Kale adjusted the grip on his daggers as he stood at the edge of the damp thicket. The air in the lower trenches was heavy with the scent of damp earth and the musk of a Feral nest. He looked down at the matte black entity on his shoulder, its three wedge-shaped heads tracking the movements in the shadows.
"Neo, charge," Kale commanded, his voice a low whisper that carried the weight of a decree. He felt the beast's muscles tense through their shared bond before it launched itself forward. The creature lunged toward the nest with a high-pitched, lizard-like screech that lacked the usual draconic resonance.
As Neo hit the first line of the Feral rank beasts, the struggle became apparent almost immediately. In the Nemesis Hydra state, Neo was a creature of aerodynamic grace and overwhelming physical presence. Now, it moved with a grounded, terrestrial clumsiness that it had not yet mastered.
