---
He drew a breath.
"I am going to rank you up."
That landed like a thrown stone.
Silence. Then overlapping reactions.
Vexor actually yelped. "Rank?" he squeaked. "As in star rank?"
"Not just a pat on the head," Flint muttered.
Needle said nothing, but his fingers tightened on the hilts of her knives.
Shadeclaw's eyes narrowed.
"How," he asked simply.
Kai tapped his chest.
"Devoured essence," he said. "Everything we have killed on this hill, in the ravine, in the tunnels. My core has a way to turn it into growth for people linked to me. It costs me. But I would rather spend it on you than sit on it like some fat egg."
He pointed, one by one.
"Shadeclaw, Silvershadow, Shale, Skyweaver," he said. "You are all four star. I am pulling you to six. You have earned it three times over."
Silvershadow actually went pale under his plate.
"Two ranks," he said faintly. "At once."
"Yes," Kai said.
He looked to Azhaza and Lirien.
