NOVEL NEXT Chapter 123: old.
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Fenna laughed until tears shone in her eyes. "We broke our pulling beast."
Zephyr threw his hands up. "Fine. She gets a break."
He fetched a bucket, filled it at the steaming side-pool, cooled it with char-coal filter rock, and lugged it to Muse's muzzle. The cow slurped noisily, flicking water across his face.
"Diva," he grumbled.
Muse licked his ear… soaking him with spit and resumed loafing.
As dusk painted the crater crimson, Fenna and Aurora practiced fire bursts. Then, Zephyr erected three wooden poles at varying heights. Aurora's job: flash-blind target; Fenna's job: spin-shot while Aurora veered aside.
Attempt one, Aurora's flash too early; Fenna loosed wide.
Attempt four, timed better, arrow scorched the center pole.
Attempt seven, perfect: Aurora flash-dipped, Fenna pivoted full circle, arrow screaming like a comet to split the topmost post. Splinters rained.
Aurora whooped a triumphant trill. Fenna grinned, sweat-slick hair whipping around her shoulders.
"Again tomorrow," Zephyr said, inspecting the shattered pole.
Star, perched atop a rock outcrop, rumbled in commentator approval. Zephyr led him into power drills next: Fireball, Rapid Fireball, Ember Lance, Infernal Ring—timed by sandglass. Each repetition he shaved seconds off cooldown, controlled spread tighter.
Twice Zephyr forced aborts to avoid scorching meat racks. The drake obeyed, chest heaving, steam pouring from scale-seams like vented pressure. Zephyr murmured praise, fed him a few coin-silver worth of Emberjack wolf core—just enough to replenish, not bloat.
When night settled, all bodies moved slower. The racks were laden, smell of smoke heavy. Muse finally rose, shook off ash, and trudged to a sand bed for the night. Even Star's eyelids drooped.
They sat by the pit, only embers glowing. Fenna leaned against Zephyr's shoulder, hair loose, eyes reflecting coals.
"I was thinking… Ayan's men showed they could track us," she murmured. "What if he hired a scout beast to follow Star's heat signature?"
"If he hired a beast then…" Zephyr shook his head. "Tomorrow I'll weave spider cord trip nets around our travel path. And we'll shroud the meat scent with sulfur moss. He'll smell nothing but rotten brim gas for miles."
Fenna sighed, finger drawing circles on his palm. "I hate that fear keeps finding us."
He tipped her chin gently. "Then we keep moving faster than fear."
Their kiss tasted of smoke and coffee root. When she pulled back, a small smile lingered. "We'll win."
"Absolutely," he said, and meant it.
They banked the coals. Star curled nearby, Aurora nesting between his horns— a flickering halo under the moon. Muse's snores rolled like distant thunder.
Zephyr lay down beside Fenna, starlight silvering her lashes. "Tomorrow— spear forms, flash-flight, dragon grapples. Then we rest."
Fenna nestled into him, sleep stealing over her. "Then we fight," she breathed.
Zephyr closed his eyes, arm around her waist. In the hush, wind rustled ember leaves overhead. The moon watched, solemn and bright. Four days to duel. Tonight they slept in strength, heart to heart, flame to flame, protected by dragon wings and phoenix sparks, ready for whatever dawn demanded.
The next day…
Zephyr woke to the smell of rosemary smoke and the faint hiss of damp coals. Pale gold light filtered through the lean-to's patched hide, painting Fenna's sleeping profile in soft warmth. Star lay just beyond them, a massive, breathing barricade of black gold scales. Aurora was nestled in Fenna's collar, tiny chest fluttering with each exhale.
For a blissful minute Zephyr believed the world still held its quiet: no rogues, no Ayan, no duel countdown.
Then a branch snapped in the trees above.
Star's head shot up. A gravel-deep growl rattled the ground.
Zephyr's heart dropped. Already? He nudged Fenna. She stirred, blinking.
Another snap—closer, heavier.
Fenna sat straighter. "That's not a deer."
She was on her feet instantly, knocking an arrow. Star rose, wings half-flaring. Aurora woke with a squeak, blinking ember-bright eyes.
Muse was chewing cud, frozen mid munch.
At the crater rim, smoke parted. The rouge bone armored woman from previous days stepped forward, bandaged but furious. Behind her came six silhouettes—three of them clad in heavier iron harnesses, crests etched with crimson C-rank sigils. Each walked beside an equally imposing beast:
Ember-Horn Minotaur, red-black hide, molten horns dripping sparks.
Ashen Skyrend Wyvern, wings peppered with glassy scale, long barbed tail.
Molten Ursine, bear-like hulk wreathed in low flame.
Zephyr's gut twisted. "She is back with C-rank tamers. Why didn't I kill them when I had the chance?"
The bone-armored woman sneered. "Kindness has a price, hero. You spared us—now we cashed in favors."
