Blue crouches down within the leaves and foliage, a predator in her natural environment. She’s on the very cusp of size at this point, at a critical juncture of her life where she would normally have to abandon her stealthy ways for a more direct and brutal one due to the sheer size of her making it harder to blend into the foliage. After all, it’s hard to hide when you tower over most.

  But for now, she’s still small enough to hide in the bushes, her mottled flank breaking up her form to those who aren’t expecting her. She bides her time as she stares up at the prize that smelled so delicious and inviting:

  Sitting up on a shiny, metallic thing is a small green thing, laden down with more metal covering its body, with a scent that has Blue’s beak watering. It sits up on that metal structure all on its own, the base surrounded by little green things that she once hunted when she was smaller, doing nothing more than pointing wiggly flesh things at the wall and shouting.

  She stares at it in rapt attention, wishing more than anything that she could tear its flesh apart and devour it piece by piece. The tide of green things below it seems to buckle and shift, forever in motion, as waves upon waves of them break themselves against the man-things on the wall and beyond.

  Blue’s stomach growls as the waiting seems to continue on for eternity, and Blue repositions herself multiple times, slowly inching herself closer and closer and closer to the tantalizing snack. She helps herself to some stragglers, snatching up a green thing here or there in her jaws before tearing off their heads and devouring them whenever she gets too impatient. A primal part of her is impatiently chomping at the bits to either sprint right at the juicy morsel in front of her or run away from the tide of green things; but she is patient. She is smart. And above all, she is determined.

  She settles her butt down on the ground and crouches lower, resting herself as much as she can. The green thing on top screams once again, pointing their wiggling things at the wall, the flesh shimmering and glowing with lines running through it much like a lot of Blue’s favourite prey normally does. But this one is… Much brighter than normal. Blue didn’t notice it at first, thanks to the metal coverings the green thing wears. But now that she knows what to look for, she can find spots all over the green thing’s coverings that have gaps large enough to let the light out.

  Blue’s beak starts chattering all on its own, as the thought of sinking her beak into its flesh becomes overpowering. Her talons dig into the ground impatiently before she retracts them again, the feeling of the earth parting before it easing her impatience just a little bit.

  It’d be suicide to attack now.

  She must be patient.

  After a few more minutes, it happens. The man-things on the wall fall back, and Blue’s meal points towards the wall with enthusiasm, screeching a command that has the green things around her surging forwards in a frenzy. Soon, the back of the metal thing that they’re standing on clears of green things, as they slowly haul the metal thing with the army, flagging behind due to the sheer weight of it. Every single green thing’s attention is on the man-thing’s wall. Her prey is no longer surrounded. And even better, her prey seems to be distracted, too.

  Blue sprints off in silence, the “put-put-put” of her footsteps the only noise she makes, as she reaches her top speed in no time thanks to her claws digging into the yielding earth for traction. She crosses the distance between her and the metal thing in record time, crouching before she reaches it and building up as much power as she can in her muscular legs before leaping at the thing, her arms outstretched and majestic wings catching the wind to help glide her as far as she can.

  She smacks into the metal thing with a clang, her feet scrambling on its rough surface as her forearms manage to snag a good handhold, the impact causing the structure to shift for a moment and for her prey up above to almost lose its footing. She slides down the side of it for a moment, before her feet catch on a groove, halting her descent with a wrench.

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  Blue clings to the side of the metal structure, as her prey recovers its balance, awkwardly shifting around to look behind it and staring down the metal structure below. It catches sight of Blue, and for a moment, they lock eyes, the prey’s wide with surprise and fear while Blue’s namesakes are steady, determined, and hungry.

  The prey screeches in fear and surprise, as Blue shunts up the metal structure, using her powerful hind legs to almost leap up until her forearms can catch another groove.

  The Prey holds its arms up, a guttural chant starting deep in its throat as a black, malignant energy starts to bubble and fester between its hands. Blue sees this happen and shuffles faster, her forearms reaching the lip of the top of the structure before the prey reaches the end of its spell and points its hands towards Blue.

  Blue makes a split-second decision and dodges to the side, shuffling her grip just in time for a black mist to blast out of the hand and fall upon the green things down below. They cry and scream as their flesh melts off of their bones, a pile of them collapsing dead instantly while the rest run and scream in pain and fear.

  Blue almost loses her grip on the edge, her talons scrambling for grip, as the prey steps up closer with its hands preparing another spell. It holds its hand out towards Blue, close enough that she can’t dodge it no matter what.

  And close enough for Blue to stretch out her neck, as fast as a whip, and clamp her beak down on the arm with a crunch of broken metal and bone.

  The prey screams in pain and fury, the sound rushing through Blue’s blood like a drug as the blood of her prey floods into her mouth. Blue tugs on the prey, causing it to almost fall off the metal structure before the thing dug in its heels, saving itself from going over the edge and giving Blue just enough support for her talons to stop scurrying over the metal surface and find a grip.

  Blue immediately uses that leverage to lift herself over the edge of the structure smoothly, her beak opening for a moment only to crunch shut further down her prey’s arm, snapping the bone once again and causing a fresh wave of blood to flood into her mouth.

  The prey screams, as it holds up its other hand to point at Blue, the black energy coalescing at its end and shooting off quickly against Blue’s hide. It slices through a few of Blue’s majestic feathers, biting deeply into the thick hide below but failing to penetrate the armored dermis.

  Blue lets out a hiss of pain, the sound causing her prey to shiver in primal fear, as Blue wraps her hands around the metal meal, her talons digging in through the gaps in its coverings and piercing through the fleshy inside. Her prey lets out a gasp of pain, as it shoots off another quick black bolt, piercing her hide but failing to reach anything important.

  Blue lets go of the prey’s arm, as she lifts the entire thing up, its little legs kicking ineffectually. Blue rears her head back, as the prey screams, before she bends down and bites its head off, silencing her prey forever.

  Blue chews up the head like a sunflower seed, de-shelling the limb from its metal covering and spitting out the offensive thing. She swallows it down whole, and the taste of energy and power courses down her throat and settles in her stomach, lighting up her insides with fire and magic.

  And a small amount of that power pools in Blue’s stomach, hot-red and violent, a tiny core of magic that’s barely there.

  For now.

  The battlefield turns silent, as every goblin’s eyes turn to look at the giant metallic throne that once housed their Queen. They watch in silent horror as, instead of her usual metal-clad figure, a monster out of nightmares sits on top instead, eating their strongest bit by bit with happy-sounding coos, every new bite sending shivers of pleasure down its plumed hide.

  The first goblin screams, its direction lost, its spirit broken, and its will to fight gone. Another one next to it does the same, and another, and another, before the entirety of the army is in full rout. As Blue sits on her throne, watching it all out of the corner of her eyes, her core growing larger and larger with every bite.