course. Thank you Threetoe, I''ll make sure to bring back a bit of meat for you later," I said as I ran off into the forest.
There was quite a bit of distance to cover, but by the time I arrived, my kin had not left for war yet. At that time, they were still soaking in the sun and readying themselves for combat. Most were chatting with each other while a few stopped by the river to get a drink or collect some rocks to use for their slings. I made sure to grab a few rocks myself in case something went wrong with the shine rock weapon.
The underground river itself was an oddity. From the distant mountains, this river traveled down all this way, only to be swallowed into a hole in the soil. Not piling up into a lake or pond, just one second it''s above ground and the next it''s flowing downward at an angle. If one dug a hole further down, they would find the river still flowing freely in the same general direction. Even without digging, the greenery was much thicker above the river, making its path quite obvious, flowing towards some rolling plains far away where the Tall Scaleless Ones'' territory was.
One of my kin named Sixlaw, after the fact that they had six instead of five claws on both of their hands, came up to me and said, "Strangescale, what brings you here? You weren''t invited to this war."
Sixlaw saw themselves as the chief of our kinsmen and felt like I was a threat to their authority, leading to them being hostile to me. To be honest, they pretty much were the chief in all but name, which is why no one bothered to wake me for the war. Something I actually appreciated since I got a full rest and didn''t miss anything.
"War is something to be fought by all kin of age. It''s not something that requires an invitation and you need my skill. I even have a new weapon modeled after something the Tall Scaleless use, even better than a sling. We could wipe the Furred Ones out with such a weapon," I said excitedly while showing off the shine rock weapon.
"We''re not here to wipe them out. Just to punish them for hunting in our territory. As we always do in war, we will attack a few of their hunters, take one of the prey in their territory, return to our territory, then fend off whatever response they bring to us. I''ve heard about your little trip to destroy a nest of Ground-Born Green Softfleshes from Forjaw and I can''t say I''m too impressed. Then again, I owe you a favor since Smalltail was one of the kin who followed my orders and those Softfleshes can be troublesome when they spread. Get in line and we shall fight side by side as kin should," said Sixlaw.
Out of everything they said, the fact that they used the same terms as Forjaw pissed me off far more than them not inviting me to the war. My goal of joining the war party was successful and soon the whole group moved off towards the Furred Ones territory. I took up the rear, watching our backs and making sure no one was left behind. Surely, I wasn''t slowed down from the rocks in my pockets. Definitely not.
The difference between our territory and their territory was quite obvious. While still inside the same forest, different species lived there and there was more space between them. Not only that but their roots were smaller. Yet, barely any bushes grew in the spots not taken. There were enough trees to block my aim but no cover to get behind completely. Not that a large group of Lizardkin could hide from anything.
Scratches stood out distinctively on many of the trees we passed. This was the Furred Ones way of marking their territory. Complete savages. We lizardkin would use a combination of rubbing our scents on the trees and then felling some around the outer border to make the message clear even to other species. These scratches were just mindless destruction and continued on all the way to the center of their territory.
Eventually we bumped into three Furred Ones. They had the same body shape as us and could stand on two feet but these mangy beasts would walk on all fours most of the time. Their entire body was covered in thick hair and they possessed long mouths with four long teeth. Upon seeing us, they stood up and barked at us, raising up wooden spears and trying to scare us away. My fellow kin responded in kind, spinning up their slings but not throwing any rocks while letting out high pitched hisses. Neither side wanted to start the fight despite it being inevitable. I wondered why they didn''t take this chance to flee considering how outnumbered they were.
I took no part in this display, standing off to the side with the string of the shine rock weapon pulled back, ready to kill any of these Furred Ones after this farce finished. I''m not sure if it was due to it going on for long enough or due to the fact the Furred Ones realized they weren''t getting any backup from their other kin, but they finally began to back off while still barking and raising their spears. My kin walked forward to close this distance until the Furred Ones were fleeing on all fours and they ran after them, still spinning their slings and occasionally throwing out rocks.
Missing the chance to fire upon them, I followed behind the crowd and had to ditch a few rocks to be able to keep up. All of them were sprinting and throwing rocks wherever. It was horribly inefficient and they ran out of rocks so quickly that they would pick up and throw random things they found on the ground along the way. One of the fleeing Furred Ones got hit in the back of the leg. My kin did not bother with them at all, simply trampling over it. Stopping for a second, I finished off the struggling and half dead enemy with my new weapon, piercing a hole clear through its head, letting me see the ground below for a brief moment, replaced by flowing blood.
