The fire spread.
The wood caught.
The Ravager instinctively backed away.
Raven watched it.
It didn’t like fire.
Good.
"Push it!"
The merchant understood first.
He and the swordsman shoved from the side of the wagon.
The burning barrel rolled straight toward the monster.
The Ravager struck it.
Mistake.
Its mineralized arm shattered the wood.
The contents burst across its body.
Not a real explosion.
A wave of burning alcohol.
Fire across its chest. Legs. Face.
The creature roared.
Staggered backward.
Its arms turned to stone.
Only the arms.
Not the torso.
Raven ran.
Predator’s Instinct.
The monster wasn’t thinking about him.
Pain. Fire. Threat in front.
Raven came in from behind.
He recovered his knife from the ground without slowing.
Didn’t stop.
One hand against the creature’s back.
Foot on the injured rear joint.
Momentum.
He climbed onto the Ravager’s back.
The monster thrashed.
Raven hooked his left forearm around one of the bony plates on its neck.
His injured arm screamed.
Ignored.
The creature twisted.
Raven nearly lost his balance.
He drove the knife behind its jaw.
The blade went in.
Hot blood.
Not enough.
Again.
Higher.
Looking for blood vessels.
The Ravager threw itself against the wagon.
Raven saw the wood coming.
Jumped.
Too late.
His leg struck the edge.
He landed on the wagon’s roof.
The creature turned.
A stone claw came down.
Raven rolled.
BOOM.
The limb punched through the planks where he’d been.
It got stuck.
Only for an instant.
Raven pushed himself up.
Saw the joint.
Stone to the wrist.
Flesh from the elbow upward.
He jumped from the wagon.
Metal fragment raised.
All his weight behind the strike.
The point drove into the inside of the elbow.
The creature shrieked.
Raven pushed.
Deeper.
The limb stopped responding properly.
The Ravager yanked backward.
The wood broke apart.
Its arm came free.
Raven retreated.
Breathing fast.
Mana.
He checked mentally.
Mana: 10 / 18
Enough.
Not to kill it directly.
To control it.
The monster was tiring too.
Its breathing had grown heavy. The fire had burned away part of the bristles, and its skin was scorched.
One injured rear leg.
One partially disabled forelimb.
It could still kill him with a single good hit.
Raven studied its eyes.
Mouth.
Neck.
Then the plates covering its face.
Its eyes weren’t protected while it attacked.
The monster charged.
Raven waited.
Fifteen feet.
Twelve.
Nine.
Ember Spark.
This time, he compressed more mana.
He didn’t try to make a fireball.
He expelled a narrow burst of flame directly at its eyes.
FWOOSH.
The Ravager squeezed its eyes shut.
Its head lowered.
Raven stepped sideways.
The creature passed him.
He drove his heel into the injured rear leg.
It buckled.
The Ravager’s weight collapsed to one side.
Raven followed the movement.
He didn’t waste time attacking stone.
Climbed onto its neck.
Knife.
Once into the throat.
Pulled it free.
Second strike.
The creature thrashed.
Raven shoved his left hand beneath one of the plates along its jaw and pulled the head backward.
His injured arm barely responded.
Didn’t matter.
He stabbed again.
This time, he felt something give.
Blood sprayed under pressure.
Dark.
Hot.
The Ravager partially forced itself upright.
Raven lost his footing.
The beast threw him off.
Raven hit the ground on his back.
The monster advanced two steps.
One.
Its legs trembled.
Another.
Raven searched for the metal fragment.
Six feet away.
Too far.
The creature opened its jaws.
Raven pulled out the last useful thing he had within reach.
One of the Cinderback claws he’d kept.
It wasn’t long.
Wasn’t designed for this either.
The Ravager lunged.
Raven rolled inward.
Not away.
His shoulder passed beneath the jaw.
His right hand came up.
The Cinderback claw drove directly into the monster’s left eye.
The Ravager roared.
Raven pushed his thumb against the base.
Deeper.
The creature tried to close its jaws.
Raven drove his forearm upward beneath its muzzle.
Twisted.
One knee against a leg.
The claw again.
In.
Angled toward the brain.
The Ravager convulsed.
Raven maintained pressure.
Once.
Twice.
