Before Nightfall

Had Chakratch not sensed the prints of a familiar mind on the fiend as it passed? Someone from the Ecosystem had sent this beast to attack the Mythtuf in advance of their caravan. It was the only possibility worth entertaining. It would do more damage let loose on the gardens overnight. Best to snuff it out now. The only question was— how to fight a fiend that could cloak its physical body? Chak began siphoning dirt into his arms, sifting through minerals and organic matter for nutrients to supply his muscles. He would have to hypertrophy if he hoped to defend against an undetectable foe. Faster reflexes and larger mass would be his only protection against an immediate loss. But what if Chakratch could not find its mind once it struck out? The sun was setting and turning the vegetation sleepy. Nightfall would come soon, and Chak did not want to be left alone in the hunt.