After I caught back up, the last two of the enemies had been finished off as well. Apparently, that strategy worked due to the numbers of my kin somehow. A short break was called by Sixlaw as they stripped the fur from the enemies and prepped some of the parts for consumption. Unfortunately, I had to backtrack to get the one I killed and drag it over so it could be consumed as well, as per tradition. We each had to eat a different part of the three fallen Furred Ones. Since I dragged one of the bodies over, I managed to get the tasty liver from the one while having to eat rubbery and tasteless tendon from the other two.
We had accomplished the first part of the war. Next we had to hunt down some sort of prey without being killed ourselves by the Furred Ones patrolling about. Then we could leave and perhaps they would be so scared that they wouldn''t even attack us back. Unlikely, but it always helped to have some hope. I was tempted to just run off and kill so many of the Furred Ones on my own that they wouldn''t be able to get back at us at all.
Author¡¯s note: A bit of dialogue for this chapter. If there¡¯s any unclear terms, let me know and I¡¯ll edit in a term list like the previous chapter, but I¡¯m a bit too tired to reread the chapter rn and make one.
Chapter 3: Keeping a Spear on the Side
A badger walked along the forest floor, sniffing around as all the life around it hid away in fear. Like with the venomous snake, it did not need to hide from predators or prey. It would travel openly towards anything that interested it and would fiercely attack anything that blocked it. Abnormal strength flowed through its small body alongside a thick skin that allowed it to take a beating. Venom was not something this creature needed to be feared.
Sweet smells seduced it from upwind of its position. There it found a bee''s nest, full of stinging insects and delicious honey. Without caring about the bees it climbed up to the nest and began eating. Its body was stung countless times before it was satisfied and left behind a partially destroyed nest. With its stomach filled, it returned to its home and slept the venom from the bees stings off. By no means was its fur thick enough to block out the stingers completely and neither was it immune to said venom. Its pain tolerance was high and a fast metabolism processed out the chemicals from the stingers.
It slept in until the afternoon then set off to get more food. While honey was nice, it craved meat. It began tracking down a deer that was leaking blood, either wounded or already dead, but the blood itself was fresh. Whatever was at the end of the trail, it had the confidence to kill, steal, and eat. On the way towards the deer, it encountered another predator. A snake, venomous, and moving in the opposite direction of the deer straight into its path. Any other animal would move out of its way, but the badger pretended not to see it.
The two crossed paths and the snake let out a warning hiss while waving its head around in the air, showing off its coloration. All it got was a growl in response from the badger. When it tried to step forward again, the snake lunged at it and made a biting motion just inches from the badger, trying to scare it off. The badger responded in kind by trying to bite at its neck for real. It missed but it provoked an actual bite from the snake.
A tussle broke out on the ground as they rolled around. The badger tried to claw at the snake''s body and bite its neck while the snake constantly injected venom all over the badger''s body. Eventually, a winner came out of the fight, the badger. The snake had been disemboweled and covered in bloody scratches while the badger only had bite marks. Still, the badger wasn''t immune to the snake''s venom and it ended up collapsing. Both sides appeared to have died with the result a tie.
After a few minutes, the badger climbed back to its feet and began consuming the snake''s corpse, happy to get some meat and forgetting about the deer. Normally animals bit by the snake would get paralyzed and then die from organ failure. The badger simply got paralyzed while its body broke down the remnant venom before anything important shut down.
(Switch to First Person POV)
"Look Strangescale, it''s a Small Furred Don''t Eat. Amazing things they are, just walking off after being bit by a Colorful Legless Tenderflesh," said Forjaw.
"Ignore it," I said while keeping my shine rock weapon close in case that thing decided to attack us. Don''t Eat was actually somewhat of an appropriate name considering how much effort it took to kill them just for meat that tasted awful.
We had split up from our kin to find something to hunt. Groups of two through six would comb the forest to try and kill prey then return before nightfall. No prey would be around if we traveled all together but it made things dangerous as we were in enemy territory. Of course, I was in one of the groups of two with the one kin that liked me. I would much prefer staying in a group and just assaulting the Furred Ones nest.
Whatever happened, I planned on testing this weapon out more. It could pierce through the heads of the Furred Ones fairly easily and it had a much longer range than a sling. All that needed work was my aim and learning how much I could use the weapon. Perhaps I would''ve found a nice spot to constantly shoot it until I couldn''t anymore. See if my physical endurance or it gave out first. As for the possibility it would get irreparably damaged or had limited uses that wouldn''t restore on its own, then I would keep that in mind if I ever found another one.
