What the—?!
The thought barely formed before instinct took over.
Logan's tail snapped upward like a released spring. The needle-sharp spike plunged into the center of the orange-yellow scaled footpad blocking his starlight.
He squeezed.
A full reservoir of venom flooded into the wound.
A wave of blinding agony was the immediate response. The foot jerked back as if burned, vanishing from the fissure. A shrill, piercing shriek of pure pain tore through the night.
"SKREEEEE!"
In the same heartbeat, Logan launched himself from the den floor. He bolted for the entrance, his shoulder slamming into the rusted shield leaning there. It flew sideways with a metallic clatter. He wasn't about to be trapped and roasted by some creature's breath weapon.
He didn't stop until he was a good distance away, then whirled to face the threat.
A Kulu-Ya-Ku? What's this idiot doing here?
The creature stood about eight meters tall, balanced precariously on one leg. Its greenish-yellow scales looked dull in the moonlight. The distinctive crest of red-to-yellow feathers on its head was fully erect. Its green eyes burned with pain and fury, fixed squarely on him.
In its nimble, three-fingered foreclaws, it cradled a prize: an enormous, elliptical egg. The shell was a mesmerizing, crystalline sky-blue, etched with intricate white lightning-bolt patterns that seemed to glow faintly from within.
Whose egg did it steal this time? Should I take it?
The egg's unique appearance was a siren's call. Consuming something of that potency could offer a monumental evolutionary leap. The key factor was his opening move: he'd crippled the Kulu-Ya-Ku's right leg with venom. Its mobility was shattered.
The opportunity was too perfect to ignore. He dropped into a low, predatory crouch, muscles coiling, and began to advance with slow, deliberate steps.
The Kulu-Ya-Ku, a thief by trade and a coward by nature, wanted to flee. But its poisoned leg was a dead weight, searing agony shooting up its limb with every twitch. It couldn't run. Instead, it flared the colorful plumage on its forearms, emitting a series of harsh, threatening clucks.
Logan didn't charge. The size disparity was real, and the Kulu's hardened black beak was a formidable piercing weapon. He began to circle, a slow, relentless orbit, his gaze locked on the bird's head, applying relentless psychological pressure.
The eight-meter-tall bird-wyvern wobbled on its single good leg, the injured one trembling uselessly. Yet, it refused to abandon its stolen treasure, clutching the egg protectively to its chest with a desperate, stubborn intensity.
It tried to pivot to face Logan, but its balance was terrible. A stumble, a moment of over-correction—a flaw in its precarious stance.
Logan pounced.
He closed the distance in a black blur. His powerful forelimbs shot out, claws aimed not at the body, but at the ankle joint of the Kulu's one good leg.
He put his full, evolved strength into the grapple. Claws screeched against scale.
SCREEE-CH!
The sound was horrendous. Already off-balance, the Kulu-Ya-Ku swayed violently. Before it could recover, Logan used his momentum to flow around its flank and struck the same ankle again from a different angle.
It was too much.
With a ground-shaking THUD, the giant bird toppled over. The precious egg tumbled from its grasp, rolling several meters away across the rocky ground.
A cry of pure, outraged despair erupted from the Kulu. It thrashed, desperate to rise and reclaim its prize.
Logan was already moving. He shot toward the egg, a streak of shadow. As he reached for it, a sharp whistling noise made him duck.
The Kulu, in a final act of defiance, had snatched up a jagged rock in its beak and hurled it with surprising force. The missile grazed the scales on Logan's crown, leaving a stark white scar.
The distraction bought a sliver of time. Ignoring the agony in its leg, the Kulu-Ya-Ku made a last, lurching lunge for the egg.
Its tenacity was impressive, but Logan was faster. His tail, prehensile and strong, whipped out and coiled around the egg's middle. He dug his claws into the earth and pulled, dragging the prize safely away.
Mine now. See ya!
Egg secured, he didn't look back. He bolted for the rugged hills, scrambling over boulders and leaping across crevices with agile, bounding strides. Within moments, he had vanished into the labyrinth of stone.
The night wind carried back one final, heart-wrenching cry of loss—the sound of a thief robbed, its great ambition turned to dust.
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