Erodicilee stayed low to the ground, creeping along as he stalked the lone hunter who smelled of his mother.

　　This wasn`t the first hunter he`d found. He`d worked diligently throughout the night, trying to find anyone who`d wandered off on their own. Most hadn`t. They stayed in a group, sitting around their fires as they cradled their weapons. Once or twice they`d shot at him, and the injuries forced him to hunt whatever small creatures he could find to heal.

　　While he healed, he`d smelled his mommy again, and this time the potent scent made him believe she was out here with him. His nose rose to sniff the air, and with his eyes closed, he was sure he could see her.

　　His entire body shook, and he turned and raced towards the scent, slowly only when he encountered an obstacle along his path—a lone hunter.

　　He stank of Erodicilee`s mother too, the smell wafting from a small scrap of fabric wrapped around his arm. The same arm cradled one of those weapons. It made Erodicilee nervous as he considered the possibilities. What if the smell was more of these hunters all gathered together?

　　Erodicilee paused at the thought, his nose in the air as he sniffed. The scent of his mother was strong, but he didn`t get the hint of any other hunters in that direction. It was simply his prey and the smell.

　　His stomach rumbled again, but he didn`t attack. If this was a trap, he wanted to let the hunter move into it first. He continued to stalk the hunter, stopping every so often to sniff the air and confirm the scents. The man never turned; he simply continued to walk in a straight line with his unfurred head bowed.

　　Overhead, the sun beat down, and Erodicilee paused once again to sniff the air. Then he smelled it. His tail wagged as his ears perked up, and he let out an involuntary, excited bark. She was there. His mommy. Her smell was strong, full, and accompanied by her friend, who always followed her. He also caught the scent of two hunters and another two beings that didn`t smell quite right.

　　One reminded him of the mommy`s friend who came to the house. The other was faint and surrounded by a similar stink to the hunters` beasts. An unnatural metallic smell.

　　Before he could work anymore, a yell caused him to snap his eyes open in time to see the human whirl towards him. Their eyes were wide, and fear radiated from them in a wave of stink. His stomach growled, and he dove forward as their weapon barked. Lines scored across his back and punched a hole in his ear as he landed on the hunter.

　　"No!" they barked. "No, get off! Die!"

　　"Die!" Erodicilee barked happily back as he sunk his teeth into the hunter`s neck.

　　It didn`t take long to consume them; his jaws easily snapped the bones as his fur tendrils gathered up the parts for him to eat. As he digested, the wounds along his back and ear slowly healed themselves until he was whole once more.

　　His tail wagged as he sat where his prey once lay, content with his meal. Then his newly healed ear twitched as he picked up the sound of approaching footsteps coming from his mother`s direction. These were heavy, and when he closed his eyes, he caught the scent of the metallic wrongness from before.

　　She wasn`t with it.

　　A growl escaped his throat, and he dug down. He burrowed into the earth, forming a small cave as he waited. The stomping above him stopped, and he moved slowly around his cavern as he tried to work out through the scent alone where it was.

　　His plan was simple. He`d burrow up behind it and then attempt to bite it.

　　Erodicilee scraped away the dirt quickly, leaping from his cavern to take a bite. A metallic foot met his face. His nose broke, and he howled as he smashed into the dirt. He rolled, bleeding and barking, until he stopped. Pain filled him, and his instincts screamed at him to feed.

　　He couldn`t smell anything that wasn`t blood, and the black metallic prey turned, a strange glowing cylinder in its hand. Erodicilee ran.

　　A green blob shot from the weapon, landing on the ground and sizzling with a hiss. Heat radiated from the ball, and he felt his fur twitch. Dirt sprayed behind him as he charged his mechanical foe, which simply stood still. He leaped, fur tendrils shooting out and wrapping around the weapon and pulling him to it.

　　As he landed, he scratched, claws digging, as a mechanical fist flew into his side. Once again, he rolled across the dirt, the sounds of something crackling filling his ears. The world spun, and when it finally stopped, he saw the weapon glowing in spots it hadn`t before.

　　His prey tossed it away, and the weapon flew through the air, where it exploded in a ball of light and heat. Erodicilee barked, claws digging into the dirt to keep him steady as his opponent stumbled backwards. It didn`t fall, however, instead turning to face him with arms outstretched.

　　"Halt!" it barked. "You have destroyed the property of the Overseer Kulthurack. You are considered a threat. Do not resist."

　　"Die!" Erodicilee barked, and his mental map of the area updated.

　　To his confusion, his prey updated as well, and he saw something coiled up inside the mechanical head. It floated there, wiggling occasionally as the suit moved. He knew it was biological, and therefore prey. A chance to heal.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

　　The question was, how did he get to it?

　　As the metallic-covered creature stomped towards him, he growled and let his fur shift into spikes. He`d need to figure it out while they fought.

　　***

　　Dirt sprayed into the air as his opponent stamped down with a metal foot.

　　Erodicilee rolled out of the way, his spikes shifting to help shift him along the ground. When he was upright again, he ran forward, tendrils shooting out and wrapping around the creature`s leg. He used the grip to drag himself forward, curling up and letting his spiked form crash into his prey.

