There are no "good" Zerg, at least not intentionally. Don't you get tired of reading the same carbon copy of the story you have been reading hundreds of time before?

– [Evolution Unchained] –
2

"Be quiet. It will hear us," a dark-haired teenager with round brown eyes hushed his sister while gripping his wooden spear tightly. The spear continued to quiver in his hands regardless of his effort.

They were both hiding behind a tall ancient tree and from the view of a four-legged creature no one had ever seen before. It was about the size of a large dog, reaching one meter in height. It possessed strange webbed feet and two claw-like appendage protruding from each side of their muscular shoulder. It was obviously a predator from the way it had chased and mowed down an escaping deer and proceeded to mutilate it with savagery unseen of by any wild animals of the North.

The creature did not consume its kill, however. It merely tore the carcass into bloody pieces, repainting the icy snow in a deep shade of red like an artist experimenting with a new canvas.

"We should leave, Hamel," the young girl beseeched. She was terrified of the demonic beast. In the past couple of weeks, a dozen adults had gone missing, depleting much of the able bodies of the village. The free folk believed they had been spirited away by the Others and their Wight during their daily hunt, but a few hunters who returned sighted carnivorous beasts that could outpaced even horses.

"Shush," Hamel hissed between his teeth. "If we try, it will chase us down. You saw what happen to the deer we were hunting, didn't you, Nyrre?"

Nyrre shivered at the thought. The demonic beast outran the deer with ease, encircled it several times tauntingly. Once it had its fun, the deer was dismembered by the beast's razor sharp claws. Her stomach remained unsettled at the memory.

"We will return to the village when it leaves," Hamel assured whisperingly. His voice was overshadowed by the growling of the creature. He would not dare to take a peek from his hiding spot so he used his gift to enter the mind of a small bird, overviewing the area above. When the beast wandered to their hiding spot, he used the bird to lure the beast away through excited chirping.

The strategy worked, and like a mindless animal, the Zergling rushed to the sound. The bird flew into the wood, taking the Zergling along with it. Hamel soon lost the connection to the bird and forced to return to his body. He gave a light nudge to his younger sister, telling her to hurry and leave. They both headed towards their village as the snow descended, masking their footsteps.

Nyrre gripped her brother's arm tightly when the chilling wind rattled the bony branches of the towering trees. She looked around, brushing her long brown hair against her shoulders. Something white and pale stirred in those woods. "I think it's following us, Hamel."

"You're just seeing things," Hamel assured and pulled her along. If the demonic beast had seen them, it would chase them down without pause. With his wooden spear and bow used for hunting deer, he did not believe he could kill it. He could, however, distract it long enough for his sister to get away.

The distinctive sound of clanging metal plates caused him to snap towards the eerie forest. His dark eyes scanned back and forth, wondering what else might be watching them besides the Old Gods. The Others had passed through here no longer ago, slaughtering everything in sight and desecrated the sanctity of the dead. They were heading towards the Storrold's Point to the East from their movement, and had not returned since.

When a shadow emerged from the dark of the wood, Hamel told his sister to run. It was a Wight, one of a few that were left behind by the Others during their slaughter. The Wight took a step forwards, sliding between the trees and landing its white eyes upon Hamel. Its dislocated arm dangling from its shoulder, but the iron axe still gripped tightly in its hand.

Hamel steadied himself and steadfast his wooden spear. His heart thumped wildly in his chest, pumping blood to his legs, demanding him to flee. He would not flee, not until his sister got safely away. She was running as fast as she could towards the village.

The Wight groaned and dragged itself towards Hamel, slowly and surely. With every step it planted on the snow, Hamel stepped two back to keep his distance and slowed his breathing. They could sense his warmth from his steamy breath, but without the Others, the Wight usually moved at glacier pace. That could change quickly if they got too close.

Hamel did not want to engage the Wight unless he must. Fighting one meant certain death as they could not be killed just like their masters. Once he was far enough, he turned to check if his younger sister had gotten safely away. She ran back to him with ghastly expression.

