When we got back to the den, Vefir fussed over Took, who repeatedly refused to let him heal her neck. She never gave up, so, in the end, Vefir gave up trying. I then filled Sybil and the rest of the original pack in on what had happened, and the decisions we had come to as Vefir again sent his healing into my shoulder. My arm was never going to get back to how it was, but it seemed that by tomorrow, with more continuous healing, I would be able to move it enough to at least keep it out of the way.

Since we had a surplus of food, and our greatest threat was due to be eliminated tomorrow night, we came to the decision that we would simply rest and expand the den until after the extermination took place. I saw no reason to endanger any members of the pack when safe hunting was soon to come, so we organized the packs into working packs, then we went to rest in preparation for the next day's work.

...

The next morning, we all rose as usual, and I took most of the core hunters to the side with me.

"I don't intend to go alone tonight, but I also don't think we should all go as one. Who wants to go?"

They all stepped forward with excitement obvious on their faces. I sighed internally and continued talking, "Well, since everyone here wants to go, I would guess that any who are offered the opportunity will want to go as well... so here's what we'll do..."

I then laid out a general plan for a nonlethal fight for 4 spots to accompany me, in general single elimination tournament fashion. The spawnlings were pretty much all amazed at this foreign, new, amazing way to make decisions. Then, unsurprisingly, when I announced the opportunity to accompany some of the elite adults, almost all of the swarm reacted excitedly, then less excitedly when I detailed the conditions to accompany me. Many looks were directed at Brutus, Took, and Treel, who had stepped forward in support of my decision. About 3/4 of the would-be accompanists dropped out at that point, but I was initially quite surprised to see Shemira still volunteering. I supposed that she would be up to all of her usual tricks, so internally, I made sure to rig the bracket against her, so she would fight Took the round before qualifications.

...

After an early lunch, the fights began, and it went exactly as I had planned, with one surprise. Took easily dominated Shemira to claim her spot in the expedition, Brutus trampled all who stood in his way, and Treel did win a hard-fought battle against Cazala to be a part of the team. I had thought Foire would rather easily claim the fourth spot, but the second to last fight of his was against Silf, who had put up an exhausting, strong fight, so Foire was narrowly defeated by one of Took's unnamed followers from Shemira's pack. She was larger than most of the rest of the spawnlings, just not in the same class as Treel and Took. She also was built differently from them, not a broad or thick, but just simply larger than the rest. I decided, on the spot, to give her a name, and after a second's thought, spoke up before the crowd.

"This victorious member of the pack has now earned a name! From now on, she will be called Solia! If you achieve some sort of merit in battle or otherwise, you may qualify for a name from here on!" The swarm went crazy at that, and it took longer than I would have liked to calm them enough to get back to work. Foire seemed a little bitter, so I went up to him.

"Are you ok? I understand that under normal circumstances you would have beaten her, but this time you simply were out of luck."

He shrugged.

"Well, how has it been under Took, on the hunt that is?"

He nodded.

"Ok, let me know if you experience any major growth like others have. I'll send Treel your way when I find her."

I finally got a real reaction out of him with that last statement. Foire startled, then his eyes went wide and his jaw went slack as he seemed to be trying to figure out how exactly to react to my words. I chuckled for a moment then walked onward, without giving him the time he'd need to respond in any intelligible way. True to my word, I did send Treel over there before too long.

...

Faster than I had really expected, the time to take a brief rest before the extermination came and went, and I found myself gathering up my four followers and going to the entrance to our section of the den before I really expected it.

I wasn't really sure what to expect of it, but I was initially a little underwhelmed by a single, unknown-to-me keelish's approach. He was built like Foire, smaller, wiry, but with powerful steps and a muted presence. He was only about 1.1m tall, so much smaller than the other Alqats I had met.

"You the one?"

After a moment's confusion and thought, I responded, "You an Alqat?"

"Must be you if you know that. Follow me."

He stalked off, down below, without looking back. I followed behind with my companions, and we quickly got to what must have been the chosen staging area: a den bereft of any comfort or extraneous items. It was bare and elliptical, and Rulac stood at the far end of the room, seemingly heading a group of 15 adult keelish, which made 17 if you included the male who had guided us. To his right was another male unknown to me, and to his left was Wisterl. I was somewhat surprised to see that Crolt wasn't in the room, and resolved to ask Wisterl about it.

Rulac's presence was borderline regal as he stood at the head of the room. He nodded at the keelish that had entered and began to speak.

"The entirety of the Alqat have gathered. We have learned of the location of the killer of our fallen brother. We do not resent his loss, but we will prove our superiority this day. There will be no mercy shown to the weak, infirm, or young. We will be guided by this young one," he gestured at me, "who, if he proves worthy, stands to inherit the 18th position, and make us whole once again. Questions?"

His presentation was brief, and his position absolute. Nobody complained, but one spoke up. She was a female who stood to Wisterl's left. "Do you truly believe this one to be capable?"

Rulac simply nodded.

The female nodded back, "Then I have no further questions."

Wisterl then spoke, "As the 3rd of the Alqat, I support this campaign. We will quench our thirst with wolfstag blood tonight."

The male to Rulac's right followed, "As the 2nd of the Alqat, I support this campaign. We will hone our fangs on wolfstag spine tonight."

Rulac finished, "As the 1st of the Alqat, I will head this campaign. None will rend more flesh or shed more blood than I tonight. We repay our debt in full."

As one, the group stood and faced me. Rulac grinned and spoke, "Well, little guy, lead the way."

...

While I was somewhat set to lead, in the end, we all just followed Took under the moonlight. She led us deep to the north, and as we went, all the Alqat went silent. It was eerie that there was effectively no noise but our steps the entire way. Took, Brutus, Treel and Solia followed suit and went quietly. That seemed to come naturally for all but Solia, who seemed to be bursting at the seams with enthusiasm and questions. Surprisingly, it was Took who broke the silence, simply asking Wisterl, "Where's Crolt?"

Wisterl laughed. "He isn't good enough to be Alqat. Now, focus on the task at hand."

Took stood, shocked for a moment, then refocused.

After another half hour's journey, Rulac called everyone together.

"I can see the signs. We're about 100m out from their den. Evens with Jarlton to the east, Odds with Wisterl to the west. I'll take the little ones straight in."

The entire group had long been solemn, but at the brief commands, they seemed to slip into a strange mix of serenity and bloodthirst. They all stalked off, and, after a brief minute's wait, Rulac spoke up.

"They should be done with the watchers now. Here we go."

We stalked forwards through the undergrowth, and I saw, in the distance, a couple of brief flashes of warmth that quickly swarmed an unsuspecting wolfstag sentry. There was no honorable duel here, only unadulterated violence and a swift death. We hurried forward, and I could see pairs of Alqat making quick work of the comparatively blind wolfstags, keeping the alarm from being raised.

Finally, when we were near the den, two Alqat were waiting for us.

"We've found one more entrance nearby. The rest will all be entering there, and we will be accompanying you."

Rulac grinned. "Then we'll wade through blood together, brothers." He then screamed his challenge into the den in front of us and stalked in proudly.