The smoke still clung to the air like ghosts of fire past. Ash rained lightly over the jungle floor, soft and gray, coating the scorched clearing where the Skullcrawler's corpse smoldered.
And I stood atop it—wings tucked, chest heaving, heart pounding from the clash of flame and fury.
Kong was gone.
The Skullcrawler was dead.
And I was still alive.
I leapt down from its back and approached the body. It was half-burnt, the flesh charred in places, but it was still meat. Still mine. My kill.
I dug in.
The taste was… powerful. Bitter with the scent of sulfur and blood, but laced with something else—something deep. Like I was consuming not just the body, but the very essence of a monster that had hunted this island long before I hatched.
With every bite, I felt my blood heat up. My muscles tensed, bulging slightly. My flame gland throbbed—not with pain, but with pressure.
Something in me was changing.
I welcomed it.
But then—a hiss.
From the edge of the clearing, a low-bodied reptile crept forward.
It was a jungle lizard, big as a wolf, dark green with jagged spines and teeth like needles. Drawn by the scent of blood. It looked at me, then at the carcass.
It dared to approach.
I froze, staring.
It stepped closer.
I growled low, smoke curling from my jaws.
Still, it came.
And that was enough.
I pounced, wings flaring for speed, claws slashing. The lizard hissed, snapped its jaws at my throat—but I spun midair, whipped my tail, and pinned it down with both feet.
Then I bit into its neck.
Hard.
It kicked, thrashed—but I didn't let go until it went still.
I dropped the limp thing beside the Skullcrawler's half-eaten corpse. Then I ate both.
I feasted like I hadn't in days.
First the lizard—its meat was leaner, sharper, but easier to swallow. Then back to the crawler—dense, fatty, rich with power.
I didn't stop until my belly swelled and my sides ached.
And when I was finally done, I lay on my side beside the bones, breath heavy, wings twitching.
I could feel it again.
My bones creaked. My muscles pulsed. My scales itched as if stretching.
And in my chest…
My fire burned hotter.
This wasn't just growth.
This was evolution.
I was no longer just surviving Skull Island.
I was feeding on it.
Becoming a part of its brutal rhythm.
And soon—soon—I wouldn't just be another predator in the jungle.
I'd be a force.
A dragon.