Luckily for Hanna, she had no real attachment to her except for her bedding, wrapping that up in a bundle was significantly easier than before, and by the time she had extricated it from the hollow, she felt like her wings were strong enough for her to try flying.

  Her wings were rather rge, and folded up from tip to tip, they were as long as she was tall, but unfolded they were nearly four times her height. They also were this pinkish-white color that was nearly see through. She decided that she didn't like the color or the look of them, but it was a small price to pay for the power of flight. Plus, she could always change their color or texture through mutation ter.

  As she slowly started to lift off into the air, getting used to the muscle and new bone movements, I?a had made it back to camp, and her exhausted and wobble-legged state caused concern from her teammates. Hakuro came over and helped her up, looking at her.

  "Are you okay? What had happened?" The stern-faced man leaned in, helping her over to the camp tables where his handler had been warming some rich sweetened drink over the stove.

  I?a shivered as she recalled the power of the actively mutating monster and what it had done to her, which she was still unsure of how to feel about. She gave her report, causing the women of the camp's eyes to widen before they came to comfort her.

  An elderly Lynian, the head researcher for this troupe by the name of Sho turned to Hakuro and cleared his throat.

  "Perhaps it would be best if we made for Astera. Such a traumatic event... she deserves to rest in comfort and safety."

  The wizened man said, nodding sagely at his own words.

  Hakuro nods and pces his forefinger and thumb to his mouth, whistling shrill-ly. In addition to gaining everyone's attention, it called the wingdrakes over to them, and they, one by one took flight over to astera.

  Meanwhile.

  Hanna had found a spot on top of the big tree in the center of the forest where she could sit and stretch her legs, groaning as she id down on her bedding. She had moved her camp and now, in a survival situation, she had to survey the area around her. The vines and branches wound around her new camp, pathways leading to and from the trunk of the ancient tree. Eventually she came to a pathway that broke the canopy and into the open air, and her senses picked up the scent of something mouth watering.

  Water. Fresh dirt and shorn foliage. A circur bundle of twigs and branches.

  Something had made a nest here. Seeing neither mother nor father, she approached the nest and grinned. Four, ovur, basket ball sized eggs. Free bioenergy for the taking. She grabbed one and jabbed her cws into it and started to messing gulp down the mixture that she could only cheekily describe as Nature's Own? Protein Shake.

  These eggs were packed rich with nutrients and bioenergy, as after she had finished the one egg, she had gained FIVE YEARS of bioenergy just for this one egg. She smiled and grabbed two and brought them back to her camp, but by the time she cad come back for the st one, she had ran into the mother.

  Or rather.

  The mother ran into her.