Alive.
The feeling struck Kael harder than the Direwolf’s roar.
He stood frozen inside the cavern, staring at the massive creature lying several steps away.
The Stoneback Direwolf’s amber eyes were wide.
Not angry.
Not predatory.
Terrified.
Its entire body had gone rigid.
Then its chest moved.
Something pushed outward from beneath the thick layer of muscle and stone-like armor.
The Direwolf released a strangled growl.
Kael’s breath caught.
Through the Soul Pact, he felt another presence.
Small.
Weak.
Hungry.
And trapped.
“You’re really alive…” The Direwolf’s body convulsed.
The presence inside it panicked.
Kael immediately stepped forward.
“I’m here.” He didn’t know whether words mattered.
The Facehugger had understood feelings better than language.
So Kael pushed the thought through their bond.
Here.
Safe.
Not alone.
The response was immediate.
The frantic emotions weakened.
Kael’s eyes widened.
It recognized him.
Whatever existed inside the Direwolf wasn’t simply some offspring his Facehugger had created.
The connection felt the same.
Different shape.
Different intensity.
But underneath…
The same presence.
His companion.
The Direwolf suddenly roared.
Kael’s attention snapped back.
Something pushed against its chest again.
The Stoneback’s regeneration responded immediately.
Kael could actually see damaged tissue repairing itself beneath gaps in the armor.
His stomach dropped.
“The regeneration.” He had chosen the Direwolf partly because of that ability.
Now that same trait was trapping his beast.
The presence inside struggled.
The Direwolf’s chest bulged.
Tissue tore.
Then began closing.
Again.
Again.
The newborn’s panic increased.
Kael moved closer.
“Come on.” The Direwolf snapped weakly toward him.
Kael stopped outside its reach.
He couldn’t help physically.
This was something his companion had to do.
“Adapt.” The word escaped without thought.
He remembered his father’s lesson.
Strength could be surpassed.
Speed countered.
Armor broken.
Adaptability remained useful.
“That’s why we chose this one.” The presence inside became still.
For one strange moment, Kael felt nothing but concentration.
Then— CRACK.
A fracture appeared in one of the Direwolf’s chest plates.
Kael’s eyes widened.
Another crack followed.
The creature inside had changed its approach.
Instead of repeatedly forcing itself through regenerating flesh…
It was striking the same point in the armor.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The Stoneback Direwolf howled.
The crack spread.
Then something black punched through.
Kael stepped backward.
A small dark head appeared between the fractured plates.
The Direwolf convulsed one final time.
The newborn pushed.
Its forelimbs emerged.
Then shoulders.
Then a long, thin body.
With one final movement, the creature pulled itself free and tumbled onto the cavern floor.
Silence.
Kael stared.
It was small.
Perhaps the length of his forearm if he ignored the tail.
Black exoskeletal skin covered its body, glistening beneath the faint light of the cavern.
Its elongated head extended backward in a smooth curve.
Thin limbs ended in tiny claws.
A long tail curled beside it.
But that wasn’t what held Kael’s attention.
Gray ridges ran across its shoulders.
Stone-like ridges.
The newborn moved.
Weakly.
Its head lifted.
Kael’s throat tightened.
The Facehugger had been pale.
This creature was black.
The Facehugger had possessed eight long gripping limbs.
This one possessed a completely different body.
There should have been nothing familiar about it.
Then its head tilted.
Slightly to the left.
Exactly the same way.
Kael laughed.
The sound escaped before he could stop it.
“It’s you.” The creature became still.
Then— Safe.
Kael’s eyes burned.
The same feeling.
The exact same feeling the Facehugger had sent him before its body died.
Kael dropped to one knee.
“You…” The newborn suddenly ran.
Kael barely had time to open his arms.
It climbed directly up his clothes.
Tiny claws caught his shirt.
Its tail wrapped around his forearm.
Then the creature pressed itself against his chest.
Kael laughed again.
This time he couldn’t stop.
“You absolute…” His voice broke.
He closed his eyes.
“You really scared me.” The creature tightened its tail.
For several moments, Kael simply held it.
Four days shouldn’t have mattered.
Apparently they had.
Eventually, movement behind him brought Kael back.
The Stoneback Direwolf.
Its breathing had stopped.
Kael looked toward the enormous beast.
The relief in his chest dimmed.
He approached slowly.
The Direwolf’s amber eyes had closed.
It wasn’t moving.
Kael placed one hand against its neck.
Nothing.
He’d known this might happen.