　　His spikes penetrated, but only in the small gaps in the seams. That would have to be enough. Happy to have done some damage, he let himself drop, hearing the crashing sound as the creature punched itself in the leg. A groan sounded out, and Erodicilee raced away to give himself some breathing room.

　　The battle had gone on like this for a while. He`d attack and find himself unable to penetrate the metal aside from a few small cracks, and then his prey forced him to flee with wild swings. Pain radiated from his face, though blood had thankfully stopped gushing from his nose.

　　"Desist!" the creature barked again.

　　Erodicilee ignored it and geared himself up for another attack. He needed to get to the head. To pull out his enemies one piece of biological matter and snap it up like a snack. However, anytime he tried to climb the creature, it tossed him aside.

　　He needed to figure out how to force it to stay still.

　　The metal beast charged at him, and he ran, going in circles. He could easily outrun the beast, but he couldn`t let it escape. What if it went back to mommy and hurt her? That was unacceptable. As they ran, he moved back to where the fight had first begun, and as he did, his prey stumbled. He turned, watching it pull its foot out of the hole he`d created earlier.

　　An idea came to him, and he ran to give himself some distance.

　　His claws scraped at the dirt as he dug himself a small tunnel down, and then, when he felt he was far enough, he moved towards where the creature had stood when he was on the surface. Fur tendrils swirled about him, pushing away dirt as he tunneled. At points, he simply dug straight down, creating shafts that ended further into the earth. He connected these to the surface, breaking out into the light before diving as the creature charged at him.

　　Erodicilee littered the battlefield with his traps, making sure each was wide enough for one of the metal feet to fall inside.

　　That done, he popped out and barked at the creature to get its attention.

　　"Die!"

　　It turned and charged at him. The first time its foot sank into one of his holes, Erodicilee watched it tilt wildly to the side. He moved in, fur tendrils whipping through the air as he raced up the creature`s side. It flailed at him, one hand on the ground to keep itself steady as the other punched itself. He reached its head and bit at the faceless metal.

　　His jaws couldn`t find purchase, and he growled as he moved and tried again. A metal fist crashed into its own face, and he heard something groan even as the force of the blow shoved him aside. He growled and rolled to his feet, running again as the creature pulled itself from the hole, its metal fingers leaving grooves in the dirt.

　　This time, it didn`t run as it chased him. Instead, it picked its way across, focusing on the ground as it dodged his traps. He growled again and dashed in and out, trying to get it to take risks.

　　It did, and any time it got stuck, Erodicilee tried to attack it once again. His jaws bit at the seams, and his tendrils probed. He even tried to scratch at the metal covering its back. That he left deep grooves in, and so he tried it on the creature`s neck. One of his claws caught a seam, and this time, when an attack forced him to flee, that bit of metal came with him.

　　Erodicilee howled in triumph, even as he ran.

　　Back and forth they went, his prey dodging his traps as he attempted to bait them into them. He even made new ones to cover the entire battlefield in traps. It worked. Anytime his prey fell, he was on it, clawing at the creature`s neck.

　　He found things beneath the armor that tasted foul, but he bit into them, anyway. As he did, the creature slowed. Its movements became jerky, and he heard faint whirring and beeps.

　　"Desist!" the creature barked, but Erodicilee didn`t.

　　Dents covered his prey`s faceless head, and one of its arms had stopped working by the time it fell. Metal legs spasmed as it lay on the dirt, and he ran around his prey as he searched for an opening. The neck appeared to be his best bet, and so he went after that. Fur tendrils tugged as he gnawed and bit at whatever he could reach.

　　Then its head popped off.

　　A long, fat, pink beast slithered its way out. It had neither a head nor eyes, and it burrowed into the ground as soon as it touched the soft dirt. Erodicilee barked and ran, catching the last remaining inch in his mouth and tugging.

　　It fought him, but he refused to let it go. Any time he got more of it out of the dirt, he wrapped it in tendrils. Spikes dug into the soft pink flesh, and eventually he cocooned the entire wiggling prey up nice and tight.

　　With an excited yelp, he ate it, sucking it up and feeling it wiggling inside of his mouth. His instincts exploded, and heat filled his entire body. He felt his skin shift and itch as new pores opened up—tiny holes that would secrete a new pheromone. It didn`t smell like anything to him, but he knew other creatures would find it enticing.

　　Erodicilee barked and got to his feet.

　　Now that the fight was over, Erodicilee had a mission. He knew where his mommy was, and he`d waited long enough.

　　With excitement coursing through him, he started charging towards the scent, and nothing would stop him again.

　　Progression: Evolutions

　　360 Vision (Flies)

　　Sticky Feet (Flies)

　　Limb Regeneration (Lizard)

　　Gills (Fish)

　　Scaled Fur (Fish)

　　Digging (Wombat)

　　Enhance Speed (Dingo)

　　Enhanced Smell - Distance Increase (Cow)

　　Enhanced Stomach Capacity (Cow)

　　Word Mimicry (Cockatoo)

　　Echolocation (Bat)

　　Enhanced Endurance (Human)

　　Enhanced Sight Distance (Owl)

　　Spine Defense (Echidna)

　　Enhanced Jump (Kangaroo)

　　Dark Vision (Cat)

　　Pheromone Control (Blitzworm)