The biggest tamer, a bull-necked man with a cracked face-plate, stepped forward. "We take the unknown beast. Girl goes to Ayan. Boy dies slowly."
Zephyr's fingers tightened on his dagger hilt. Regret coiled like a hot wire behind his ribs, but he forced calm. "Star, mark Minotaur first. Fenna, the wyvern rider's yours. Stick to true-fire arrows."
Fenna's eyes burned. "Arrow? I'm going to claw her eyes out myself."
Aurora flitted to her shoulder, chirping in alarm. Fenna brushed her tiny breastbone. "Stay close. I'll need your flashes."
Zephyr whispered, "Stay alive." Then louder: "Star, use fireball!"
Star opened his jaws; a condensed sphere roared toward the Ember-Horn. The C-rank Minotaur raised an obsidian shield, grunting. Fire blazed over its surface but didn't crack it.
The minotaur charged, horns glowing.
Star leapt to intercept—only to be blind-side tackled by the Molten Ursine. Lava drooled from the bear's fur, sizzling on the drake's scales. Star snarled, claws scraping the beast's shoulder, but the Wyvern swooped overhead, buffeting him with hurricane wings.
Suddenly three enemies were on him at once. The crater shook from colliding titans.
Zephyr cursed. They coordinated—pin Star with two while the wyvern harasses.
He sprinted sideways, raising blade to keep rogue foot-soldiers away from the camp racks. Muse huffed and planted herself in front of the smoking meat, lowering horns like a stubborn fortress.
Fenna raced along the crater lip, the skyrend wyvern circling overhead. Its rider—a lean woman with antler-pinned braids—smirked down. "Pretty Firebird. Pretty archer. I'll clip you both."
The wyvern dove. Fenna rolled, losing two arrows in rapid fire. One ricocheted off breast scales; the other pierced wing membrane. The beast shrieked but banked away.
Aurora zipped up, unleashing a brilliant flash. The rider cursed, momentarily blind. Fenna nocked a true-fire arrow—her hands shook with anger and sleep-stiff muscle—but before she loosed, the wyvern's barbed tail lashed. A serrated tip sliced across Fenna's thigh.
She gasped, stumbling, arrow clattering to stone.
Aurora screamed in panic, flickering brighter.
"Fenna!" Zephyr shouted, but he was busy parrying a rogue's hooked glaive. Sparks flew; guilt hammered his heart. We let them live…
Star roared, drenched in steam from the Ursine's molten drool. He thrust claws into the ground, pushing back the bear's weight—only for the Minotaur to ram his flank. The drake skidded sideways, tearing trenches in the black dust.
Zephyr flashed finger-signals: Rapid Fireball – left, Ember Lance – right.
Three blazing meteors hammered the Ursine's ribs; molten fur sizzled. The bear staggered. Star rolled under its paw and launched an Ember Lance at the Minotaur's knee. The spear of fire bored through iron greaves; the bull-man howled, stumbling.
But the wyvern struck again from above, clamping jaws onto Star's wing membrane. Blood hissed on lava-hot teeth.
Star shrieked in pain. For the first time since evolution, Zephyr saw panic flare in those molten eyes.
Fenna tried to rise—blood soaked her leggings. The bone-armored rogue stalked toward her, sword reversed for a pommel strike.
Aurora fluttered down to Fenna's shoulder, chirping, "Stay," but tiny claws shook.
Fenna coughed, voice thin. "I'm fine. Just—shoot."
The rogue swung… but Aurora darted between, pecking his eye. He cursed, slashing wildly; Fenna rolled aside.
Yet blood loss blurred her sight. She fumbled an arrow, true-fire guttering out.
Aurora looked at Zephyr, then at Fenna, then at the crate of beast-cores tied to the rack. Bright D-rank raptor core. E-rank wolf cores. Everything they'd hunted.
A memory flickered behind her tiny black eyes: her mother —great Phoenix Matron— bursting into flames to protect the clutch, leaving Aurora alone with Fenna in glowing ash. She thinks,
"What if Fenna vanished too?"
Something inside the chick snapped. In a streak of gold and scarlet, Aurora darted to the crate, tore the lid, and swallowed a wolf core whole.
Mana flared through her down. She shrieked—half pain, half fury.
Zephyr's head whipped around. "Aurora, no!"
Too late.
She gobbled two more E-rank cores, then the entire D-rank raptor core. Ember-laced veins ignited under her feathers. She convulsed —tiny body contorting— then doubled in size with a sound like ripping canvas.
Heat exploded outward.
A sphere of white-hot brilliance engulfed Aurora. Wood smoked, ropes burst. Muse bawled, backing away. The bone-armored rogue stumbled, blade melting at the tip.
Zephyr threw an arm over his face; hair singed. "Fenna— back!"
Aurora's shriek morphed into a roar. The chick was no chick now: wingspan tripled, feathers flowing like magma streams, eyes white at the core. Flame sloughed off her in curtains that melted rack supports and warped basalt.