Perhaps some part of him had expected it.
That didn’t make it meaningless.
“You didn’t choose any of this.” The newborn shifted against his chest.
Kael looked at the Direwolf’s body.
“Thank you.” He didn’t know whether thanking a dead monster meant anything.
He did it anyway.
The Stoneback had given his companion another life.
More than that, perhaps.
Kael looked down.
Those gray ridges bothered him.
He touched one.
Hard.
Much harder than the rest of the newborn’s exoskeleton.
Kael frowned.
“That looks like…” The Direwolf’s armor.
He pressed carefully.
The newborn hissed.
“Sorry.” It climbed higher onto his shoulder.
Kael examined it more closely.
The stone-like structure wasn’t identical to the Direwolf’s plates.
It had been integrated into the black exoskeleton.
Natural.
Part of it.
Kael remembered the Beast Archive.
Different host illustrations.
Different reactions.
His theory.
The host matters.
“So that’s why.” The newborn suddenly jumped from him.
“Hey!” It landed on a rock.
Then immediately slipped.
One hind leg scraped across a sharp edge.
Kael rushed forward.
A thin cut had opened along its leg.
Before he reached it…
The wound moved.
The edges pulled together.
Slowly.
Kael stopped.
Within seconds, the bleeding had ended.
His eyes moved toward the dead Direwolf.
Then back.
“Regeneration too.” The newborn hissed proudly.
Kael stared.
Stone armor.
Regeneration.
What else?
The creature suddenly turned toward the far end of the cavern.
Kael heard nothing.
A few seconds later, water dripped from somewhere in the darkness.
The newborn had reacted before the sound reached him.
Enhanced senses.
Possibly inherited.
Possibly natural.
Kael couldn’t tell yet.
That excited him almost as much as it frustrated him.
He knew absolutely nothing about this species.
And somehow…
That made him want to learn everything.
“We’re going to need a lot of tests.” The newborn’s tail moved.
Kael smiled.
“But first…” He looked upward.
“…there are several people waiting to find out whether I’m alive.” The world shifted.
Kael appeared in his bedroom.
Finn was asleep in the chair.
Thunder was sprawled across his stomach.
Rowan stood near the window.
Clara sat beside the bed.
Both parents immediately looked at Kael.
Then at the creature on his shoulder.
Silence.
Finn snored.
Kael cleared his throat.
Finn woke violently.
“I’m awake!” Thunder rolled off him.
Finn grabbed the tiger.
“I wasn’t sleeping.
I was guarding—” He saw Kael.
Then the black creature.
His face became blank.
“Kael.” “Hm?” “Please tell me you didn’t find another creepy beast.” Kael smiled.
“Same one.” Finn stared.
Then at the creature.
Then back at Kael.
“…What?” Thunder approached.
The newborn turned toward him.
Thunder froze.
The creature tilted its head.
Thunder sniffed.
A faint spark jumped across his whiskers.
The newborn hissed.
Finn grabbed his tiger.
“No fighting!” Kael touched the creature’s back.
“Family.” The aggression faded.
Finn’s eyes widened.
“Wait.” He slowly pointed.
“It really is the same one.” “Yes.” “The hand thing?” “Yes.” “The one we buried?” Kael hesitated.
“Technically, I buried the old body.” Finn sat down.
“I need food.” “You always need food.” “This is emotional food.” Clara was already approaching.
“Let me see.” The newborn immediately became defensive.
Kael sent reassurance through the contract.
“She’s safe.” Reluctantly, it allowed Clara closer.
She examined the exoskeleton.
The limbs.
Tail.
Head.
Then the gray ridges.
“This is impossible.” Finn, already eating bread from somewhere, nodded.
“Very scientific.” Clara ignored him.
She looked at Kael.
“This isn’t ordinary evolution.” “What is it?” “I don’t know.” She examined one forelimb.
“Metamorphosis, perhaps.” “But it used another creature.” “Exactly.” Her frown deepened.
“I’ve never heard of a beast with a life cycle like this.” Kael explained what he’d seen.
The implantation.
The apparent death.
The new Soul Pact.
The birth.
Then the inherited traits.
Rowan’s eyes narrowed.
“Show me.” Kael gently scratched the newborn’s leg.
Clara immediately slapped his hand away.
“Kael!” “It’s already healed once.” “That doesn’t mean you cut your beast for demonstrations!” “Sorry.” The newborn hissed at Clara.
Finn covered his mouth.
Kael decided not to laugh.
