By the time they were at the foot of the hill, a good part of the frog’s friends were almost entirely drained, while the rest were straight up dropping to the ground one after the other.

  While its closest friend goaded the former, trying to help them disengage, the frog was dashing madly all over the place to grab the latter, before they got trampled on – or worse – by the throng. It would then throw them on top of the bison, securing them with the cuttlefish’s arms.

  How had the grasshopper made the huge creature go along with this, the frog would never understand. And then, it had gone even further, somehow convincing the bison to stop at this hill rather than going the last stretch, when they were so incredibly close that even the frog itself was tempted.

  It was making all the difference: without the bison carrying the others and opening a passage with its bulk, things would have ended much worse. For this alone, maybe the creature deserved more regard. But it was hard to be thankful when so many were gone.

  No matter how useful it was turning out to be right now, it was more likely that the bison had only chosen to stop because it was exhausted too, rather than any act of goodwill. And the fact remained that it was responsible for this reckless march. Maybe it hadn’t been the only one fixated on moving forward no matter what, but the frog could surely have managed to convince the others to keep a more reasonable pace, without that pressure. And perhaps they wouldn’t have lost the beetle.

  Whatever it took, that would be the last one to fall. Even stretched to its limits as the frog was, it would protect them: not one more friend would be lost. Their recent, widespread growth only reinforced this determination.

  Soon they were at the clearing.

  It took some time to internalize that completely, deep as it was in its focus, and the others were the same. Even the bison, given how it kept charging lazily in a circle for a while, before slowing and settling against some rocks.

  While the others climbed down and tried to recover too, the frog took a cursory look around the area, to check that they were actually in the clear. This wasn't much different from any other clearing they'd been. A bit steeper and more spiky than the rest perhaps, but its shape was nothing peculiar.

  The real difference was that it was, indeed, safe. For once, it looked as if they could have the whole space for themselves, uncontested.

  Truly a strange situation, but the reason was quite clear: it might be hard to break through with the frenzy below, but no creature wanted to stop now and feed, if they could at all continue. Not when they were so close to the objective.

  Because they really were close. The frog could feel it deep inside.

  It should have felt good – this had been its idea, after all. And yet, in this last stretch, it had started to feel uneasy. A growing sense that something was amiss. But it just couldn't couldn’t figure out why...

  It was probably just feeling the collateral up close, and how much lesser it was compared to the epicenter. The calling might still be strong, but only because of proximity. It was a lousy fallback. This must be the reason for its bad mood, surely.

  In any case, they would soon be able to check what was hiding here. If they weren’t satisfied with what they found, they could simply continue to the epicenter. No reason to be anxious.

  Reassured by this reasoning, the frog would have liked to relax and spend some time with the grasshopper, its most developed friend. But found it collapsed on the ground next to the bison. Unsurprising, all things considered: they'd both hidden there a lot during the last stretch, letting the huge thing protect them from needless fights, allowing them to preserve their strength. A very good strategy that might have saved many friends, and the fact it had been the grasshopper's idea made the frog unreasonably happy.

  Even if by different amounts, all their friends had mysteriously improved in many ways, but the grasshopper most of all. Though there was still something missing - something that couldn't be that important, obviously - there was so much more carefulness behind the creature's every action, more awareness in its gaze.

  Every time, it felt less like it was stumbling about, moved only by whims, and more like it was acting with purpose. Truly a joy to see.

  If only the frog had improved as much...

  As usual, thinking about its lack of significant progress brought forth the annoyances that had been held back until now. If only the cause of its dejection were as simple as them, though slapping them away was still satisfying.

  It felt like it had finally reached its limit. Or rather, it still felt full of potential, but without any way to realize that: since they had started heading for the collateral, it had really put effort in finding new things to learn, and then in improving what it already knew. However, the frog had long since gotten stuck on the first, and was nearing it on the latter. It might already be there.

  All this time, it hadn’t managed to find a single valid candidate to transform with.

