Intelligent Design: A Monster Evolution LitRPG

David jolted awake, his mind buzzing with an insistent, urgent push against his consciousness. It was like an alarm clock had mated with a jackhammer and decided to take up residence in his brain. Groggy and disoriented, he fumbled around in the darkness, his talons scraping against Claire's scales as he blearily searched for a phone that no longer existed. Reality crashed back into him like a bucket of ice water, and he had to stifle a groan.

Right. Apocalypse. No phones.

As his senses sharpened, David realized the moon hadn't quite reached its zenith. It was that weird, in-between time of night when the world seemed to hold its breath, like it was waiting for something to go horribly wrong. Which it did. A tidal wave of sensory input slammed into him, nearly knocking him off his perch atop Claire. His empowered Cuddlebug, miles away and keeping tabs on Azanah's group, was going absolutely ballistic. Its tiny mind was a whirlwind of panic and urgency, bombarding David with a rapid-fire slideshow of carnage and chaos that made his stomach churn.

Holy shit, what the hell happened out there?

David’s wings twitched nervously as he tried to make sense of the jumbled impressions.

The Cuddlebug's memories unfolded like a surreal film, each frame etching itself into David's brain with terrifying clarity. The Owl had simply drifted down from the sky, silent as death itself, landing a few feet from the resting insect. Its unnaturally long neck and pitch-black third eye seemed even more disturbing in the moonlight. Azanah's group froze in place as the Owl began to speak, the conversation brief and tense, its eyes panning around to examine them all closely. To David's frustration, his furry spy couldn't relay the actual words, leaving him with nothing but ominous vibes and a growing sense of dread.

Then, without warning, the Owl's head snapped around a full 180 degrees, its long neck remaining perfectly still in a display of physics-defying wrongness that made David's skin crawl beneath his fur. Its gaze fixed back onto the insectoid creature, studying it for a moment before asking a short, sharp question. Whatever the insect said in response, it was clearly the wrong answer.

What happened next made David snarl reflexively, his fur rising rapidly, and he made no effort to control it.

The Owl's third eye suddenly darkened with an otherworldly energy. There was no build-up, no strain like David had experienced during their first encounter. Just raw, terrifying power that made his Wildsoul quiver in response. A blast of pure darkness erupted from the eye, engulfing the insect at point-blank range. The aftermath was as horrifying as it was anticlimactic. No explosion, no screams cut short. The insect's back half simply ceased to exist as the ability struck, erased from reality as if it had never been there at all.

Chaos erupted in the blink of an eye. The serpent, caught in the Owl's manic rampage, suffered a similar fate, its massive body partially erased from existence. Azanah's scream pierced the night as she fled, shouting something urgently as she vanished into the underbrush. The Owl, lost in its frenzy, didn't even seem to notice her escape, its focus entirely on its victims.

As quickly as it had begun, the violence ceased. The Owl, seemingly satisfied with the carnage, approached the insect's remains. Its beak cranked open, impossibly wide, as it focused with an intensity that bordered on madness. David watched, horrified and fascinated, as a tiny drop of radiant, rainbow-hued liquid manifested within the insect's corpse. It drifted through the air, slow and deliberate, before the Owl snatched it up with a lightning-fast dart of its beak.

Oh shit. That's not good. That's gotta be a shard. What the hell is going on?

For several long seconds, the Owl stood motionless, its eyes unfocused and unseeing. Then, as if snapping out of a trance, it simply... flew away, vanishing into the night sky like a nightmare fading at dawn. But David knew this wasn’t a dream he could wake up from.

The moment the Owl disappeared, the serpent had stirred. Waves of vibrant green energy pulsed from its head down its length, each surge bringing forth new growth. Scales erupted from raw flesh, muscles knit together like time-lapse footage of blooming flowers, and bone extended in jagged, crystalline patterns. It was beautiful in a horrifying, alien way, and he couldn't help but be impressed by the creature's quick thinking.

David's adrenaline spiked, his heart pounding so hard he was sure it would wake Claire. He forced himself to take a deep breath, reaching out mentally to calm his panicking Cuddlebug. The poor thing was practically hysterical, its tiny mind a jumble of terror and frustration at David's apparent refusal to heed its warnings.

Shit, how long was it trying to wake me up?

David sent a wave of apologetic feelings through the mental thread, along with an impression of himself sleeping. Then, gathering his mental focus, he pushed a single, urgent query towards the Cuddlebug:

Is the Owl gone? Is everyone else dead?

The response was a jumble of confused impressions. The Owl had vanished, yes, but the serpent was very much alive and healing. Azanah's fate remained unknown, lost in the chaos of the attack.