Forjaw managed to sniff out some prey while I was off in my own thoughts. A Small Long Legged Furred One, or as Forjaw called it, a Furry Meatball, ran across a field before stopping and staring in our direction. Giving chase, Forjaw was kited around as the prey ran back and forth in a circle, not even bothering to leave the area. I stood off to the side, seeing how far Forjaw could get without using a sling. They mostly flailed about with the new knife I had given them.
Eventually, I drew my weapon and let loose a blue bolt of light, skewering the prey right in its heart. A good shot if not for the fact I was aiming for its head. Forjaw then reached the prey and expertly gutted and skinned it. All that was on his mind was food, so it made sense that he would be good at prepping meals. The best part, the heart and lungs, were destroyed beyond recovery, so we mostly feasted upon the muscle and remaining organs. As for the bones, skin, and some other flesh we didn''t bother eating, it was left behind in the middle of a clearing where it would be easy to see and the smell would spread.
Not too long after, Furred Ones would come to investigate and become enraged at the theft of prey within their territory just as their theft had prompted this revenge. When they came to our territory to try and make things even despite the fact they had tipped things in the first place, we would put them in their place. As troublesome and unreasonable as it was, I couldn''t help but get excited while watching over the dead prey. This was a spark that would cause a war.
Amazingly, that moment had come earlier than expected, Forjaw and I had just left the clearing when a group of six Furred Ones appeared and started yelping at the dead prey. They could smell our scents all over the area and knew what had happened. It was too late to run as their heads turned our way and our scents dug into their nostrils. In such a situation, it couldn''t be helped if we fought. We accomplished our task to hunt prey and tried to return but the Furred Ones caught up to us and we killed them. That was what we''d tell Sixlaw.
"Hurry and run Strangescale, we''re outnumbered!" shouted Forjaw as he got ready to take off, only hesitating to see if I would come with. Such a good friend, the others would have long run off and left me behind while hoping I''d distract the enemies long enough for them to get away.
"It''s too late to run. They''re faster than us, have our scent, and now they just heard your shout. Look at their ears twitch. You''re wrong about one thing though. We''re not outnumbered at all," I said as I drew my weapon and shot out another bolt of light.
Finally, I hit right where I wanted to hit, the Furred One that was closest to us right through its eye, piercing through and almost hitting a second one. Realizing one of theirs was already dead, they spread out and readied their spears, hiding behind trees. They didn''t immediately charge as the Green Scaleless would. If we chose to run, they would chase. If we stood our ground, they would stand theirs while getting closer. As long as they got within melee range without losing too much of their own numbers, we were dead.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Wars were nothing new to these Flesh-Born Furred Ones and unlike the Ground-Born Greens, they knew how to fight us Scaled Kin. The thin trees they hid behind would block rocks slung towards them and they could duck between them fast as can be. Unfortunately, we weren''t using slings so it was the wrong strategy. My weapon sent out another light that clean-cut through the thin tree and the Furred One behind it. A line of blood was left below the hole on the tree as it slid down and died, creating the impression that the tree itself had bled if not for the corpse.
Forjaw charged out towards a Furred One that had strayed too far to the side, separated from the rest thanks to me killing the one I did. They dodged to the side as it thrust its spear then used the new shine rock blade to decapitate it. Meanwhile, the remaining three changed their strategy, coming out from behind the trees and throwing their spears then running away. I had not expected them to abandon their weapons and had been about to fire once again, giving me little chance to dodge. All three came my way and while their aim wasn''t that good in their desperation, it left me little options to get away unharmed.
One of the spears pierced my side, knocking me to the ground. Blood spewed out of the wound as it broke through my scales and hit flesh. Nothing important was hit but it hurt like hell. I''d survive but have trouble doing anything for a bit. Forjaw rushed over and pulled the spear out before snapping it in half on their knee. I tore a bit of my clothing off to press on the wound while trying to calm my breathing. Then gritting my teeth through the pain, I grabbed a nearby spear that missed me and Forjaw''s shoulder to lift myself up.
"You''re injured. You should just stay on the ground and rest, at least until the wound closes," said Forjaw as they helped support me while I was standing. While insisting I should lay down, they made no move to stop me nor did they try and push me back down.
"Hah, get some rest in the middle of enemy territory that has their blood, my blood, and even prey after we just let three of them get away. What a joke. Let''s go back to the meetup place and hope we don''t die on the way. Then, and only then, can I worry about this tiny cut," I said while pulling out the spear, flipping it around so the tip faced upwards, and began using it as a walking stick. Forjaw helped wrap the shine rock weapon around my shoulder before walking at my side, ready to catch me if I fell.