"What are you doing?" Hamel hissed, but before she could answer, a demonic beast appeared behind her. The creature was charging, and would reach her before she could reach him. He rushed towards her aid and threw his spear forwards, but the beast did not make any attempt to evade. It crashed into the creature with all of its momentum, but failed to penetrate its skin.

The Zergling was still stunned for a fraction of a second before changing its target. In its eyes and mind, Hamel was more of a threat. It launched itself at Hamel ignoring the prey it was chasing for the last few minutes. He rolled to the side, letting it passed and encircled around. That was when the Wight charged and attacked it.

Iron axe dug deep into Zergling's shoulder, forcing out an anguish squeal. When the axe was retreated, the Zergling thrashed itself and growled at the one who had injured it. The Wight reciprocated by raising its iron axe, readying for another strike.

Seeing the two monsters about to clash, Hamel grabbed his sister's arm and pulled her away. With them preoccupied, they could escape back to the village. A loud roar echoed the area, signaling the battle. He looked back and saw the four-legged creature launched itself at the Wight without any concern for its wellbeing. Its two claw-like appendages surged forwards and pierced into the Wight's body.

The Wight paid that no mind to the fatal blow and severed one of the appendages before attempting to behead the creature. The iron axe embedded into the Zergling's neck again and again, but the demonic beast did not succumb to its grievous wound. Blood continued to spurt out of the wound while the Zerg used its claw to tear apart the Wright, starting with its dislocated arms.

"Are they both Wight?" Nyrre asked while panting heavily. With adrenaline rushing through her veins, her fear was entirely forgotten.

"I don't know," Hamel responded when the Zergling used its body to knock the Wight onto the ground before unleashing its fury. "The only sure thing is that they aren't normal. If they can take each other out then it is good for us. Let's hurry before one of them win."

Hamel and Nyrre would have able to escape the area if another Zergling did not block their path towards their village. This one was less aggressive than the first two they had come across. The creature did not charge at them immediately, but took its time to scrutinize them in great detail.

"How many of them are there?" Hamel uttered. With his bow useless in close combat, the small knife by his belt was all he had left. His sister also had her knife, but she was not adept at using it. He drew his weapon nonetheless. His sister did the same. The weapon shook in her trembling hands.

"Are we going to die here?" Nyrre asked.

Hamel did not answer her. Being born as a Free Folk, there was a very good chance that they would die before they reached their 20s. Due to the harshness of the icy North, there weren't enough food to feed everyone, causing them resort raiding the villages south of the walls before the return of the Others and their Wight. Many Free Folk went with Mance on the promise of better life and away from the threat of the Others, but that promise amounted to nothing.

The Zergling finally charged. Hamel bravely did the same, but he was send flying back against the snow with his head spinning. The creature landed onto of him, bearing all its weight onto his body. He tried to stab it several times with his knife, but the blade failed to pierce any significant depth through its tough skin. It was like its skin was made of chainmail.

Hamel screamed when one of its claws protruding from his shoulder pierced through his forearm to stop his assault. The other deadly claw around to punch into his neck, but it stopped before it could draw any blood. It was as if the creature was frozen. Using the distraction, he aguishly pulled his forearm free and resumed his stabbings. The blade finally dug deep into to creature's eye. It was the only soft spot that he had found.

Hamel would blind the other eyes as well, but his sister was wailing in pain. She covered one of her eyes and shook her head repeatedly, allowing him to understand why the demonic creature had stopped its assault. Nyrre was more gifted than he was, and the reason why she went hunting with him because she could capture any wild animals without killing them.

Without Nyrre controlling its mind, the Zergling resumed its assault, albeit with great confusion to what just happened. In its confusion, Hamel managed to break free, but before he could get away, his leg was pierced. It dragged him towards it through the injured legs. His sister tried to take control of it again, but the shock to her mind by his action had left her rather shaken.

He snapped his eyes closed when he realized there was no way to escape. This was likely the fate of the missing adults for last couple of weeks. At least he would not see his sister get torn apart. The Zerg froze up again before delivering the final blow. He looked to his sister, but it wasn't her doing. She was crying while holding her eyes. The phantom pain was still there.

