Kaitri's smirk was cold and sharp, a contrast to their harrowing situation. He spoke in a whisper.
"So, here's the plan."
Varik's low voice was the first to reply. It was carried through Kanut switching connections due to his limit and was laced with pure, unfiltered panic. "Plan? What plan? That's a Warden-class, Kai! It nearly turned Paul into a Corvian-kebab! A Crowbab!"
Paul gave him an unimpressed stare and said in his bored tone, "There is a Corvian Kebab though. One of the best things about my homeland's carnival," he smiled.
Only Varik and Kanut could hear him so everyone else was confused when they heard Varik's say, "I don't care about the Kebab, Paul." Then he looked at everyone else and whispered, "All I'm saying is we're not Resonants! We're just snacks and we should be running!"
"We run and it hunts us. You know they don't give up on weaker prey. We fight and we might live," Kaitri sent back, his voice flat. He looked down at the fox, which was now settling in, its glowing tail wrapped around its paws, its hot-coal eyes scanning the canopy. It knew they were up here. It was patient.
"It's fast, its hide is too tough for our blades, and its tail is a one-hit kill. We can't fight it head-on."
"So, we fight it... from-the-side-on?" Varik offered weakly.
"No. We use our heads. This is a six-on-one. We're going to make a trap. Hunter, Sibil, Kanut—you're the trap team. Varik, Paul, and I... we're the bait."
"I formally object to being included in the 'bait' category!" Varik's voice squeaked in their ears.
Sibil said in her calm voice, "Kanut please disconnect me from Varik."
"Varik, your objection is noted," Kaitri whispered. "Hunter, I need a ward like the one around the Darkwood. A wide circle, right in the clearing. Can you do it from here?"
Hunter's elven voice was shaky but focused. "A ward like that can only be done with Resonant power. I can do containment runes, but from this high up? No... I have to be on the ground to carve it. It will take at least two minutes."
"That works… Two minutes. We'll buy you two minutes," Kaitri whispered. "Sibil, how much water do you have?"
"Three full skins. Why?" her Mernian-accented voice replied.
"We're going to sweep it off its feet."
A beat of silence.
"That's your plan?" Varik said. "We're going to... prank a fox? With a "wet floor" sign?"
"It's a beast still," Kaitri countered. "And it relies on its speed. We take away its footing, we take away its advantage. Kanut, you're on comms. And you're our ace-in-the-hole. Your voice. Use it if I call for it. Paul..."
Kaitri looked over at the Corvian, who was perched on a branch, his feathered arms crossed, looking profoundly bored, as if this was all just a massive inconvenience.
"Paul, I need you to be our emergency button. If it corners one of us, you get us out. Understood?"
Paul sighed, a sound that Kanut's magic carried perfectly. "Fine. But if I get my feathers singed, I'm billing you."
"Good. Trap team moves now. Find a spot, stay low. Bait team... on my mark. Let's go."
Hunter, Sibil, and Kanut slithered down the far side of their trees, silent as shadows. The fox's ears twitched, but it didn't move. It was focused on the area where it had last seen the one who hurt it the most, Kaitri.
Kaitri, Varik, and Paul spread out.
"This is insane," Varik whispered.
"I know," Kaitri replied. "So… try not to die."
Kaitri dropped first.
He landed in a crouching position with his tantos held in a reverse grip. The sound was soft, just a puff of dirt. The fox's head snapped up. Its hot coal eyes locked onto him.
It didn't roar. It didn't hesitate. It exploded from its resting position.
'Fast!' Kaitri thought, his enhanced reflexes were the only thing saving him. He didn't try to block. He didn't try to attack. He just moved.
His battling style, born from Obi's training and the whispers, was one of pure, minimalist evasion. He was a leaf in a hurricane. As the fox swiped, he was already pivoting on his heel, the claws raking the air where he'd been. As it snapped, he was already ducking, the heat from its breath washing over his hair.
He was pure defence. He was buying time.
But the fox was relentless. It was a blur of red fur and black claws. Kaitri was being pushed back with his feet pounding the dirt. He dodged a lunge, only to have the glowing tail whip at his legs. He leaped, the heat scorching the sole of his boot even if it wasn't the hottest part.
