By then my small swarm of insects, and my squirrel had arrived, so I was about as ready as I was going to get. Another scream from within the pit reminded me that I had better come up with a plan quickly, lest some other predator steal my meal. It was a no-brainer in my mind, though it wasn't one I liked very much considering my combat ability was… nonexistent.

I could throw stuff at it, or try covering it in dirt and hoping the deer suffocated, but both of those solutions would take too long. I needed to put the thing out of its misery, and quickly if I hoped to get more than a tiny, isngificant little meal out of it. Which was no longer an option I even considered, as I needed something big, and soon.

With that thought firmly in mind, I decided to locate the biggest rocks in the area, and gather them near the edge of the pit. A task made easier by my many, many eyes and hundreds of scurrying legs. There werent exactly a lot of stones kicking around this neck of the woods however, so I only found two.

It will have to do. I thought to myself as I hefted the rocks.

I nearly dropped the damn things when another scream emanated from within the pit, reminding me once more why I was here.

Positioning my squirrel, and my insects around the lip of the pit, I pulled back my servant’s hoof. I then peered over the edge, and let loose at the unsuspecting beast’s skull. Distracted by its attempts to remove its limbs from the spikes, I managed to land a firm hit right between the eyes.

Dazing it, I lobbed the second one immediately after the first, pegging it right in the eyeball. The creature released another cry of agony, and recoiled in pain, its eye visibly damaged by my attack. Though hurt, it was anything but dead, so with grim acceptance, I used my equine servant to grab a left over sharpened stick and leapt down at it.

Only to immediately realize that I should have readied my impromptu dagger earlier as it was ready for me. Despite not being able to see through one eye, and impaled by three different pieces of wood, the deer still had a counter attack ready. So when I leapt over the side, it positioned its antlers at me, catching the undead filly before I could hit my target.

The ensuing hit likely would have knocked the wind out of my undead, provided it was actually alive. As it stood right now, the only thing such a blow did was annoy me, and nearly make me lose my grip on the pointy stick I had made. The deer was swift to follow up on its success and tossed the equine against the muddy wall with a wet squelch.

Landing on the ground, I was quite glad that I had missed the spikes and a second later I was back up once more. Upon rising to my hooves, the deer seemed briefly confused, looking at me as if I were some kind of lost little puppy. That was until it noticed the fact that my servant was quite clearly dead, then its face morphed to one of fear as well as revulsion.

I didn't want it to feel anything at all however, and to that end I began weaving through the spikes, charging at it without a weapon. Who despite the odd angle, still managed to get its antlers between myself and it. Upon seeing this I stopped, lest I be tossed aside again and my meal be put off once more.

Calling the rest of my servants, I directed the hooved one to pull one of the spikes from the ground. The move seemed to surprise the deer, who hurriedly began to gnaw at the branch sticking through his foreleg. By the time I had managed to use my tiny filly legs to remove my new weapon, two things had already happened.

The deer had freed its limb, and my tiny swarm had managed to land on him. With tooth, claw and tiny insectoid mandibles, I bit at him, aiming mostly for the neck with limited success. Though the attack was surprising, and did cause the deer to be distracted, this bout of panic didn't last long.

It quickly managed to ascertain the threat level of my tiny servants, and knocked aside the squirrel attempting to chew its throat out. The rest were subsequently ignored as it turned its attention back to the undead filly charging it with a sharpened stick. I was faster this time, and I managed to spear it in the neck, though it caught the meat near the side.

Blood trickled out, and a pained cry shot from the deer’s lips, though I had been hoping to see a crimson torrent. Evidently I had missed anything important, and I couldn't let go in time before the creature struck back. Using its antlers like a bludgeon, the creature smashed my servant against the wall, then again, and a third time.

I couldn't get my hooves under me fast enough to avoid the next slam, and I could feel the filly’s bones begin to strain. A rib snapped, an eyeball popped, and I knew it wouldn't be long before it managed to batter the poor thing into an early second grave. With levels of desperation I didn't even know were possible now feuling me, I frantically attempted to think of some way out.

Or maybe I should think of a way in. I thought to myself.

Grabbing hold of my insects, and squirrel, I stopped their current attempt to chew through the deer’s neck. Instead I directed the beatles towards the wound in my foe’s belly, while the largest of the bunch was sent at its blind side. Upon reaching the open wound, the tiny creatures did not work to widen it, but rather they crawled inside of it.

The feeling of having a few dozen bugs suddenly burrow beneath your flesh was evidently unpelasent. The deer stopped and gazed down at its midsection in horrpr, staring at the bumps that began to dissipate over its torso. Giving my squirrel the chance it needed to launch itself at deer’s already bloody eye and hitting right on target.

Its tiny sharp fangs made short work of the already damaged flesh, and while the deer screamed in agony, I pushed further. By the time it started to scramble at its face in an attempt to remove the formerly furry attacker, it had alread burrowed into its skull. It seemed to realize this fact the same time I did, as its screams grew to a new level of horrified panic.