  Maybe a few that could have sufficed, but the more time it spent in this body, the more demanding its ambitions became. All this learning it had done… it would be such a waste to throw even a little bit away on mediocre filaments. It needed the best possible.

  It was starting to believe it could never get them.

  Some part of its mind hoped that whatever was here at the collateral could help, that it would somehow offer the best filaments of all.

  The remaining parts knew with absolute certainty that the collateral had nothing to do with these matters at all. Whatever it was, it must... Actually, the frog wasn't feeling drained after after all, and it definitely didn't want to be so close to the bison if it could be avoided. Why not go check things out while the others fed? From a safe distance, of course.

  What was the worst that could happen?

  In the latest part of this journey, something had already started to feel weird. Even climbing up here to get a view, there was some part of its mind that thought this was a terrible idea, despite the calling still going strong. Now, with each moment staring at this thing, the feeling of something... bad, was only growing worse and worse.

  There was a massive… rock, on top of a hill. Or at least 'rock' was the closest thing to it that the frog could think of, but it was much different from any other rock it had ever seen. Too regular and uniform. Too smooth. And it felt so incredibly out of place here, even if it was impossible to pinpoint exactly why. And foreboding.

  Whatever the collateral actually was, it was inside that rock.

  The cliff it was on top of wasn’t much taller than the one the frog was looking from, but standing in the middle of a huge, mostly flat valley, it felt truly imposing. The sides went up sharply at the base, increasing that impression, getting steeper and steeper all the way to the top where they were almost vertical.

  All around was an immense crawling mass expanding throughout the entire valley and beyond. The frog had never seen this many creatures squeezed in one place. They were clearly all clamoring to get up the hill and inside the rock, whatever it took.

  Unfortunately for them, everywhere was too steep. Unassailable. Except for some small, winding trails in the front - the only side where the incline was somewhat less drastic - snaking their way up until they all converged into one path at the top, straight for the collateral's hiding place.

  But those paths were blocked at the very bottom by rows of... very strange creatures. Which were clearly acting together, similarly to how the frog and its friends did to defend their temporary havens. But with a coordination and cohesion completely beyond their little group.

  They were making a slaughter.

  So many were getting killed by the moment, their bodies dragged behind the lines and then upwards by more sluggish, sturdier things in rows of death that disappeared inside the huge rock.

  It was impossible to know what from here, but this new group of creatures guarding the collateral had something different to them. It was clear in the way they acted: never before had the frog seen something like this, such a level of organization.

  Looking below, there were also roving bands of them, going around the outward areas – where the frenzy wasn’t as dense – and attacking creatures indiscriminately, only to take the bodies of some of them, to add to the queue upwards. There didn't seem to be a reason for their actions.

  Such indiscriminate violence.

  It was repulsive. And it made the frog finally understand what had set off the unease, before: with this many converging here for so long, how come there were so comparatively few around? Looking back on the bodies carried into the big rock, the solution was clear.

  But how could they all fit in there? Shouldn’t it be full many times over by now? Where did they end up to?

  And there was something else, there at the top. Hard to see from here, in the midst of all the other guards, but its figure stood out so much... in size, danger and sheer horror it projected.

  The frog’s gaze averted almost on its own, mind refusing to focus there as if trying to wipe away even the notion of that creature. Most likely for the better.

  This was all really creepy. There was nothing to suggest that the guards were especially bad or much different than other predators around. After all, the owl had massacred for no reason too, with even more conviction. But there was just something… wrong with these ones. Something unexplainable. It really should stay far away, it felt. They all should.

  Truly unfortunate that staying away had never been an option: the collateral was right there, and there was no leaving the matter at that, not when they were so close. The calling, even this lesser version, was more important than any amount of unease.

  Only, it couldn’t lead its friends to what might be their demise so unprepared. But if it checked the situation, before...

  It just had to be quick and come back before their desire won over caution and drain, and they left on their own.

  Time to do a little bit of scouting.