***Tirnanog***

***Astra Frost***

The firehorn wasn’t the fastest nor the most dangerous creature on this world, but the exiles hadn’t gone through a single evolution yet. Hence, they had no chance against such a predator. Not even I was comfortable with coming too close to something that could spit napalm and regurgitate exploding fireballs.

I fumed as I watched them through the tremor senses of my filaments.

The exiles paved their way through the underbrush as fast as they could. It was agonizing just to follow their pitiful struggle. Luckily for them, the firehorn had eaten its fill for the moment.

Unaware of Roderick’s presence, the creature waddled along not far away, unhurriedly following the exiles’ trail through the forest. Its belly was bloated like a balloon and hard at work to digest the bodies. Bones, hair, and clothes included.

For the time being, the exiles were faster than their hunter, but one defining feature of firehorns was their relentlessness. Mama firehorn would stay on the exiles’ trail until it caught up to them.

I guessed it would take a few hours for the firehorn to digest and crap out its meal and then it would go after the survivors at full speed. It would inevitably catch up to them and eat another dozen or so.

If nothing was done, the game would repeat itself once more until all the exiles had gone down the firehorn’s gullet.

The big question was, why was an alpha-predator from the marshlands in this relatively safe part of the forest? An area that firehorns normally avoided because the vegetation was too thick for them to move easily. Additionally, this forest didn't belong to their preferred hunting grounds for the lack of easy prey.

Most of the forest animals were adapted to moving through the underbrush quickly, while firehorns were definitely not. They weren't small enough to weave past the larger trees. Nor large or strong enough to simply break through the underbrush. The main danger which came from them was their flammable saliva.

Thankfully, I already knew the answer for the creature's presence.

“You are a cunt, Roderick!” I commented from above while I watched the newest batch of exiles run for their lives. From my hidden spot high up in the tree, I had a perfect view.

Roderick flinched slightly when I revealed my presence.

He looked around, then up to the canopy of leaves. “Hah, Astra! Don’t surprise me like that. I almost had a heart attack!” He reached for his chest, trying his best to look like the surprised party, instead of the guilty one that he was.

His eyes searched the canopy, but I could tell he failed to discern me between the leaves. His evolution had taken him down a road of physical power, but his senses were woefully inadequate for survival.

Roderick smiled up at where he thought I was hidden. “Why don’t you come down so we can have a proper chat?”

I moved the decoy I had created with my filaments, making it seem like I dissolved and re-emerged in a different spot.

That quickly wiped the stupid grin from his face, as it showed him his own foolishness in wrongly assuming my position.

Normally, I didn’t bother messing with people in such a way, but Roderick had pissed me off with his stupid games. We made a deal and he had broken it.

If I hadn’t thought of making sure he held his side of the bargain, I would be wondering a few days from now why none of the newcomers had made it to the Old Camp.

“So that you could attack me?” I asked while sending out my filaments further, having them creep slowly down the trunk and partly emerge from the canopy. A few seconds later Roderick found himself surrounded by an eerie spectacle of shimmering bands which seemed to float freely through the air.

Some of the other survivors at the Old Camp called them tentacles, but I preferred to use filaments as a description. Thinking of them as filaments allowed me to cling to more of my humanity. 'Tentacles' felt too dehumanising.

He chuckled. “Why would I attack you? The Aeries wouldn’t take it lightly. I am not stupid enough to ruin my chances of joining one of the larger clans.”

“Because I caught you flat-footed violating our deal,” I explained calmly. My filaments were now creeping further down from the treetop. The little black bands glowed slightly as they writhed and moved, giving me a better impression of my surroundings.

Roderick found himself surrounded by a floating light show which was just as pretty as it spelt death for anyone who knew the creatures I had gotten my evolution from.

“I am not aware of going back on any deal.” Roderick still didn’t feel the need to run, but he swatted away one of the filaments which came too close for comfort.

At least I had made him sweat.

He deserved no less for betraying me. Thankfully, I had learned long ago there were only cut-throats and dishonourable scoundrels in this world. Even among the clans, I wouldn’t dare to present my back to anyone other than my parents.

I sighed and swung one foot over the other. “I paid you with a really good catch so you would do a proper job with the exiles. To make sure they got a good start with their nanites. Plus, you took the Earth bastard’s bribe too. I really wouldn’t have cared about you breaking your deal with those who landed us on this world. But, as I see it, you took two payments for the same job and didn’t put half the effort you should have into your task.”

“Yeah?” He circled, trying to keep track of my filaments as his eyes alternated between them and the tree’s canopy where I was hidden. “I did everything you ordered me to. Got them good DNA to start their evolutionary path with. A mix of everything useful. Better than I got at least. Not my fucking problem if they are screaming through half the jungle and go for each other’s throats instead of eating the meat. Why do you blame me for some predator snagging them?”

“Roderick, you really must think me a fool. You raided a firehorn’s lair, slaughtered its brood and led the mother directly to the exiles,” I explained calmly and stabbed at him with one of my filaments. “I can still smell the sulfuric stink of the firehorn’s eggs on you.”

