The Hidden Lives of Monsters

Monster of Many Faces

The Aptonoths make sure to stay clear of Thorn; despite her lazy nature, she would still be able to tear any one of them to shreds with her powerful jaws and spike-riddled body. As the herd gives her a wide berth, the flying wyvern continues to sleep soundly, knowing that anything that would attempt to attack her would almost certainly receive some severe lacerations from her armor. In addition to this menacing defense, the Espinas is also poisonous, making her even less of an appetizing target to any creature foolish enough to hunt her.

As she's dreaming, Thorn shifts her body, unintentionally flattening the bushes around her in her sleep. Along with some other monsters, her species is one of the major architects of the region, with males during the mating season playing an especially large role in the creation of these clearings during their fights for dominance, their large, spiky bodies felling trees and trampling shrubbery in the process as they try to flip each other on their backs.

However, these destructive events only happen during a specific time of the year; for the rest of it, Espinases are for the most part inactive, usually performing the bare minimum action required so they can avoid wasting energy. To reach this goal, the species can change between a low and high metabolic rate. This allows the flying wyverns to swap between being sluggish and active.

The latter option is usually reserved for when the monsters feel like they're in actual danger or when the mating season comes around, as this forces them to expend more calories. Otherwise, Thorn and other members of her species can spend almost the entire day doing nothing but sleeping, and that's exactly what this Espinas intends to do. Subconsciously moving her body to face the sun, the flying wyvern continues to nap as the surrounding Aptonoths relax and return to their previous activities.

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After sleeping for almost the entire morning, Thorn finally rouses herself from her slumber. Yawning, the Espinas simply lays there for a few minutes before finally slowly getting up, using her wings to hold her up as her powerful legs lift her armored body off the ground.

Leisurely stomping towards the pond at the clearing, Thorn shakes herself, dislodging some of the brambles that got caught on her spines. Approaching the water's edge, she opens her mouth and begins scooping up the liquid, sending ripples across the surface as she does. Once she's done drinking, the Espinas steps back, leaving behind large footprint indentations, and starts smelling the air, trying to detect if there's anything of interest in the surrounding.

Smelling nothing of particular interest, Thorn starts walking to the surrounding jungle. As she enters the forest, her massive body plows through the vegetation, unknowingly stomping out any plant trying to grow on the paths she's unintentionally created in her territory over the past years, and accidentally leaving long gashes in the bark of trees as her spikes rake across them.

Once she's moved away from the clearing where the leaf litter is at its densest, Thorn starts sniffing at the ground, and this time her incredible sense of smell detects something beneath the surface. Walking into the undergrowth, she crouches down in the thick vegetation, her green scales and dark pink spikes camouflaging her perfectly in the forest; amongst the vines, shrubs, and roots that surround her, the Espinas looks like any other unremarkable flowering bush: the perfect disguise for such a large animal on the prowl for prey. When she's comfortably settled down, she simply sits there along this part of the trail and waits for food to appear.

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Almost an hour has passed and yet Thorn still has found nothing to eat; however, this is quite normal for her hunts, and sometimes she can spend the entire day waiting. Even on these trails where animals are more likely to use them, there's no guarantee that something will show up; but this isn't enough to get the Espinas to leave, she knows that her prey is already close and that she'll eventually be rewarded for her patience.