Obieth could feel her magic waning: exhausted, worn out. She'd need to end this, and soon; and what better way than by rewarding her work with a large meal-? Hell, she could earn bonus points by dragging her leftovers back to Nedies; the chef was always looking for extra meat for the kitchen.

Quietly, she paused in her pacing, coming around to the Kooru's head and stopping there, safely out of the range of the crushing air. Then she focused, lazy gaze lingering on its face.

It was terribly bittersweet. Its thrashing, its fear--it's failure. The glory of a whole life, in its entirety, shining and unique, about to be snuffed out forever. It was a keening, tragic beauty, a poetic pain.

She reached forward with her magic to crush its life away.

There was a compression of the air, a series of soft crunches. The terror froze on the Kooru's face--it went limp--the expression slowly faded. Its last ragged breath ended in a nostrils-flared exhale, and it went still.

Obieth, satisfied, released her magic. She didn't close the distance, yet; she waited, thinking, going back over what she'd done, and what she'd learned. And as she did, she again checked with all her senses that she wasn't being watched, in turn.

Don't rely on magic alone.

She could hear distant birdsong, each lilting melody wonderfully discordant from the next, providing a sort of chaotic symphony. The leaves rustled where they hung from the branches of the orchard trees. Far off, a Hellswan honked, the soft echo speaking of water beneath.

Practice with fang and claw and muscles, too.

As for scent, she smelled the terror and fur of the Kooru, and the sweet odor of flowers and vegetation on the wind--nothing more.

Have a backup plan, always. Maybe two, she decided.

She could see only the tops of the bushes to one side, and the low and sloping field--empty of all threat--to the other. The orb-light glinted across each blade of grass, its strange light almost fluorescent.

Know the terrain completely.

Alone, then--with her prey. Quietly, Obieth stepped forward: dropping to her chest, so that she crouched beside it. Her fangs bared, mouth opening, and she prepared to feed.