There was one problem with returning to the caravan right now and the problem has only been growing stronger as I walked. I was famished.

  The ability to transform into other monsters I had used to burn up everything in that cave must have spent a lot of the reserve magic I still had from the dungeon. Since I had left, I hadn't found any opportunities to eat the kind of magic-rich meat that sustained my umber hound abilities. That's why I couldn't resist a scent I had come across on the way back. One whiff of it and my mouth began to water as my umber hound instincts screamed at me to go chase it down. Good prey, if I had to put the feeling into words.

  I paused and hesitated. I knew that I was already pushing my return but... I was starving. I looked up at the sky. It wasn't quite noon yet but it was getting close. I wouldn't have a lot of time but I needed to do this. Before I left the trail I had the sense to take out my axe and carve a deep gash in one of the trunks of a nearby tree. I would need to find my way back here if I got lost. After I finished with that I put away my axe, turned in the direction of that new scent, and shifted into my umber hound form to hunt.

  As I followed the trail as stealthily as I could, I tried to process the scent of the thing I was tracking. It smelled like deer mixed with an earthy scent of spring leaves. An odd smell for this time of year in the middle of a light snowfall. My instincts told me that whatever I was tracking would be rich in the magic I needed to continue fueling myself. I made sure to continue approaching downwind of the strong scent, I couldn't risk letting this monster smell me before I got close enough to chase. I almost panicked when I passed a brook, but luckily the scent wasn't lost there. I was able to pick it back up on the other side of the flowing water.

  The foliage grew denser as I continued and I started to worry as I got further and further from the caravan. I wanted to track this monster down but I didn't want to get left behind or make the others worry. I had already been gone longer than I had been expecting. My mind was so distracted that I almost missed the snap of a twig I heard as I continued to follow that scent. I froze. I didn't want to scare off my prey. After a few moments I moved toward the source of the broken branch. I peeked around one of the thick bushes, careful not to rustle it and give myself away. As I peered through an opening into a clearing, I saw it.

  A giant stag with a regal crown of horns stood in the middle of the clearing eating from the grass. It was a light green color with a wreath of ivy, flowers, and herbs wrapped around its neck and down its back like a mane. The monster was majestic and I would be in awe of it if the sight didn't make me lick my chops in anticipation. The thing was huge, even larger than me in my umber hound form. This fight might be a challenge on my own without very much mana to rely on. I'm sure I would have enough mana to heal myself, but I wouldn't have much more for any fancier tricks. That was fine by me.

  I crouched down to all fours and compressed the muscles in my legs. This was among the first times I truly appreciated the powerful legs I had gotten from the bloody rabbits. I instinctively knew that my speed would be the key to taking this thing down. In an instant, I rocketed forward in a powerful leap right at the deer monster with my fangs and claws bared. At the last moment, the deer jumped forward in an attempt to dodge my attack and all I could do was rake its rump with one of my claws before hitting the ground and jumping to chase after it.

  The deer was fast but I was catching up. This would have been impossible if I didn't have these legs meant for running away the same way my prey did. The monster looked back and could tell I was gaining on it so it spun on its hooves and tried to stand its ground instead. I was almost impaled on a carpet of thorns that sprouted from the ground like spears, but I was able to redirect my momentum to the side just in time to bolt around them and continue the chase.

  A cloud of pollen began to billow in the air and my umber hound instincts began to become panicked with worry, but my rational side chose to hold my breath through the yellow and red clouds of dust the deer let off behind it like little trails of smoke. Trying to hold your breath while running was impossible to maintain for long but the deer thankfully gave up on releasing the multicolored clouds of pollen and turned to summon another bramble of thorns. Rather than spears to impale me again, this patch of thorns was thick and gnarled to impede my passage through them like a carpet of caltrops. Rather than even attempting to deal with them I just bared down on my legs and leapt into the air over the bramble.

  I swear I could see the surprise in the deer monster's eyes when I landed right in front of it and tackled it to the ground. My teeth ripped into its throat and suddenly it was over. I tore into its neck and I already felt the electric buzz of mana flowing into me and refreshing me again. It felt like it had been so long since I've eaten. To my werewolf half, it had been.

  I moaned as I swallowed the rich flavorful meat and swallowed down the juices as I tore into my hard-won carcass. I take back anything bad I've said about the bloody rabbits, the legs I adapted from them won me this meal. I continued to tear into the meat even after I had mostly sated the gnawing hunger that had led me to this chase, it just tasted that good. This deer-thing is now my favorite meat, edging out the frost salamanders and the minotaur by a fair amount. I licked my chops when I got close to the part I had been waiting for this entire time. THE HEART! I bit into the tough muscle and swallowed it in three large bites. The rush of mana felt invigorating as I felt it refill that knot of mana I had emptied earlier in the goblin cave.

