The great owl is a solitary and territorial creature. Usually only interacting with others of its kind during mating season. While it does have large wings, its usual mode of travel is to walk. Flight is saved for attacking and fleeing. While in flight it makes near zero sound and no wind. Standing at twelve feet tall with a full wingspan of thirty-two feet it must choose its ambush location carefully so as to be able to fully extend its wings. It will stalk prey for days until it finds the right time to ambush them, then it will swoop in and pin them with its four-foot talons and attempt to break their neck. Their massive tubular eyes give it incredible night vision but makes them vulnerable to sudden bright light.

Jack, busy smashing bugs and enjoying watching his experience climb, was interrupted when Emily's bracelet caught the light and flashed across his eyes brightly, causing him to turn his head in annoyance. There he saw the figure of a giant owl flying directly at him.

**Alert** You have been paralyzed with fear.

All he could do was sit there and stare into the giant eyes of this terrifying bird only ten feet away. It’s giant dark pupils fixed directly on him. Suddenly, he saw a small flash of light go across its eyes reflected from his bracelet. The owl let out a screech of pain, closing its eyes and causing it to veer slightly off course. Instead of hitting Jack directly, one of its claws raked across his back splitting open his skin. Icy hot electricity shot up his spine and exploded behind his eyes in a blinding whiteness.

The owl crashed into the ground toppling over itself. Jack, through the haze of searing pain,, knew he couldn’t let this opportunity go. Gritting his teeth and clutching his pole, he grabbed Lucy and activated Hydraulic Leap, jumping away into the forest where the trees might impede the owl's movement.

Skill Up Hydraulic leap Level 3

Once he was far enough away, he stopped for a moment. His back was drenched in blood and he felt lightheaded and shaky leaning on his pole to keep himself from falling over. Things were getting blurry and spots were appearing around the edges of his vision but he fought to keep himself conscious as he didn’t think he would survive having a huge bleeding wound while passed out. Jack pulled out his first aid kit and quickly started wrapping his torso in gauze and bandages as best he could with the searing pain impeding his movements.

Once he was bandaged, he curled up on his side. He looked over to Lucy and the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was fear and concern in her big eyes.

Jack’s eyelids fluttered open. His vision is blurry and dark as he felt his body shiver and sweat roll down his forehead.

**Alert** You have been infected

Lucy was letting out worried squeaks, and he felt a flood of concern. He tried to move, only to feel giant scabs on his back brake and an overwhelming surge of pain before everything went black again.

The next time he woke, it was dark and he could see the image of a large bird approaching him on foot in the distance. He could feel waves of fear off of Lucy but he just couldn’t gather the strength to move. “Go Lucy, run” she only moved closer, radiating feelings of concern and fear.

The bird closed in. “Please, just go” he began to go hazy again, remembering the similar things he said to Jay.

The last thing he saw before passing out was Lucy turning and standing her ground against what looked to be a giant eagle.

Kai looked down at the baby monstrous spider. It stood in front of its injured bonded’s head. It hissed at Kai, trying to protect him. It was missing two of its legs; this pair must have been through some tough experiences.

Hopefully, their herd is ok, he had never seen a bonded insect so maybe there is an entire herd of bonded insects.

They must both must be very young for the bonded to not have gotten its beast form.

Now to get this little one to let me inspect their bonded. Kai’s step forward was met by hissing and raising its front three legs in an aggressive stance. “You are very intimidating little one, but I need to check your bonded, may I pass?” He also sent a mental message of safety and concern. The spider did not completely back off but it seemed to understand.

He slowly walked forward to inspect the young kid. Firstly, he realized his initial assumption was wrong, this was no kid, they looked to be around twenty years old, maybe more. Second, he was covered in amazing bindings, there must be other bonded spiders to weave this since he highly doubted someone would waste magic to make bandages.

Unwrapping their body released a putrid smell. Infection. Their back wound was shallow but long. Large scabs had formed and cracked, oozing puss. Even if they had a human infant's vitality they would recover; though it may take a few days.

Kai looked over to the orange box that lay tipped over next to them. It was full of medical supplies, advanced medical supplies. The herd must have talented healers. The script though was in a strange language that looked vaguely familiar. Maybe it was traded from across the ocean. He really wanted to see this herd if they also have members who crossed the threshold.

He did not want to leave these two out here while injured; he was sure the great owl’s territory was around here and wanted to finish his hunt. Ava quickly spotted a few tracks to confirm there was a great owl in the area. He stressed caution back to her, if a great owl catches her unaware she could get really hurt. He got an annoyed feeling back and a few choice words about treating her like a dainty flower.