Instead, he explained the accidental wound.
Rowan touched the gray armor.
“The Direwolf.” Kael nodded.
“I think so.” “Regeneration too?” “Yes.” Rowan stared at him.
Then understanding appeared.
“That’s why you asked me.” Kael knew exactly what he meant.
“If you could choose one trait…” “Adaptability,” Rowan finished.
Kael nodded.
“I suspected the host mattered.” “You weren’t certain.” “No.” “And you still chose based on long-term compatibility rather than raw strength.” Kael shrugged.
“It seemed smarter.” Rowan smiled faintly.
“Good.” Finn suddenly raised his hand.
Everyone looked at him.
“Important matter.” Kael already regretted asking.
“What?” “We need a new name.” “No.” “Black Fang.” “No.” “Nightmare.” The newborn hissed.
Finn pointed.
“See?
It has opinions.” “Still no.” “Wolfbug.” Kael stared.
“Absolutely not.” “Death Noodle.” Even Rowan laughed.
The newborn hissed louder.
Finn grinned.
“Definitely the same beast.” For the first time since Kael had returned carrying the Facehugger’s body…
He laughed without feeling guilty.
Later, he returned to the Pocket World.
The Direwolf’s body remained.
Kael didn’t remove it.
Something told him not to.
This world belonged to his companion.
The host had become part of its life cycle.
Perhaps its body belonged here too.
The newborn explored.
It climbed everything.
Walls.
Rocks.
The ceiling.
Twice, Kael lost sight of it completely despite knowing it was nearby.
The environment had changed again.
The cavern network was larger.
Black organic structures spread along the walls.
A new chamber had appeared deeper underground.
Kael entered cautiously.
It was empty.
Smooth curved walls surrounded a shallow central depression.
No explanation appeared.
No convenient voice told him what it meant.
Kael touched the wall.
Warm.
“Another mystery.” The newborn crawled across the ceiling above him.
Kael looked up.
“I have enough of those.” When he returned beneath the Infinite World Tree, something else caught his attention.
The second bud.
It was larger.
Still closed.
But undeniably growing.
Kael stared at it.
Another world.
Another egg.
Another beast.
Someday.
Excitement stirred inside him.
Then something landed on his shoulder.
The newborn.
Kael smiled.
“Not yet.” He touched its head.
“First I need to understand you.” That evening, he discovered another problem.
Food.
The newborn ate an entire bowl of monster meat.
Then another.
Then a third.
Finn watched.
“That’s impressive.” A fourth bowl disappeared.
Finn’s smile faded.
“That’s concerning.” A fifth.
“Kael.” “Hm?” “I think your beast is broken.” The creature continued eating.
“You say that about everything you don’t understand.” “Your beast ate more than me.” Kael paused.
That was actually concerning.
Finn looked personally offended.
“No creature that size should possess such power.” Thunder sniffed the empty bowl.
The newborn hissed.
Thunder retreated.
“Possessive too,” Finn muttered.
Hours passed.
Kael eventually noticed something.
The creature was larger.
Not slightly.
Noticeably.
When it had emerged from the Direwolf, its body had been roughly the length of Kael’s forearm.
Now it was nearly twice that.
Kael crouched.
“You’re growing.” The creature turned.
Its elongated head had become more defined.
Its limbs thicker.
The gray ridges along its shoulders had expanded.
Kael reached toward it.
The newborn opened its mouth.
Kael froze.
Teeth.
Far too many teeth.
Then something moved behind them.
A second mouth.
Smaller.
Hidden inside the first.
It pushed forward slightly.
Finn’s bread fell from his hand.
Silence.
The inner jaw withdrew.
The newborn tilted its head innocently.
Finn slowly stood.
“…I withdraw every nice thing I’ve ever said about it.” “You said you liked it.” “I was grieving!” The creature crawled toward Kael.
It curled against his side.
Its tail wrapped comfortably around his waist.
Kael looked down at it.
To him, the sensation flowing through their bond was warm.
Content.
Safe.
Finn stared at the teeth.
Then at Kael.
“Your definition of adorable is becoming deeply concerning.” Kael scratched the creature’s head.
It leaned closer.
He smiled.
Perhaps Finn had a point.
Far away from the bedroom, beyond anything Finn or the Ashborne family could see, the first leaf of the Infinite World Tree trembled.
Inside its Pocket World, the empty organic chamber pulsed.
Once.
Then again.
Waiting for the creature that would one day become large enough to understand exactly what it was meant to be.