Roderick jumped and cursed at the small injury my filament had caused on his thigh. It wasn’t something grave, but even the smallest wound would draw predators with the smell of blood. “Bitch!”

“I think I have explained that the point of your task is to have at least a few of them become powerful enough to make it to the Old Camp,” I explained. “I want more options to make it into the trials. At least some better ones than the disgusting idiots who are joining right now.”

“You could have told me you are randy. When you gave me the mission you avoided the core of the topic. If you had just told me plainly what you want, there would have been no problem. How was I supposed to know you want more tryouts in the trials.” He licked his lips. “Though, I am happy to provide.”

“You are perfectly capable of reading between the lines.” I stabbed him again and he jumped when I got his behind. “I don’t believe for a second your subterfuge with the firehorn wasn't intentional. You are a stupid brute, but you aren’t that stupid.”

I was almost a hundred per cent certain he had intentionally tried to wipe out the newest batch of exiles so he would have higher chances of being chosen by one of the clans at the next trials.

“Ah! Stop it!” He turned and drew a knife, ready to defend himself if one of my filaments came close again.

It had taken him some time, but he had finally caught on that I didn’t intend to let him get away with his games. Especially not after he had taken payment from me.

That was why I hated staying at the Old Camp. It was a place for the newcomers and those who didn’t fit in with any of the clans. The backstabbers and other filth that could be trusted even less than a sworn enemy.

With his attitude, it was no wonder Roderick was still stuck at the Old Camp after several years of being on this planet.

Knowing his methods, any clan would think twice about sheltering him, even if he had some rare evolution. Which he did not.

The clans depended on each other for survival. Picking new members from the newly arrived exiles could backfire just as much as it could benefit a clan. Because of that, joining a clan wasn't easy for a new exile. They had to bring some benefit to the table and prove they could be trusted.

Some groups had tried the tactic of adding as many people as possible to their numbers. Those clans were no longer around. It was proof enough that such a strategy was doomed to fail in this environment.

Maybe if the people who were sent through the portals were average humans. But with the filth of society at our hands, it was hard to build any working social structure.

I even dared to say it was almost impossible.

“I have no interest in a mere strength-evolution like yours,” I clarified I had no interest in him. Roderick was apparently the type of person who needed to be told things plainly.

The mere thought of laying with a brute like Roderick felt like an insult. It would also mess up my evolution even more than it already was. The filaments were a wonderful survival tool in this world, but they also dehumanised me in the eyes of many exiles. No matter that some of them looked grotesque in their own way, humans still found ways and reasons to single out others.

Most of the people at the Old Camp didn’t dare to approach me because of my appearance.

Roderick grumbled while he rubbed his butt. “At least I am still mostly human and not some mutated monster chick…”

“You said something?” I questioned, irked that he had stabbed right at the core of what bothered me.

“No… no…” He turned and tried to weave through between my filaments. “I think it's best for me to leave.”

I crossed my filaments in front of him. “No. You will stay here until you have corrected your mistake. I insist.”

“Corrected?” He huffed and searched the canopy once more for my main body. “How am I supposed to do that?! I can’t fight an adult firehorn! The thing will roast me before I get close.”

“It’s okay.” I licked my lips and tasted the air with a flick of my tongue. “You just have to stay here for a little longer. If you behave, I won’t even hamstring you any more than necessary to keep the firehorn’s attention.”

Roderick’s eyes widened and he looked at the two small wounds I had caused during our conversation. Then his eyes turned in the direction of the firehorn, which had changed its course. The creature had recognized the scent of the thief who had slain its brood and it was coming to even the record.

Which reminded me of the second trait firehorns were feared for. They were vengeful suckers. Hurt one of their family group and they would be after you as if you had a blood feud with them.

“Bitch!” Roderick screamed and tried to run, but I moved my filaments to catch his leg, quickly pulling him up into the tree where his larger strength wouldn’t matter so much. All I had to do was to jostle him around without allowing him to get a hold of any of my filaments.

Which wasn't as easy as it sounded.

Naturally, Roderick struggled and managed to catch one of my filaments, ripping it. His knife posed another problem, so I avoided his upper body as much as possible while holding onto his ankles.

I winced, feeling each time I failed and lost a filament, but over a dozen were on him as I tried to delay him for as long as possible. The filaments were very much a part of me, but losing one was more like getting your fingernails clipped. It wasn’t anything like losing a limb.

Still, I couldn't risk losing too many of them, as it would impair me.

“Insane whore!” he screamed as he fought, incurring more small injuries as he struggled.

His strength was enough to rip my filaments, but the thin bands had sharp edges which cut into his reinforced skin. The injuries weren't deep, more like paper cuts, but they added up.

The problem was, I couldn’t just kill him. I needed him alive so that the firehorn would hunt him instead of the newcomers. It was the least he could do as atonement.

I lost four more filaments before I had to let him go.

