Page 32 of Citrine

The hold of my tentacles loosens, and the creatures free themselves. They growl at me, but I growl back, a clicking call meant to inspire terror, scaring them into turning tail. They swim away, a warning growl floating behind them.

My prey? No prey requires this much special attention.

It is probably the work of those poor excuses for sea life slimes. Those things poked and prodded me for a long time.

If I see them again, I'll rip them to pieces immediately.

As I watch the Many Teeth disappear from view, I decide to look for her. I can still remember the path she took and can still feel her presence. I slink around the rocks, hyperaware of how sharp they are.

I soon see her, surrounded by tall grass, resting against a tree. The wind bites at my skin and my tentacles shrink, begging for water. Even though she's a few steps away from me, I cannotclaim my meal. The feeling of dryness creeps up from my tentacles to my throat as I feel the moisture escape my skin, pushing me back toward a source of water.

I follow the path out of the cove, bypassing it when I sense a nearby source of water in the large cave. If she is going to be so near it, I should search it for threats. I enter without hesitation and soak in my tentacles, shivering as the disgusting feeling of freshwater makes my tentacles throb.

I hear a low rumble behind me, but I am slow to react. I growl in pain as something clamps onto one of my tentacles, massive teeth glinting back at me. In my distraction I forget that I cannot sense movement above the water the same way as within it.

Two of them surround me, nipping at my tentacles, taking the ends off two of them, their maws open and ready to attack. I throw my uninjured tentacles out, hoping to disrupt their rhythm. They attack with their jaws, but I snap them shut, and then wrap their jaws in a crushing grip.

My body feels weak. I stayed on land too long, following her trail.

She caused this.

I roar, snapping one in half. The other one whimpers and thrashes around, dragging my tentacles around the rocky cave. I snap its spine without hesitation and shiver in disgust as I tear off chunks and its flesh fills my belly. It's revolting but it's all I have to eat.

I miss my home.

When I roamed in my saltwater domain, I truly underestimated the feeling of freedom and the opportunity for variety. Now, I'm stuck eating disgusting freshwater creatures that do more than fill my belly. I sigh, flicking the rest of the blood off my tentacles.

They're damaged now and it'll take some time to recover. I need something more nutritious to heal.

I wonder how she'll taste. All that brown skin probably means she tastes just like the rest of the mud dwellers. Will the taste of her blood energize me?

Before I realize it, I'm wandering out of the cave, throwing the dead Many Teeth into the water so they don't foul the cave as they rot, then head back to where she was.

My body feels heavy and sluggish, barely dragging me quietly across the grassland. I am more vulnerable on land. As my eyes narrow on her, I reach my webbed graspers toward her, imagining my teeth sinking into her neck and her warm blood inciting the hunger that I lost.

It happens again. My tentacles stop just short of her neck, and I'm looking over her without the intention of causing harm.

The wind carries her scent to my suckers, and I realize she smells… less terrible. In fact, her scent rouses my mating tentacles. Far from hunger for blood, I feel a deeper, more primal instinct.

16

Eli

I can barely feel my body as I wake up, hazy and hungry. A throbbing headache follows my slow return to consciousness, making me want to go right back to being unconscious. My mind flickers between confusion and awareness, but I know I shouldn't go back to sleep.

Someone's watching me. Closely, not too far away. Probably him.

My eyes snap open when the sound of a stick breaking pierces my consciousness. Just a few steps away from me is the giant octo-man staring at me unflinchingly. A strangled scream escapes my throat, and he finally moves, his tentacles driving him backwards.

My scrambling movement does nothing good for my throbbing headache and it feels like my skull is about to split in two. However, this is my chance.

"Wait!" I call despite myself.

He pauses and looks at me with his usual annoyance. At least that is what I think I read from him. He stands frozen in the same spot, the annoyance on his face shifting to accusation. I blink my eyes open, keeping my gaze on him.

"You stole my voice. Why?" he accuses again.

"If I knew the answer to that, buddy, I wouldn't be in this position, now would I?" I reply dryly but he doesn't look amused.

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