The young spider looked back up at him questioningly. He sent back a few emotions to let it know its bonded will be fine. Kai took out his sleeping blanket and draped it over the injured one. The camouflage enchantment turned on and they began to blend in. That should keep them safe while he finishes his hunt.

Jack woke up under a heavy hide blanket. His stomach sent him cries of hunger and his back followed with its own cries of pain. The scabs on his back seemed to have reformed. Panic rushed through him as he remembered the giant eagle descending on them.

He threw the blanket off of him, wincing as his entire body protested the movement, and glanced around. He was met with a strange sight. First was the body of what looked like a giant plucked chicken laying on the forest floor, it had few large chunks taken out of it. Those chunks were not too far away as there were two giant eagles eating them along with Lucy eating a smaller piece.

The first eagle was a humanoid. He looked to be around five and a half feet tall. Feathers covered his whole body. His arms, or better to call them wings, ended in yellowed scaled hands, each finger with a two-inch claw at the end. His legs were feathered until where his calves would be, where his legs turned scaly and yellow, ending in large talons which lay flat on the ground. He had two large yellow eyes and a short hooked black beak which faded into a muted yellow where it connected to his face. His feathers were brown and copper on his face, neck, upper chest and arms with off-white feathers on his lower body.

As he stood there, mouth agape and staring, Lucy noticed he was awake and let out a squeak of joy and rushed over, leaping towards him. “NO LUCY DO-” She slammed into his chest, winding him and sending a few shocks of pain through his back. She crawled to the nook of his neck and sent feelings of apology.

The humanoid eagle finished what Jack just noticed was a raw piece of meat, “Good, you are awake.” His voice was much higher pitched than Jack would have naturally assumed. The seven-foot-tall eagle next to him spread its fifteen-foot wingspan and with a mighty flap of its wings, it took off sending a huge gust of wind right into Jack’s face.

Jack was so confused. Who was this guy?

As if reading his thoughts, the eagle-man spoke, “I am Kai, Lucy told me much of what happened, it seemed you were attacked by the great owl I was hunting.”

“Yeah, it attacked me at the river, wait what? Lucy told you?” Jack looked at his spider with accusing eyes.

“Yes, she is young and does not understand much though, so I was not able to get all the information I wanted. Were you exiled from your herd?”

“Exiled?! What do you mean? No, how did you get her to talk? I’ve never heard her speak.”

Kai made a confused look. “Through the link? She does not know Lento yet, so she just describes through pictures and emotions. She does seem to know her own name though.” He looked at Jack like he was an idiot.

Jack stopped and took a deep breath, “Ok, obviously I am missing something and maybe you are too. What is ‘the link’? Is it the empathic thing I have with Lucy? What do you mean by herd and how would I be exiled from it? What’s with the other eagle that flew away?”

A look of realization came across Kai’s face mixed with a slight look of pity. “You are correct. I believe I made a few assumptions. Yes, that is what I mean by link. A herd is a group of bonded or as you may know it, humans, with the evolution tree of pack bond. Exiled is to be cast out of the herd. And lastly, Ava is my bonded. She went to scout the area.” Kai spoke with a very matter of fact almost military tone. It wasn’t harsh, just straightforward.

Kai gave him a few seconds to process, then he continued, “What I got from Lucy is that a long time ago you saved her and you’ve been together since, then you angered your family and were forced to leave your home and you have been traveling alone since, is that correct? She also told of your attack by the great owl.”

Jack stared at Lucy, who was still snuggled against him. He realized that must have been how everything looked from her perspective. Understanding, he laughed deeply. “That is sort of what happened. It’s only been a few days since I’ve had her though,” he checked her age in her status. “Four days to be exact, and the fight was a very angry, bigger manaweaver like her tried to eat us, so guess that was her family. Look, I don’t know anything about anything I just woke up in a dungeon after being petrified for a very long time. I know next to nothing about the system, where I am, and what to do. I am just trying to stay alive, and I don’t seem to be very good at that.”

Now it was Kai’s turn to have his beak open slightly agape. He quickly donned a more introspective look. Jack took this time to look down at Lucy with everything going on he realized he missed a change in her, her legs had regrown.

Looking around the camp he saw what he was looking for. A shedding of her exoskeleton lay not too far away, she must have molted. Her color had gotten a bit darker as well, less of a pale blue and more of a sky blue now.

After a couple of minutes, Kai turned to them “We have decided to take you to our herd, if you would like?”