He was getting beaten up, and he hadn't even landed a hit.
"Any day now, Varik!" Kaitri hissed, his voice carried by Kanut.
"I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" Varik's voice squeaked back.
Then, from the opposite side of the clearing, a sound that was, by any measure, profoundly stupid.
"HEY! YOU! OVERGROWN MATCHSTICK."
Varik had dropped from his tree, and to make himself a target, he was banging his Tachi sword against a dead-black, hollow tree trunk.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
"YEAH, YOU! I'M TALKING TO YOU, FLEA-BAG! YOUR MOTHER WAS A MANGY COYOTE AND YOUR FATHER SMELLED OF BURNT HAIR!"
The fox, which had been wholly focused on the agile, silent threat that was Kai, froze. It turned its head, its expression one of pure, animalistic confusion. The noise was grating.
Kaitri used the opening. He shot forward, his tantos flashing. He raked them across the fox's flank.
SCRRREEE!
Sparks flew as if he'd struck stone. His blades hadn't even broken the skin. The hide was too tough.
The fox roared, enraged, and back kicked with its powerful hind legs. Kaitri didn't see it coming. A hoof-like claw slammed into his chest.
The sound was a wet crack.
Kaitri flew backward, slamming into a tree. The air in his lungs vanished with pain in his ribs. He slid to the ground, his vision swimming.
"Frack... That hurt. Ribs definitely broken."
The fox, seeing him down, turned back to the annoying target. It snarled at Varik, who had gone pale.
"Uh, Kaitri? A little help?" Varik's voice was a strained whisper. "This is the part where you're supposed to be heroic! My insults aren't working!"
The fox crouched, its muscles tensing. It was about to lunge at Varik.
From a high branch, Paul the Corvian sighed with a sound of pure, emo-driven exasperation.
"Screw this."
He didn't fly. He dropped.
He fell like a black stone, his feathered arms tucked. He was a predator. His style was a brutal, vertical assault. Talon-like steel caps were built into his boots, and he held two short, curved daggers.
He landed squarely on the fox's back.
His boot-talons dug deep, sinking into the tough hide. The fox shrieked, a sound of pain and surprise. Before it could react, Paul stabbed down, driving his curved daggers deep into the creature's shoulders, right at the muscle joints.
"Freaking… die…," Paul grunted, his emo-flat voice a bizarre contrast to the violence he was inflicting. "...you... flea-bag."
The fox went berserk. It thrashed around, spinning in circles to try to get the new, agonizing pain off its back. It bucked and reared, but Paul held on, his talons locked in, his daggers grinding.
It finally threw itself backward, slamming its own back against a tree. Paul was crushed between the trunk and the monster, but he used the moment to kick off the tree and back-flip away. He landed gracefully, his daggers still embedded in the fox's shoulders.
The monster was now truly enraged. It was wounded. It was bleeding. And it was pissed.
"Kaitri! Now!" Kanut's voice screamed in his ears. "Get its attention! Hunter's almost ready!"
Kaitri forced himself to his feet.
He saw it.
Across the clearing, Hunter was frantically etching the last line of a wide, ten-foot circular rune in the dirt. Sibil was beside him, her three waterskins already uncorked.
'That's the real plan.'
He had to buy them their last few seconds. The fox, ignoring the panting Varik and the wary Paul, saw the new threat. It saw Hunter and Sibil. It charged.
"No, you don't!" Kaitri roared, his voice hoarse. He sprinted, ignoring the fire in his ribs, and slid right under the fox's charging belly, his tantos aimed up. He didn't aim for the hide. He aimed for the old wound on its tail.
SLASH!
His blade bit deep into the already-injured flesh.
The fox howled, a sound of pure agony. Its body spasmed, and its molten tail whipped, catching Kaitri across the chest. Not the hot tip, but the heavy, furry part. It felt like being hit by a tree.
He was thrown again, tumbling end over end, his tantos flying from his numb hands.
"It's done! The circle is set!" Hunter's voice was a panicked yell.
"Sibil! Now!" Kaitri gasped from the ground. "Varik! Paul! Get clear!"