To the point that I was slightly unnerved by it all, and using my hooved servant, I pulled the stick from its throat. Then, before it had a chance to react, I drove the peice of wood through the underside of its jaw and up into its brain. Though I wasn't able to put a lot of strength into the attack, I had done enough that the deer died a few seconds later.

The second this happened I recalled my servants, and surveyed my kill.

It was messy, to say the least, and the entire thing left an unpleasant taste in my metaphorical mouth. What I had done had been… necessary, but deeply repugnant, and I regretted being put in such a desperate situation. If I wasn't so close to dying of starvation I would have done things much differently, but that didn't matter right now.

As of that moment I had a meal in front of me, and no way of getting it all the way back home in an expedient fashion. What I could do was hack off a few limbs, and hope to god my horse thing could carry it all the way back before other scavengers showed up. That seemed about the best course of action I could come up with so I sent my various undead to work, splitting into two groups.

The baby horse thing used the sharp stick to punch holes through the flesh of the creature’s neck. The goal being to eventually remove it completely, but it was a difficult process as I couldn't exactly move very quickly. The squirrel and beatles were doing a little better, as at least their teeth/mandibles were at least sort of capable of cutting.

It still felt a lot like amputating a foot with a spoon, but after how depserate the fight had been, I would take it. In the end I managed to cut through the flesh of both back legs and the neck in only a few short minutes. The bones would be difficult however, so I directed the horse to jam the stick between the vertebrate and push as hard as possible.

For a moment I didn't think it would work, but then it slipped forward and with a pop the head was removed. It almost seemed rather comical, though I didn't find it funny, especially with the danger no doubt lurking nearby. As if reading my mind, one of those wooden wolves howled somewhere nearby, signalling that its brethren were already on their way.

I swiftly put a stop to my plans to remove more of its legs, and settled on the two back ones as well as its head. The last of which I threw up to ground level before shifting my attention to the exposed bones waiting for me. These back limbs were tougher than even the creature’s spine and it took a few attempts to remove them.

They were also much heavier, and it took everything my tiny servant had to throw them up to my waiting swarm. I then began to extract the zombie horse child when I heard another howl, this one much closer than the last. With the fear of death now instilled in my very soul, I urged the hooved undead to climb as fast as possible.

Thankfully it was able to escape relatively quickly, and it then gathered up the animal parts as best as it could. Which meant biting down on the deer’s throat in order to carry the head in its mouth, while half carrying, half dragging the legs. To say this was awkward would be an understatement, and I only just barely managed to keep it all together.

As I recalled the horse zombie, I sent the beetles out to recon the area, with the squirrel waiting to run interference if necessary. Thankfully my main servant was able to escape a full minute before the wolves arrived and began to inspect my pit. Though I initially took their sniffing as little more than curiosity, I soon noticed that there was an odd intelligence to their actions.

It even started to track my little zombie child a few feet before losing her in a thick, rather pungent thorn filled bush. Luck had been on my side this time, but I knew if the fragerent patch of berries hadn't been there I’d be done for. Either way the wolf didn't seem overly concerned, and turned its attention back to the kill it had managed to scavenge.

The other two packmates it had arrived with turned their attention outward, guarding the site while their leader descended into the pit. Which it did with surprising grace, leaping off the sides in order to deftly land between the muddy walls, and the now spikes. It then grabbed the torso of the deer in its mouth, and leapt out of the hole with remarkable ease, walking proudfully back into the bush.

I sent some of my beetles to follow them but they didn't get far before reaching the edge of my territory. I desperately wanted to find out where they were coming from, or where their den was located, but evidently that wasn't about to happen. So instead I simply focused on the meal which was swiftly approaching my position.

The mere presence of which was enough to make my very soul begin to quiver in anticipation. I needed the meal worse than I’ve ever needed anything in either life, and it wasn't long before I finally had it.

The horse creature dropped the pile of meat amidst my exposed roots and hastily stepped away. A good thing too, as the second I felt contact with the bloody flesh I began to inhale, liquifying everything. Brains, blood, muscle and sinew ran like tiny rivers into my waiting roots.

The taste was beyond comparison, and I likened it to veal, only somehow even more tasty. It was also sweet, yet salty, and I wanted nothing more than to be able to savor the flavor for as long as possible. By the time that thought even went through my metaphorical head, I had consumed it all however.

Thankfully my stomach was finally full, and a quick inspection revealed that I was no longer quite so sickly. Even my undead servant was slightly better off, its rotten body no longer appearing as if it would fall apart at a moment’s notice. Whatever force had healed it had done a good job too, as I could sense that its bones had also been mended.

That wasn't all though, as I had also gained an animated deer skull which sported a pair of rather brightly glowing gold eyes. It almost reminded me of that old video game, doom or was it death? Whatever, either way it looked like one of those floaty soul things, and sure enough after a moment of focus it levitated all by itself.

“Odd,” I muttered through its lipless mouth, my words coming out as an entirely different language.

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