Determination filled Erodicilee as the rhythmic tweets above him serenaded him out of his nightmare.

　　He rolled onto his back and stretched, trying to stop the shaking that remained in his legs. In his dream, he`d chased his mommy across an endless red dirt plain. No matter how fast he ran, he simply couldn`t catch up. The one time he gained on her, the container rose up around him and he was forced to watch her vanish.

　　A whine escaped him as he remembered the scene, and he pushed the fabric off him and amboled over to the portal. He pushed on it, but it remained closed. The simple action caused the other creatures to hiss, spit, and growl. His stomach rumbled as the thought of all the meals surrounding him, but he pushed the thought away. Erodicilee refused to let them distract him. He needed to find his mommy, and he couldn`t do that inside this container.

　　His fur twisted, and pink tendrils flowed through the gaps as he started to investigate the portal. This time he wouldn`t give up. He would figure out the trick the smaller ambusher used, free himself, gain strength, and finally find her. The excitement of the idea bubbled up until he let it out with a bark.

　　Most of what he felt was flat and cold, but he discovered two irregularities. There was a long piece of metal that felt like it was inside another smaller piece.

　　He pulled at the long metal, but it refused to budge. The smaller one yielded a slightly different result; the door rattled. Erodicilee growled, and tugged harder but aside from the noise and slight movement nothing else happened.

　　With a frustrated growl, he gave up and returned to examining the pieces of metal. His tendrils slid along it, until they wrapped around a new section. His excited bark sent the other creatures into more of a frenzy, but he ignored them as he focused on his discovery. It was a strange shape, similar to one of his small claws. He tugged on it, left and right, but it refused to budge.

　　Then he tugged up. At first, he thought it wouldn`t move but then he heard a click and it slammed into the portal with a thud. Slowly, he started to try and move to the right and his other tendrils confirmed it was moving. Elated he tugged harder, reeling at it like he`d done to the creature in the water.

　　It moved slowly, but before long there was a scraping sound and the portal swung open a crack. With delight, Erodicilee slammed into it, tumbling from his contained and onto the floor. Freedom! He`d beaten the ambusher`s trap, and he jumped to his paws in celebration. As he stared around the large space, confidence and hunger filled him.

　　His instincts screamed at him to feed. The caged creatures shrieked, some going so far as to slam themselves into the walls of their containers. Did they want to be free too? He didn`t know, nor care. They could wait until he`d sated his hunger.

　　Erodicilee`s attention was caught by the cages hanging up above. The scents emanating from them were different then anything he`d smelled before. He licked his lips, drooling a little at the thought of what they might give him. His instincts urged him on, and soon he was running up the wall and onto the wood that surrounded the ceiling.

　　Upside down, he moved along until he stared down into a container holding a large brown and white creature with a strange facial protrusion. It opened its mouth, and it made a sound that someone reminded him of the rhythmic barking his mommy made.

　　Erodicilee stared at it, his stomach growling as it thumped against the sides of the container. Each impact caused it to swing and clank. His tendrils formed, and he sent them towards the cage`s portal, while others held the entire thing still. He wasn`t worried about getting to the beast, now he knew the trick, the strange metal pieces couldn`t bar his way. The portal swung open without a sound. Before he could let go of the bar, his prey burst forth into the air.

　　It circled, still making that bizarre noise. He barked, as his tendrils lunged towards it. The creature dodged, dropping lower, and moving between the cages. Some of the caged creatures snapped at it as it passed, but it ignored him.

　　Erodicilee jumped, landing on the side of a container as he bit at the creature. It dodged, and his teeth chomped the air. He pushed off, tendrils latching onto the containers above him, as he followed the climbing creature. It hovered in the air for a moment, and he took the opportunity to lunge at it once more.

　　He missed, and he fell watching as it landed on one of the wooden beams. His tendrils helped slow his descent, and soon he was climbing up the wall. When he was back on the beams, he leaned down, and charged. The beam creaked, but Erodicilee ignored it, focused on the creature. When he was a few feet away, he jumped, tendrils shooting out.

　　Once again it moved, tucking two of its appendages together as it dived. Unable to stop his momentum, he let out a pitiful howl. A smashing sound filled his ears, as pain radiated and he found himself outside with strange translucent shards falling around him.

　　Above him, the creature fled into the sky. His stomach grumbled, and his tendrils shot out, grasping the building and pulling him towards the wall. With an irritated growl he ran back inside, his bleeding sides stinging with every movement. He looked around, but his prey didn`t appear to be returning. Resigned, he moved to another cage to pick a different creature.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

　　That was when he heard barking that he knew came from the ambushers. They were coming, which meant he needed to be quick. One part of him wanted to pick out another bit of prey, but the other, louder, part wanted to hide. He couldn`t let them find him. If they did, they might trap him somewhere worse. As his tendrils retracted, he raced along the beams before huddling in a darkened corner.

