“Kael.” “Hm?” “Your beast is doing it again.” Kael didn’t need Finn to point it out.
He could feel the creature’s restlessness through their Soul Pact.
The pale beast remained wrapped around his shoulder and upper back, its long finger-like limbs gripping his clothes securely enough that Kael had stopped worrying about it falling.
Its segmented tail rested loosely around his arm.
To anyone passing them on the street, it might have looked comfortable.
Kael knew better.
Something inside it was burning.
Not pain.
Not fear.
Hunger.
Except that wasn’t quite right either.
Kael frowned as another wave of instinct crossed their bond.
Find.
The impression wasn’t a word.
The creature didn’t possess language, at least not as Kael understood it.
But the meaning was unmistakable.
Search.
Its body shifted.
Its eyeless head turned north.
Toward the distant wilderness.
Kael stopped walking.
The creature immediately became still.
Finn stopped beside him, White Lightning Tiger cub tucked beneath one arm.
“What?” “I’m trying to understand what it wants.” Finn stared at the creature.
“Have you tried asking?” Kael gave him a flat look.
“Excellent suggestion.” “Thank you.” “It doesn’t speak.” “Neither does Thunder.” The tiger cub immediately growled.
Finn looked down.
“Alright.
That was rude.” Thunder flicked his tail.
Kael almost smiled.
The creature on his shoulder suddenly tightened its grip.
A merchant was passing nearby with a small pack beast pulling a cart.
The Facehugger turned toward it.
Kael felt the strange hunger spike.
Then the cart continued down another street.
The sensation faded.
Kael’s smile disappeared.
Living beasts.
Whatever his companion wanted had something to do with living beasts.
That realization wasn’t particularly comforting.
Finn leaned closer.
“We need to name it.” “We don’t even know what it is.” “That’s why it needs a name.” “That makes absolutely no sense.” “Of course it does.” Finn pointed toward the creature.
“We can’t keep calling it ‘the thing on Kael’s shoulder.'” Kael considered that.
Unfortunately, Finn had a point.
“What do you suggest?” Finn’s expression brightened.
“Fingers.” Kael stared at him.
“No.” “Eight-Legs.” “No.” “Hugger.” “No.” “Creepy.” The Facehugger hissed.
Finn jumped backward.
“Alright!
Apparently Creepy is off the table.” Kael scratched the creature’s upper body.
It immediately settled.
Finn stared at them.
“I don’t understand your relationship.” “Neither do I.” “Sir Grab-a-Lot?” Kael started walking again.
“I’m ignoring you now.” “That’s not a no.” “It is.” Finn hurried after him.
By the time they reached the Ashborne home, word of the awakening ceremony had apparently traveled faster than they had.
The front door flew open.
Lily came running outside.
“Kael!” She nearly collided with him before stopping abruptly.
Her eyes moved upward.
The Facehugger slowly turned toward her.
Finn stepped aside.
“Don’t scream.” Lily stared.
The creature stared back despite possessing no visible eyes.
Its limbs shifted.
Its tail tightened.
Finn cautiously continued.
“Don’t make sudden movements either.” Lily’s eyes widened.
Kael prepared himself.
Then she whispered, “It’s adorable.” Finn’s mouth fell open.
Kael blinked.
“What?” Lily stepped closer.
“Look at its little hands!” “Those aren’t little hands,” Finn protested.
“Those are nightmare fingers.” “They’re cute.” “It tried to attack Thunder!” Thunder growled from beside him.
Lily ignored both of them.
“Can I touch it?” “No.” Kael’s answer came immediately.
Lily stopped.
Not because Kael had spoken harshly.
He hadn’t.
But something had changed.
The Facehugger’s legs were spreading.
Its tail had risen behind Kael’s shoulder.
A low hiss escaped its body.
Kael felt the aggression before Lily noticed it.
Not hatred.
Warning.
Unknown creature approaching master.
Potential threat.
Attack if necessary.
Kael placed one hand against its back.
“Easy.” The Facehugger didn’t relax.
Kael concentrated.
The Soul Pact warmed.
He thought about Lily.
Her laughter.
The countless times she’d annoyed him.
Her habit of stealing his blankets during winter.
Her face when she’d fallen asleep waiting for him to return from school.
Family.
Safe.
Protect.
The aggression flickered.
The Facehugger slowly lowered its tail.
Lily wisely remained where she was.
Kael felt something else.
Reluctance.