Above him, Hamel saw a float creature hovering in the air without any kind of support. It was as big as a large dwelling with elongated appendages hung from the underbellies. There were growling all around him, causing him to search out for it.

The battle between the Zergling and Wight also came to an end from further back. Despite the injuries the Zergling unleashed upon the Wight through its ferocity, the reanimated human did not stay dead. It only stopped fighting when half a dozen Zergling swarmed over it and tore its body into pieces within a second.

Prime on board of an Overlord wondered what that strange Terran was. It appeared to be infested, but not by the hyper-evolutionary virus that slowly turned them into an Aberration – an extreme mutated human due to the infection. Seeing that the severed limb of the Wight still moved, it was something else entirely.

The Overlord also relayed what happened to one of the feral Zergling. It was being controlled similar to under the influence of a psionic dominator the Terran had come up with to influence feral Zerg. The best term for the phenomenon was possession, however. It was as if some unseen entity was suppressing its mind and controlling its action.

The fifty Zergling plus three previously feral ones crowded around the two humans. From Prime's point of view, they were a boy in his sixteen or seventeen and a girl in her thirteen or fourteen. The both of them were completely speechless. The girl was more frightful while covering one of her eyes. Overlord scanned her and found the phenomenon originated from her, and it was precendent to examine her in an evolution chamber. She might have an ability that could benefit the Zerg.

Prime agreed. The Overlords were extremely loyal to the Swarm. During many periods of strife brought on by Kerrigan and her eradication of the Celebrates after the defeat of the Overmind at the hand of the Protoss, the Overlords attempted to keep the Zerg organized, but the effort was futile in the end. Much of the Swarm reverted to feral state when not under control of some higher entity.

"Nyrre," Hamel grunted and dragged himself towards his sister. His touch broke her out of her trembling state of terror.

"I don't want to die, Hamel," Nyrre uttered desperately.

"Don't worry," Hamel assured. "Remember what I told you when our parents passed away."

"You said…. You… will always be by my side?" Nyrre responded.

"Yes, I will always be by your side, dear sister," Hamel responded with a smile. Blood continued to ooze out of his injured leg and arm, but he kept his expression up. He would keep that expression until the darkness overwhelmed his senses.

Prime did not understand their speech since it was not the same as the usual Terran's spoken language, but it could see those two human have some kinds of familiar connection. Still, it needed to understand this world's language eventually. This was a good time.

With a single mental command, amplified by the Overlord, the Zergling swarmed over the two, dragging them apart without harming them. The young girl shrieked and thrashed, but her effort only cause the razor claws to dug deeper into her skin. She watched as the Overlord sent down a small worm about half a meter long. There were four pincers in front of its mouth.

Prime hissed at Nyrre before turning to the Hamel. The Zergling forced Hamel onto the snow, breaking his arms and legs in the process. He screamed in pain, but none of them relented. Prime slithered over the Hamel's back and crawled towards his neck. Its pincers clicked before they punctured into the boy's head, killing him in front of his sister.

Nyrre shrieked in horror at her brother's death.

Under the terrifying scream from the girl, Prime consumed Hamel's head and carefully deciphered the acquired memory in the brain. Most of the memory would be lost during the process without the help of the evolution chamber, but Prime would gain useful information concerning the world's populace with the aid of the Overmind.

The rest of the body was consumed by the Zergling, much to the terror of Nyrre. She passed out before her brother was fully devoured by monsters. Unlike her brother, she would be cocooned in a chrysalis to fully map her ability, and if it was useful, it would be incorporated into the Swarm.

So far, it was.

In fact, Prime was surprised that it gained a new unique strain knowing as Skinchanger after devouring the man named Hamel. The newfound ability allowed it to possess any of the Zergling under its control in its weakened state, but if it consumed more Terran with similar genetic mutation, that ability would strengthen, allowing it to possess stronger Zerg like Hydralisk.

Skinchanger was possession without psionic potential – a step towards perfection!

– To be continued –