The resistance disappeared.
The monster collapsed onto its side.
Raven moved away before four hundred pounds of flesh could crush him.
Its head hit the dirt.
Silence.
The burning barrel still crackled nearby.
One of the horses whimpered.
Someone was breathing too hard.
Raven remained on one knee.
Waited.
Five seconds.
Ten.
The creature didn’t move.
Predator’s Instinct didn’t react either.
Raven slowly stood.
His ribs protested.
His left arm was bleeding again.
He had lost another patch of skin from his palm.
The wound in his shoulder burned.
Nothing urgent.
He walked toward the Ravager.
The swordsman was staring at him.
So was the archer.
No one spoke.
Raven placed a hand on the corpse.
The interface appeared.
"Compatible defeated organism detected."
Target: Stonehide Ravager
Level: 9
Rank: Common
Predation available.
Level nine.
Raven was level two.
That explained a few things.
Compatible Traits detected: 3
First:
"Stonehide"
Type: Magical/Biological Trait
Temporarily mineralizes selected areas of the skin and underlying tissue, greatly increasing resistance to impact, cutting, and penetration.
Required biological source: Lithic Gland.
Second:
"Heavy Frame"
Increases bone density and muscular stability.
Required biological source: Bone marrow / spinal tissue.
Third:
"Impact Resistance"
Enhances tolerance to blunt-force trauma.
Required biological source: Thoracic cartilage.
Raven barely considered the other two.
"Stonehide."
"Stonehide selected."
Consume sufficient tissue from the Lithic Gland to initiate Predation.
Raven looked at the corpse.
"Of course."
The archer spoke behind him.
"What are you doing?"
Raven didn’t answer.
He drew his knife.
The interface indicated an area near the base of the neck.
Not exactly with a floating arrow.
More like a sense of location whenever he focused on it.
Raven cut.
Thick skin. Fat. Muscle.
The woman made a disgusted sound.
"What...?"
Raven continued.
He found something hard between the layers of muscle.
An oval structure about the size of a fist.
Half organ.
Half stone.
Black mineral-like lines ran across its surface.
He extracted it.
The merchant approached cautiously.
"That’s a lithic gland."
Raven looked at him.
"Worth money?"
"Quite a bit."
Raven looked back at it.
That complicated the decision slightly.
"How much?"
The man gave him a number.
Raven had no idea what that number meant.
Useless.
"A lot?"
"For an ordinary mercenary, yes."
"Then tell me what I could buy with it."
The merchant hesitated.
"A good sword. Maybe two weeks at a decent inn. More, depending on the city."
Raven looked at the gland.
The system was still displaying:
"Stonehide"
A good sword versus the ability to turn his own skin into rock.
Not a difficult decision.
He cut off a piece.
The archer saw him.
"What are you doing?"
Raven put it in his mouth.
The woman went pale.
The merchant’s eyes widened.
The guard said:
"Did he just...?"
The texture was horrible.
Hard at first.
Then gritty.
Like chewing meat mixed with sand.
Raven kept going.
The taste was mineral.
Blood. Salt. Dirt.
He swallowed.
The system responded.
"Predation initiated."
Biological assimilation: 34%.
Additional material required.
Raven cut off another piece.
The archer looked away.
"He’s insane."
Raven chewed.
"Probably."
Second piece.
Then a third.
"Predation requirement satisfied."
The effect was immediate.
A deep pain ran through his arms.
Not burning like Ember Spark.
Pressure.
As if something were compressing his bones from the inside.
Raven clenched his jaw.
The sensation spread through his shoulders, chest, and back.
The skin on his right hand darkened.
Raven watched.
Black lines appeared across his knuckles.
Then the skin changed.
Not all of it.
Only one section.
It turned gray.
Hard.
Stone-like.
Raven lightly struck his knuckles against a rock.
Tok.
No pain.
The interface appeared.
"Stonehide acquired."
Mana-linked defensive adaptation established.
Experience gained.
Another line appeared.
Level increased.
Raven Ashford — Level 3
Raven flexed his hand.
The stone slowly disappeared.
Normal skin returned.
"Useful."
The merchant stared at him.
"What are you?"
Raven stored the rest of the gland.
"Someone hungry."