The creature still didn’t trust her.
But it accepted his judgment.
“She’s family,” Kael whispered.
The Facehugger remained silent.
Lily smiled.
“I think it likes me.” Finn stared at her.
“It very clearly does not.” “It didn’t attack me.” “Your standards are concerning.” A laugh came from the doorway.
Rowan stood there with Clara beside him.
But while Clara looked fascinated, Rowan’s attention remained entirely on Kael’s beast.
His eyes narrowed.
Not with fear.
Experience.
“Come inside.” The moment they entered, the Facehugger inspected everything.
Walls.
Ceiling.
Windows.
Doors.
Every movement nearby made its head turn.
When the Mosshorn snorted from outside, the creature immediately became alert.
Kael felt that strange hunger again.
Stronger.
Rowan noticed.
“Interesting.” Kael looked at him.
“What?” “It hasn’t relaxed.” “It has with me.” “No.” Rowan shook his head.
“It’s comfortable with you.
That’s different.” Kael glanced at his companion.
Rowan pulled out a chair but didn’t approach.
“Don’t mistake obedience for tameness, Kael.” The words made him pause.
“Your beast trusts you.” Rowan nodded toward the raised tail.
“But its instincts are still wild.” Kael remembered the Awakening Hall.
Thunder’s growl.
The instant response.
“Is that bad?” “Not at all.” Rowan smiled faintly.
“Unless you expect it to behave like a house cat.” Finn hugged Thunder closer.
“Finally, someone understands.” Thunder bit his sleeve.
“Ow!” Rowan continued.
“Respect what your companion is.
Don’t try to turn it into something easier for other people to accept.” Kael slowly nodded.
That…
He could do.
Clara finally stepped forward.
“Can I examine it?” The Facehugger immediately hissed.
Clara stopped.
“Apparently not.” Kael sent another impression through the contract.
Safe.
Family.
The creature remained tense.
“Let her.” Slowly, reluctantly, its limbs loosened.
Clara approached with the patience of someone accustomed to frightened beasts.
She didn’t immediately touch it.
First she allowed it to inspect her hand.
Then she gently pressed two fingers against its outer body.
Her expression changed.
“Strong.” Finn frowned.
“It’s tiny.” “I’m talking about muscle density.” Clara carefully examined one limb.
“This creature is absurdly strong for its body mass.” She moved toward its tail.
The tail instantly snapped away.
“Alright.
No tail.” Finn nodded.
“Smartest decision anyone has made today.” Clara ignored him.
“No visible eyes…” She examined its underside.
“Respiratory openings are unusual.” Her brow furrowed.
“Kael, what does it eat?” “I don’t know.” “You haven’t fed it?” “I offered it some dried meat after leaving the Hall.” “And?” “It ignored it.” “Fruit?” “No interest.” “Grain?” “Nothing.” Clara became more serious.
“How long since it hatched?” “A few hours.” “And it hasn’t eaten anything?” “No.” She carefully placed her hand against its body again.
“It doesn’t feel weak.” Kael shook his head.
“It isn’t.” The creature suddenly tightened around him as if demonstrating the point.
Finn snorted.
Clara’s frown deepened.
“That’s strange.” “What?” “I can’t examine its internal structure properly without equipment, but from what I can feel…” She hesitated.
“…its digestive system doesn’t seem developed enough for a predator of this size.” Silence followed.
Finn looked at the creature.
“Maybe it eats sunlight.” Lily immediately replied, “It doesn’t have leaves.” “Neither do you, but you eat constantly.” “That doesn’t make any sense.” “I know.” Kael barely heard them.
The creature wasn’t hungry for food.
But every time another living beast came near…
Find.
Suitable.
What exactly had he contracted?
That evening, Kael told his family about the other problem.
Not everything.
He couldn’t explain everything because he didn’t understand it himself.
But he told them enough.
“My Beast Space isn’t normal.” Rowan’s expression remained calm.
“How abnormal?” Kael glanced toward Finn.
His friend had stayed for dinner and was currently feeding tiny pieces of meat to Thunder beneath the table despite Clara telling him twice to stop.
Finn noticed everyone looking at him.
“What?” Kael made his decision.
Finn had been beside him almost his entire life.
If there was anyone outside his family he trusted, it was him.
“I think I can eventually contract more than ten beasts.” Finn stopped chewing.
Rowan leaned forward.
“How many?” “I don’t know.” That was technically true.