David's wings twitched nervously as he processed the information. He needed to wake the others, to warn them. But a nagging thought tugged at the back of his mind: If the Owl could do this to competent, combat-ready survivors like Azanah's group...

Why did it choose to let Kozlov and the others go? They wouldn't have had a chance. Shit, I'm not sure anyone could take a hit from that.

The possibility of that Ability tearing through his friends made his stomach churn.

With that cheery thought, David steeled himself and prepared to wake Claire. It was going to be a long, tense night.

Story of my life, really.

David scrabled off Claire's back and seized her snout with his wings, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "Claire, wake up. The Owl just flattened Azanah's group. I don't know where it is now."

Claire's eyes snapped open, a thunderous snarl dying in her throat as she registered David's tone. Her gaze sharpened, instantly alert.

"It's got some kind of darkness bullshit," David explained rapidly, words tumbling out in a frantic rush. "Don't get hit by it. No matter what. Stay here, stay alert. I'm warning the others."

Before Claire could even formulate a response, David was gone, a dark blur streaking towards the Observatory. His empowered flight kicked in automatically, top speed achieved in mere wingbeats. He tucked himself into a leathery missile, threading the needle through the lobby doors without so much as grazing the frame.

Inside, his wings cracked the air as he killed his momentum. A flash of movement to his right - Pinchy, lashing out defensively. David cursed, dodging the first strike with millimeters to spare.

"Shit! Pinchy, it's me, you overgrown termite!"

The summon attacked again, mandibles snapping. This time, David seized its pincers, flicking it across the room onto its back with a frustrated grunt and a clatter of chitin. Wally's frantic barking filled the air, blind and instinctive in the darkness. A blur of motion caught David's eye; Gideon, bouncing off his dirty cushion in a lemur-like arc to cling to a filing cabinet, wide eyes locked on David.

Huh. Guess the furball's got night vision. Neat.

"David?!" Gideon shrieked, his voice a mix of confusion and alarm. "What in the name of-"

"It's me!" David shouted over the chaos, wings spread wide in a universal 'don't shoot' gesture. "There's a situation, no need to-"

A bone-chilling roar cut him off, the floor trembling as Kozlov barreled down the hallway. The man's massive shaggy form filled the doorway, bristling with barely contained fury.

"- come loaded for bear," David finished lamely, realizing the irony of his words as soon as they left his mouth.

"EXPLAIN. NOW." Kozlov's voice was a low growl that David could feel in his bones.

"The Owl attacked Azanah's group," David explained, his words tumbling out in a rush. "Took out the insect, maybe the snake too. Some kind of supercharged darkness blast that makes its old trick look like weak shit. Azanah's missing, probably fled. Fucker’s gone, and they were only a few miles away. I'm not even sure when it happened, I was sleeping."

Silence fell, broken only by Wally's confused whining. The wolf-man's ears were perked, sensing the tension but clearly disoriented and fighting off the urge to lash out blindly as he came to. Kozlov's massive form shifted, his eyes narrowing as he processed David's words.

"How do you know this?" Kozlov demanded, his voice a low rumble that David could feel in his bones.

David's wings twitched nervously again. "Cuddlebug spy. Saw the whole thing. But that's not even the worst part." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "After the attack, the Owl... it pulled a Shard from the insect's corpse."

Kozlov's eyes widened, a rare display of shock on the bear-man's usually stoic face. "A Shard? Are you certain?"

David nodded grimly, the memory of that rainbow drop burning in his mind. "Pretty damn sure. Rainbow liquid, about the size of a raindrop. Same exact thing that happened to me."

Gideon, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, finally spoke up. His voice was barely above a whisper, as if speaking any louder might summon the Owl itself. "How did it know? About the Shard, I mean."

"That's the thing," David said, his wings rustling restlessly. "It seemed to zero in on the bug pretty quick, but was obviously looking for something when it showed up. This might sound nuts, but I think... I think it might be able to sense them somehow. Like it's got some kind of Shard-dar or something. I cant think of any other way it would have been able to figure it out."

The words hung heavy in the air, a suffocating blanket of unease settling over the group. Kozlov's gaze snapped to David, a look of dawning horror on his face that made David's stomach drop.

"If it can sense Shards..." Kozlov began, leaving the thought unfinished.

David nodded, completing the terrifying logic. "It might be able to sense me. Yeah, that little ray of sunshine crossed my mind too. Guess I'm not winning any 'hide and seek' championships anytime soon."