Back at the meeting point by the river that went underground, we found some of our kin already there. The mood was stiff and no one would meet each other''s eyes. I noticed that some of them who had gone out with six came back with only two or three. Our kin had passed away during this mission, far more than expected. A quarter of the group that initially went in never returned. We waited until it was close to nightfall before returning to the nest. By this time, my wound had scabbed over.
"The Furred Ones have learned how to use ranged weapons by throwing their spears. Our slings and great strength has always been our source of pride and gave us a feeling that we were above them, like a Ground-Born compared to a Hatch-Born. That advantage no longer exists. They have learned and stepped up in strength. Us splitting up was our undoing as they could kill us with both numbers and range like how we hunted down their initial patrol as a group," said Sixlaw as the tribe got ready to sleep through the night.
"Well that explains where they got the confidence to kill our prey in the first place," I said while inspecting my wound in the dying light. If need be, I could use the cloth fixing kit to pull the wound closed to heal faster, but I''d prefer not to.
"You want to say something, Strangescale? Tell us about how you were right and rant about killing them on your own or how we should''ve taken them on as a group?" asked Sixlaw with blatant hostility after my interjection.
"Well, you already pretty much admitted your strategy was wrong so I won''t rag on about that. I was also wrong though. I was pretty much alone, just with Forjaw and overestimated my new weapon while underestimating the enemy. That''s how I got this new wound. I could probably still slowly kill off all the Green Scaleless in the forest if I put my mind to it," I said.
"Let''s not antagonize the Green Softfleshes while we face the probability of retaliation from the Furred Ones. From tomorrow onward, no one is to hunt in the area bordering the Furred Ones territory while a few of us will be assigned to scout the area for signs of Furred Ones every hour. Kin who go out to hunt will be required to bring back some food for said scouts. Don''t be selfish as we''re in a state of war and we''ve already lost a quarter of our population," said Sixlaw.
The state in the nest wasn''t too good. A lot of kin grumbled under their breath about having to scout or feed the scouts, alongside the ones depressed about their friends dying. We had to win this conflict or the Furred Ones would take over our territory, leaving us with less hunting grounds and food, making it harder to maintain a large population. Then the scales would tip in the Furred Ones favor as their numbers grew from the new territory. Eventually, we would be wiped out as more and more wars broke out and they took our territory over.
Even with this wound, I would have to participate. Not participating meant starving. My wound getting worse from participating meant death. If I were to die either way, I''d like to die with a full belly. Now the only thing left to do before sleeping was to decide whether to be a scout and get the chance to kill the Furred Ones when they come or hunt and monopolize the best parts of the meat while bringing back scraps for the scouts. I was sure the others would do the same to the scouts, especially for me if I joined them. Scouting was less effort and guaranteed food with more danger and lower quality meat while hunting had no guarantees and plenty of effort with barely any danger and the best meat.
I decided to sleep on this decision, curling up with my kin around the same time as the others. I needed more sleep to heal from my wounds and there was nothing to repair or work on. My torn clothes would be replaced with the second pair and I had not used my sling even once. The wound had stopped bleeding and was small enough to not need stitching. As I was oddly one of the first to go to sleep and there were less of us than before, the other kin curled up around me. This included kin that I normally kept far from while sleeping, such as the strict Sixlaw. I had no complaints as it was warmer than usual, making it easier to sleep.
Author''s note: Welp, as soon as I answered a comment about a tentative schedule I broke it. Late holiday celebrations due to everyone being sick on Christmas plus having to work early made writing hard to do the past few days.
I currently don''t have wifi so most of my writing and posting is done on mobile, but I plan on going through and editing stuff on a laptop hooked up to wifi soon. Gotta fix some spelling errors and capitalization with terms. I will also do some ctrl+f magic to make sure I didn''t use any present tense outside of dialogue.
Term list:
Small Furred Don''t Eat- Badger
Shine Rock Weapon- Bow
Shine Rock Blade- Sword
Furred Ones- Decided to make them kind of like a dog beastman thing like an Asian version of Kobold. Kobold is from D&D and is basically a Lizardman. One translation of a description that said they were "dog-like" made it so the Japanese version or something was a dogman sorta thing.
Scaled Ones/Kin- Lizardmen. Scaly bodies, stand on two feet, have opposable thumbs, and long, almost crocodile-like jaws.
Ground-Born- Beings birthed from dungeon-like nests, named as such for rising from the ground/being created from dirt. Dumb and aggressive but also able to have children who are better than them. Stop being born after enough Flesh/Hatch-Borns exist in a nest.
Flesh-Born- Beings born normally through a female and male couple. Generally stronger and more intelligent.
Hatch-Born- Version of Flesh-Borns for beings that are more reptilian/fishlike/birdlike.