Chris and the others spent a full half hour harvesting crystal cores—everything they'd killed themselves, plus the Flamebirds Ethan had dropped while kiting.
They were still tallying the haul when the sky suddenly darkened again.
A dense mass of red birds was coming back this way.
Everyone snapped to their feet, weapons out, eyes locked on the incoming flock.
Sean frowned. "Chris… you think Ethan pulled it off, and this is them bringing the Flamebirds back?"
"Maybe," Chris said, not relaxing at all. "But don't get sloppy. Cautious is still the right call."
"Yeah."
As the Flamebirds got closer, the tension finally eased.
Because on the lead birds, they spotted Ethan and the others.
"So it worked," Mia said, relief bleeding into excitement.
Skinny Pete whooped. "Ha! When the captain moves, how could he fail?"
The flock swept in and landed, red wings folding as thousands of talons clicked against stone. Ethan, Henry, and Skinny Pete jumped down from a Flamebird's back.