Kozlov's expression hardened, the strategist taking over. "Battle stations. Now." His voice brooked no argument. "David, perimeter check, but stay low and hidden. Use every trick you've got. Wally, guard the entrance – You catch a scent that isn't us, you bark your head off. Gideon, wake Adam and prep whatever nasty surprises you've cooked up. I want this place fortress-ready five minutes ago. Move!"

As the group scattered to their tasks, David couldn't shake the feeling that they were woefully unprepared for what might be coming. The memory of that rainbow drop the Owl had consumed nagged at him like a splinter in his mind. A Shard, almost certainly. But what did that mean for them? For him?

No time to dwell on it now. He had a job to do, and damned if he was going to let an overgrown pigeon with delusions of grandeur catch them with their pants down.

With a mental nudge to his distant Cuddlebug to keep watch on the snake, David bolted outside and launched himself back into the night sky. The cool air rushed past him as he soared over the Observatory, his eyes scanning the sky for any sign of trouble. Every shadow seemed to hide a potential threat, every rustle of distant leaves a harbinger of doom.

As he circled, one thought echoed in his mind, a desperate plea to whatever forces might be listening:

Please, for once, let us catch a break. We're due for one, right? Law of averages and all that?

But deep down, he knew. Breaks were in short supply. Murphy's Law had apparently gotten an upgrade, and David had a sinking feeling they were about to become intimately acquainted with its new and improved version.

David quickly realized the foolishness of his aerial perimeter check. Being airborne made him an easy target for another flying creature, especially one with a penchant for erasing chunks of reality. He focused his attention back skyward, keeping his Decoy ability primed at the edge of his consciousness, ready to buy himself a precious split second if things went south.

As he soared over the Observatory grounds, a nagging doubt crept into his mind. Was this all an overreaction? If the Owl could truly sense Shards, wouldn't it have come for him sooner? The questions multiplied like rabbits on aphrodisiacs. Did it only gain the capability after evolving? Or had it simply been busy with other nefarious plans before getting around to him?

Maybe I'm not as special as I thought? Maybe birdman is actually just crazy, and he was just being crazy in a way that made me assume a lot of things?

The cool night air whipped past him as he banked around the side of the Observatory, his eyes instinctively drawn to the lean-to where he'd left Claire. A pang of guilt hit him as he realized he'd bolted off without giving her any real information, even if it had only been a few minutes ago.

I should fill her in, maybe she's got some ideas that don't involve me playing bait.

As David approached, ready to call down to Claire, he froze mid-air. His blood turned to ice as he finally made out the details of the scene below as he wheeled closer. Claire was there, seemingly unharmed with only the end of her nose and tail protruding from the shelter, but she wasn't alone. Perched languidly high above and atop the Observatory roof, directly above the lean-to, was the Owl.

Its unnaturally long neck was craned downward, third eye fixed on Claire's shelter. As if sensing David's approach, it looked up, meeting his gaze with an intensity that raised every single hair on his entire body. With a casual grace that belied its monstrous nature, the Owl gestured with one wing to the empty space beside it on the roof.

The message was clear: Join me. We need to talk.

David's mind raced, weighing his options in the split second he had to decide. Fight? Flight? Make a smartass comment and hope for the best? None of them seemed particularly appealing when faced with a creature that could erase him from existence with a glance.

I don't actually have a choice do I? I should have known sticking around one place for a long time was a bad idea. Fuck. We should have pushed the others down the road to Riverport days ago. Dammit.

A grim resolve settled over him as he began to drift towards the roof. If the Owl let its guard down for even a moment, David was going to throw everything he had at it. Doom Blade, Miasma, hell, he'd purposely tell the Cuddlebugs to fight dirty if it would help. With that in mind, he shook the mental connection to his Summons, forcing the view he was taking in through the mental threads and commanding them to begin carefully repositioning themselves. They woke quickly, a surge of tiny but intense predatory rage bubbling up through his mind as they became aware of the danger.

His talons clicked crisply on the metal roof when he finally touched down, and David could have sworn the Owl was smiling. Not in any way a bird's beak should be able to, but the amusement was palpable.

"Well," David said, forcing a casualness he didn't feel into his voice, "fancy meeting you again. Come to apologize, or just couldn't resist my charming personality?"

The Owl's head tilted slightly, its third eye boring into David with an intensity that made his skin crawl. When it spoke, its voice was steady and sure, without any hint of the previous madness that had tinted it words in their first encounter. It seemed like it had a grip on itself, at least for the moment.

"David Fisher," it said, the name sounding wrong to him. "We have much to discuss."

This was going to be one hell of a weird conversation.