Once more Drek’tal takes me to hunt. He feels his duty now is to impart wisdom on me. “Dzivah shall require no new mate in the event of my death. She will be self-sufficient” he remarks to the Tribal Mother. Ah, they’re both quite ignorant when they speak of what I can and cannot do. I’ve spent countless years alone and never starved. Hunting is not the only way to feed.

It is a marvel I am so quiet when they speak this way around me. BAH!

But I digress.

Drek’tal takes me this time to hunt the Scorpid. The method is simple, but his speed and size are clear advantages. He dashes at the Scorpid and grabs it by the stinger. “The Scorpashi have venom in the bulb of the tail. This is their self-defense. If you grab them so that they cannot use it, they are helpless.” he smirks and breaks the animal’s neck. “Your turn.” I suspect that I shall come to fear those two words.

I limber up, stretch a little. I face another nearby Scorpid. As I dash, it raises its tail threateningly.

“GAH!”

I pull back, it chases me. I run screaming. Drek’tal sighs. I feel I have disappointed him.

“Try again. Act quickly, Magi.”

I stab my staff into the dirt and crack my knuckles. “Here goes.” Drek’tal detects the change in my voice, the growing frustration has given way to a calculated and decisive tone. I hum a few words and shimmer away. Invisible. A neat trick. The scorpashi cannot smell, it is not so smart a creature so as to notice the wily mage sneak up behind it. I snatch, it screams as it is outwitted, and I raise it above my head triumphantly.

Drek’tal smirks. “Clever girl.”

And as we break the carapace and scoop out the soft, gelatinous flesh, I wonder quietly: what is my self-defense mechanism, and can it be used against me?