Roderick fell unceremoniously to the ground. His great agility allowed him to turn mid-air and land on his feet. As soon as he was back on the ground, he immediately made his escape, but not without grabbing his crate.

Moments later, he was running through the underbrush, but thanks to the delay I had caused the firehorn was now close enough to be firmly on his trail.

I had to make my own getaway and clean my filaments from Roderick’s smell. It would be a nuisance if I had to run from the firehorn in his stead. Luckily, Roderick made so much noise that the creature would ignore its sense of smell for now and go after him directly.

While the monster crashed through the vegetation beneath, I made my way higher up the tree where I waited until the jungle returned to its normal noises.

Once I was sure the firehorn was chasing Roderick, I made my way across the interconnected treetops back to the lake where the exiles had been dropped off. I didn’t bother with stealth and instead relied on speed, knowing that the smell of blood on my filaments would make it impossible to move unnoticed.

I reached the lake unaccosted and launched myself directly into the water.

The eel-like creatures called starfish which inhabited the small body of water may be a threat to unevolved humans if they attacked en masse, but to most more advanced exiles they were nothing more than a nuisance.

Using the water as cover, I swam to the spot where the firehorn had attacked the new arrivals.

My hope was that some of Roderick’s samples had been left behind.

I could have spared myself the time because aside from the empty crate and one body, the shore had been picked clean.

A flock of zippers watched me from the trees. I didn’t even bother with them, knowing the small creatures were far too fast to catch. Early arrivals on Tirnanog had surely wasted more than one precious magazine of bullets in a vain attempt to shoot down the agile nuisances.

They were scavengers by nature, but their agility and swarm mentality allowed them to hunt creatures far larger than themselves, given they were hungry enough to do so.

Thankfully, creatures the size of humans and bigger targets weren’t on their radar. Though, I was sure that if an entire flock attacked, they would easily be able to paralyse a grown man with electric shocks and pick him apart.

I blinked and sighed.

This world was getting to me if I was already starting to make up ways to die which didn't exist. As if there weren't plenty of deadly threats just around the next tree.

My attention was drawn to the body on the ground when it twitched.

I walked up to the middle-aged man who was apparently still alive.

The next moment, I realized I had been stupid. The firehorn would have hardly left a body behind.

His eyes twitched beneath his closed eyelids and an occasional shudder ran through his sweat-drenched body as it changed.

“That’s quite the spot to go into evolutionary hibernation.” I clicked my tongue and cursed Roderick for failing to explain the process. Normally, he should have kept the exiles safe at the shore, watching over them while they hibernated, and then allowed them to make their way to the Old Camp by themselves.

Hibernation was a process of rapid genetic and physical change as the nanites and the virus rebuilt the body. It always happened upon receiving the first, primary mutation. Then a second time when people partnered up with someone.

This wasn’t how I had imagined things to go.

It was a bad omen to wish ill on other humans, but hopefully, the firehorn would catch Roderick.

I scratched the side of my head and wrapped my filaments around the hibernating man. Then I dragged him beneath some vegetation where he was out of sight and further away from the bloody battleground where his comrades had died. It wasn't the best solution, but at least he wouldn't be chewed on by some opportunistic critter.

Less likely at least, I corrected myself. Going into hibernation without protection was still stupid.

The fact that the zippers were still around hinted nothing too dangerous was roaming the forest nearby. It would be up to the exile’s luck to survive from here on out.

I jumped and returned to the treetops, then followed the other exiles. If I wanted more of them to survive, then I would have to take a more active role once the next few batches arrived. According to my sources, Earth would send four more waves of fifty in the coming days.

The survival rate among them would be next to zero if they too trampled through the woods like the current batch. Not that the current batch could be blamed for fleeing the firehorn.

It took me half an hour to catch up to the other exiles and to set the remaining survivors on a path for survival.

When I found them they were already being stalked by a large omnieye. A massive insect-like predator which looked like a tyrannosaurus and a praying mantis had an unholy child. It owed its name to the twelve eyes which covered every direction and granted the creature omnidirectional view. Hence, omnieye.

The monster was intimidating, but all its brethren had a fatal weakness in the protective plate on the back of their heads.

The eye located there sat directly in front of what substituted for its brain.

A single precise stab with one of my filaments was enough to bring down the apex predator. From there on, I didn’t waste any more time with the current batch of exiles.

Killing one of the larger predators stalking them might have looked like I had done them favour, but it wasn't. Even if they ate the omnieye’s flesh, the evolution they would get wasn’t a desirable one.

In fact, most of the evolutions provided by the larger creatures of this world weren’t desirable.

Us older exiles had learned the hard way it wasn’t the large things you had to fear on Tirnanog. Not knowing an omnieye’s weakness made them intimidating hunters to newbies, but omnieyes were large and loud. Such creatures were easily avoided if someone knew to hone their senses.

The things you had to fear were the things faster than yourself and the monsters you couldn’t see which went bump in the night.

But those of the newcomers who survived the next few hours would learn this soon enough - once the sun fell beneath the horizon.