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  For a split second I panicked, worried that I would have another outcome like the transformation to my legs out here completely on my own but the panic passed when I felt the monster I killed form another metaphorical knot of mana inside of my chest. Unafraid of wasting any mana with more than half a carcass of mana-rich meat next to me I didn't hesitate to grab it and see what it could do. Blooms of fragrant herbs burst from the snowy ground around me creating a small pad of plants that reminded me of the dried spices that they used to cook the meat pies Luna loved so much. Unlike most of the other knots of mana I had gained until now, I was able to moderate the amount of mana I pulled from this one. Squeezing just a little let me control what I was growing and I watched as a vine of silvery mint began to grow up the nearby tree I was looking at. When I stopped I realized I hadn't spent even a tenth of the mana that I had available from these two applications. I broke some of the mint plant off and stored it in my ring for later.

  As cool as that was it was only a minor distraction and I went back to eating more of the corpse. I knew I wouldn't be able to take much back with me so I worked to get my fill. When I sat back stuffed full, I frowned at the half carcass that was left. I shifted back to my human form and tried to see if it would fit in my ring like this and I was sad to see that it wouldn't. Shaking my head I decided I would try and salvage as much as I could. I pulled out a bundle of knives and tools that Maxwell had urged me to buy when we were still back in Fallow. They were a set of tools used to process monster kills. At the time I hadn't been convinced of the need to carry a redundant set, but now I was thanking him as I worked to save the best bits of the deer monster.

  The first thing I did was use the knives and tools to remove the skull and head from the body. I had a feeling the large rack of horns would be worth something since I could see the magic in them with the blindfold. When I had the head fully sawn off I looked at it and reflected for a moment at how different my life now was. I was staring at a giant deer head that I had killed myself so I could stick it in my magical ring. I shook my head and continued. I mostly wanted to save most of the meat but I tried my best to preserve as much of the pelt as I could too. Some of the hide had been damaged when I was chasing it but I was able to get most of it off in one piece. I wrapped up as much of the leg and torso meat as I could while ignoring the entrails and bones. I had already eaten as much of the rib meat as I could and abandoned the rest since the ribs would take up too much space in my ring.

  In the end I had a mostly disassembled headless dear body left on the ground. My cuts weren't perfect but I saved a lot more meat than if I had left it here. I don't think people would be happy if I turned up with this carcass when they thought I was out slaying goblins. I frowned and looked up at the sky. It was well past noon now, I needed to get back soon before people began to worry about me. My friends know how hard I am to kill, but there's plenty of other trouble I could get myself in. I also didn't want to delay the caravan leaving. We wasted a lot of time today on this goblin stuff already. I left the rest of the carcass here for the scavengers.

  After cleaning the last of the blood and grime off my hands in the river I had passed, I started jogging back to the tree I had diverted from earlier. I wasn't too worried about other threats right now so I made good time back through the forest and was back at the tree I had marked in no time. I had a bit of a laugh at how much better my running speed had probably improved since I had been here. Magical werewolf transformations aside, the constant exercise and lean meals had left me in great shape. I would totally win that triathlon if I ever returned home. I was in a great mood now, all the worries I had about squabbling with the other caravan people were gone by the time I got back.

  However, the squabbling didn't seem to be done with me yet.

  "There she is! That deserter is back!" The whiny drakken started bitching at me again the moment I returned. I disliked him so much I didn't even want to bother learning his name.

  "They are hunters, not military. I'll handle her, you go back to your wagon. Now that she's here, we're leaving soon," Korr'tak told him with a clipped tone.

  He squinted at me and grumbled before walking off.

  Korr'tak turned to me. "What took you so long? Maxwell told me you would have been back by now."

  "There were a lot more goblins than expected, a few hundred. It took a while. I made sure to kill all of them and burn everything left in their cave. Even if more goblins find it, it'll be harder for them to settle there now," I replied.

  Korr'tak sighed and pinched the ridge of his nose. "Fine. Go back to your wagon and get ready to leave, we've been here for too long already." He then turned and blew a whistle that hurt my ears.

  I walked back to my wagon and found Luna waiting for me there. ("Welcome back,") she said with a smile. It was hard to describe how warm those simple words felt to me right now.

  Hello! It's been too long since Helena's gotten to go on a hunt. We got to see what happens when Helena doesn't tend to her belly enough, especially after heavy use of her magic! This monster was a bit fun to come up with. It was more of an original thing rather than being inspired from something specific. I don't think it's that unique of a concept, but I thought it would be a cool and slightly different kind of challenge for Helena. I hope you enjoyed reading!

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