Kael knew what he’d seen.
Countless leaves.
But he didn’t know what every leaf represented.
Not yet.
His father remained silent for several seconds.
Then he looked around the table.
“No one repeats this.” Lily nodded immediately.
Clara did the same.
Finn swallowed.
The humor disappeared from his face.
“Not even my parents?” Rowan looked at Kael.
The decision belonged to him.
Kael shook his head.
“Not yet.” Finn nodded once.
“Then they don’t hear it from me.” No joke.
No dramatic promise.
Just Finn.
Kael smiled faintly.
“Thanks.” Finn immediately reached for another piece of bread.
“Obviously.” And just like that, the seriousness disappeared.
Later that night, Kael lay in bed.
The Facehugger clung to the wall above him.
He had offered it a blanket.
It had chosen the wall.
Kael had decided not to question it.
He closed his eyes.
The connection appeared immediately.
Darkness vanished.
Kael stood beneath the Infinite World Tree.
It was even more overwhelming the second time.
Countless leaves stretched beyond sight.
But only one was fully alive.
His companion’s leaf.
Kael touched it.
The world shifted.
He appeared inside the Pocket World.
The Facehugger arrived beside him.
The environment had changed.
There were caves now.
Long tunnels stretched beneath jagged stone formations.
Warm mist drifted through the darkness, while strange organic ridges had begun appearing along some of the walls.
Kael ran his fingers across one.
Warm.
The world was adapting.
Not to him.
To his beast.
“Interesting.” The Facehugger scurried ahead.
Kael followed.
There was water.
Shelter.
Heat.
Space.
Everything his companion could need.
Except life.
No animals moved through the caves.
No monsters roamed the landscape.
The Pocket World wasn’t generating an army for him.
It was simply…
A home.
Kael liked that.
Then he remembered the hunger.
He sat on a rock.
The Facehugger crawled onto another nearby.
“Let’s figure you out.” He thought of bread.
Nothing.
Meat.
Nothing.
Water.
Mild recognition.
Then he pictured the Mosshorn.
The reaction was immediate.
The Facehugger shot upright.
Its tail curled.
A wave of need crashed through their bond.
Kael’s expression hardened.
“Living creatures.” The Facehugger shifted impatiently.
Kael tried something else.
A bird.
Interest.
Thunder.
Much stronger interest.
Kael stopped.
“Why?” The creature couldn’t answer.
Not in words.
But images flickered at the edge of their connection.
Too vague.
Too instinctive.
Something being held.
Something covered.
Something…
Changing.
Kael couldn’t understand.
The Facehugger moved closer.
Its need intensified.
Kael placed his hand on its head.
“No.” The creature stiffened.
Agitation struck their bond.
Kael didn’t pull away.
“You don’t touch anyone unless I allow it.” The tail lashed once.
“Understand?” Resistance.
Instinct.
Need.
Kael waited.
He didn’t force the feeling away.
He simply remained there.
Eventually…
The creature lowered itself.
Acceptance.
Kael’s expression softened.
“I don’t know what you need yet.” He gently rubbed its head.
“But I’ll figure it out.” The Facehugger wrapped one limb around his wrist.
Kael smiled.
Then the world faded.
Hours later…
He woke suddenly.
Not because of a sound.
Because of emotion.
Excitement.
Violent, overwhelming excitement.
Kael sat upright.
Moonlight spilled through his window.
The Facehugger wasn’t above his bed.
It was on the windowsill.
Every limb rigid.
Tail raised.
Facing north.
Then— ROOOAAARR!
A distant cry rolled across the night.
Far beyond Greenriver.
Somewhere inside the forest.
The Facehugger trembled.
Kael slipped out of bed.
“What is it?” The creature turned toward him.
Their Soul Pact opened.
And this time…
The image was clear.
A monster.
Living.
Breathing.
The Facehugger wrapped around its head.
Kael recoiled.
Then another image.
Something beneath flesh.
Growing.
Changing.
Becoming.
Kael stared at his companion.
His heartbeat slowly accelerated.
“That’s…” The Facehugger’s tail curled.
Excitement flooded their bond.
Kael looked toward the dark forest beyond his window.
Then back at the strange creature.
For the first time since its birth…
He understood what it had been searching for.
Not food.
Not prey.
Something far stranger.
“A host.” The Facehugger hissed softly.
And somewhere beyond the sleeping town…
The unknown monster roared again.