　　A loud rumble was followed by a section of the building sliding to the side. The smaller ambusher said there, breathing strange as she dashed inside. His enhanced vision allowed him to watch her, and his enhanced smell allowed him to detect her scent easily amongst the others. Fear, adrenaline, sweat and something sweet that reminded him of food.

　　She hurried forward, grabbing an object leaning against the wall and climbing up to inspect the cage. Erodicilee made himself as small as he could, wanting to remain hidden. He hoped they would simply leave. The smaller ambusher ran her hands over the cage, playing with the portal before she descended the container in hand.

　　He thought she was going to leave, when she paused and glanced towards the container they`d held him in. She froze. Erodicilee followed suit, each breath filled with the spike of fear. Her bark was loud enough to hurt his ears.

　　"Granny! Did you let the fae dog out?"

　　The scent of the other ambusher filled his nose as the taller one moved into the room. She smelled of fear, and anger. Her head jerked around, as though she would suddenly spot him. To his relief, she didn`t look up.

　　"The window was broken. Perhaps he`s outside?"

　　"He can`t be!" The smaller ambusher sounded genuinely panicked. "What if he gets hurt?"

　　"I`m not worried about him. Come on, we need to check on the cows." The taller ambusher motioned, and together they left.

　　Erodicilee remained still, ears twitching as he sniffed the air. When he was sure they were gone, he started to move towards the cages. As much as he wanted to consume the entire lot, without knowing when they`d be back he couldn`t take the risk. His mommy was out there, he knew it. He simply needed to find them.

　　His instincts continued to scream at him to focus on the cages, and so he prowled across the beams. One particular specimen caught his eyes. It was white, white yellow strands coming from the back of its head. The protrusion on its face was smaller than the previous one, and it hopped about nervously on a branch. Perfect.

　　This time he didn`t go straight for the portal, instead he draped a series of tendrils across the front of the cage. The creature backed away, but he ignored it, keeping his attention on the task. As the metal moved, he made sure to keep his tendrils pressed against the portal to keep it close. He didn`t want another escape attempt.

　　When he was ready, he allowed the door to open and watched as the creature attempted to flee. It hit his tendrils, which tightened around it. His prey writhed and shrieked, but he pulled it towards him with ease.

　　All around him creatures continued to make noise, and he hurried the process. His teeth bit into the creature, tearing the strange out layer off before he sank into the meat. The white outer layer billowed around him, swirling through the air as he devoured his prey. As soon as he finished his stomach gurgled and sensations exploded inside his gut.

　　Heat burned at his face and throat, and he focused on keeping steady on the beam. His tongue writhed, and he ground his teeth together. Then it stopped. He let out a test bark, and it sounded the same. All his injuries had vanished as well.

　　A breeze brought in the scent of both ambushers. They were heading towards him, and fast. One of those loud beasts they rode was coming too, and he stilled himself on the beam unsure where to go.

　　As they continued to approach, he moved towards the opening he`d fallen through before. He caught a glimpse of them as they dismounted their beast. It was a bigger one then the one the first Ambusher had ridden, and smelled fouler somehow. He hated it.

　　The taller ambusher moved forward first, the smaller one following close behind. From his vantage point he watched them enter.

　　"Granny, I don`t think it left."

　　The smaller one had bent over, and was touching the strange white outer layer. However, the taller one didn`t join in. She instead looked upwards and Erodicilee met her gaze. Fear filled the room.

　　"What did your mommy teach you?" Her bark came out soft, but Erodicilee heard it, and recognised one word.

　　His mouth felt funny, his tongue shifting around strangely as he barked the word back to her. "Mommy."

　　The sound appeared to stun her, and she backed up a step as she continued to stare at him. Next to her, the smaller one straightened up. Her teeth showed, even as fear wafted off her. She held those strange pieces of outlier to her chest.

　　"Did. Did you say mommy?"

　　Erodicilee crept backwards toward the open, and he let out the strange bark that seemed to stun the ambusher. He didn`t know why it worked, but he wasn`t going to let an attack go to waste.

　　"He did! He did say it! I told you he was fae," the smaller ambusher barked, even as the taller one pulled her away.

　　He took the opportunity to sprint down the side of the building, and across the grass. The beast they`d ridded here continued to rumble, but didn`t give chase. To make sure he let loose the strange bark at it as well.

　　With his dominance secure, he darted off heading away from the structure they`d trapped him in. Any direction was fine, provided he didn`t let himself be captured again. With the wind whipping through his fur, he let out his normal bark and continued to run.

　　It felt so good to be free, and with any luck he wouldn`t have to deal with another ambusher for a good long while.

　　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)

　　Word Mimicry (Cockatoo)