Sibil didn't hesitate. She ran to the centre of the rune and dumped all three waterskins. The water hit the dirt and... didn't soak in. The rune glowed a faint, silvery blue. The water spread instantly, forming a glassy, impossibly slick sheet of water, held in place by the runic boundary.
Sibil was a Mernian, and she was in her element. She dropped to one knee at the edge of the circle and placed her palm on the surface.
The water shivered. Its surface tension changed, the molecules aligning, becoming slicker than wet ice.
The fox was now fully enraged. It saw Kaitri on the ground, disarmed and wounded. It saw its chance to end the most annoying of the pests.
It charged, a blur of red fur.
'Kanut! Use your voice! NOW!' Kaitri yelled, his real voice a pathetic croak.
Kanut, who had been silent, took a deep, shuddering breath. He turned toward the charging fox. He shouted.
"STOP!"
It wasn't a telepathic push. It was a focused, sonic lance of sound, a physical wave of force that Kanut's unique lungs projected. It struck the fox's side, not to harm it, but to startle it.
The fox stumbled, its head shaking from the sudden, deafening impact in its right ear. Its charge was broken, but its momentum was unstoppable.
It hit the slick.
It was almost comical. All four of its powerful legs went out from under it. There was no recovery. No agile pivot. It was a total, undignified loss of control. It slammed onto its side, its chin hitting the ground with a crack. It skidded across the runic circle, dazed, furious, and utterly unbalanced.
Kaitri was already moving. Pain was secondary. The System was a low hum in his ears, showing him the lines, the path.
"Hunter, pin it! Paul, eyes! Varik, flank!" Kaitri's voice was carried by Kanut.
Hunter saw his opening, threw his last artifact—a small, runic stone. It zipped through the air and struck the fox. It wasn't a weapon. It was a Gravity artefact. For one second, the fox's weight tripled. It was pinned to the slick ground, its own mass its enemy.
Paul was on its back again, yanking his daggers out of its shoulders and, in a brutal, fluid motion, stabbing them into the fox's neck.
The fox roared, the Gravity Rune fading. It was getting up—
But Kaitri was there. He had scooped up one of his tantos. He ran, leaping onto the fox's slippery, wet flank, using its own body as a ramp. He planted one foot on its heaving, wounded side. He was standing on the monster.
It tried to snap at him, but its head was turned, roaring at Paul.
Kaitri raised his tanto high. He reversed his grip. He put all his weight, all his anger, and all his training into one, final, two-handed strike. He didn't aim for the hide. He aimed for the base of the skull, where the spine meets the head… The weak point.
SHUNK.
The blade sank to the hilt.
The fox stiffened. A final, shuddering tremor ran through its body. Its glowing eyes flickered and went dark.
It collapsed, lifeless.
Silence. The only sound was the dripping of water and the harsh, ragged breathing of six terrified students.
Paul rolled off the corpse, landing gracefully. He sighed, retrieved his daggers, and immediately began wiping the blood on the grass.
Hunter collapsed, his back sliding down a tree, his hands shaking. "That... was not in the manual."
Sibil was breathing heavily, her hand still on the now-dissipating water trap.
Kaitri slid off the fox's body. The second his feet hit the ground, his legs gave out. The adrenaline vanished, and the pain from his ribs and chest hit him like a transport. He fell to his knees, then to his side, gasping with his vision swimming.
Varik was the last to move. He walked over, his Tachi still shaking in his hand. He nudged the fox with his boot. It didn't move.
He looked at the carnage. The blood. The water. The smoking, singed-black patches of dirt.
He looked at Kaitri, gasping on the ground. He looked at Paul, cleaning his blades in silence. He looked at Hunter, who looked like he was going to be sick.
Varik sheathed his sword, dropped his pack, and dramatically flopped onto his back, spreading his arms and legs in the middle of the clearing.
He stared up at the tiny patches of green-grey light in the canopy.
"Day one!" he wheezed, his voice cracking. "And we're... almost dead! Nice..."
"Get the sinew Varik," Kaitri moaned tiredly and smirked. "We're getting the most points this year."