The hover-bike's engine hummed as Lira and Jay cut through the Scourged Zone's twisted terrain. Behind them, the enclave's barriers had long since disappeared into the haze, leaving only the wild expanse of gnarled trees with bark that shimmered faintly purple, rocks that seemed to breathe with internal light, and the air thick with the surrounding aether.
Jay gripped the handlebars, navigating around a cluster of floating stones suspended by anti-gravity pockets caused by the Descent. Behind her, Lira's arms were wrapped firmly around Jay's chest, holding on through the bumps and turns.
"You're crushing me," Jay said over the wind and engine noise, though her tone carried more amusement than complaint.
"I'm securing myself," Lira replied, her voice muffled by the wind.
"You're suffocating me is what you're doing." Jay shifted slightly, trying to create breathing room. "I know I've got more to work with than most, but that doesn't mean you need to test the structural integrity."
"Like you said... There's more to work it, allow me the honor of doing so." Lira said, tightening her grip on Jay's chest.
"Do you want us to crash?" Jay asked.
"Ok,ok." Lira's grip loosened fractionally. "Better?"
"A little."
They rode in comfortable silence for a few minutes, as the landscape shifts around them. The northwestern zone was different from the areas Lira had explored during the academy club mission. There were less bioluminescence here, but more variety in color of plants. Trees with leaves that ranged from deep crimson to electric blue, plants that seemed to have migrated from alien worlds, all products of the descent's reality-warping aftermath.
Rocks came out from the ground at odd angles, their surfaces covered with crystals. The vegetation was denser here, forming natural corridors and clearings that made navigation both easier and dangerous. Easier because the paths were obvious. Dangerous because predators knew to watch those paths.
After another stretch of silence, Lira spoke quietly: "Jay," she said. "I'm sorry."
Jay glanced back briefly before returning her attention to the terrain ahead. "For the chest compression?"
"For not telling you when I left for the academy. I just... disappeared."
Jay's shoulders stiffened slightly, though her steering remained steady. "Oh. That."
"I should have said something. Should have explained properly instead of just—"
"Disappearing overnight?" Jay finished. "Yeah, you should have."
The words carried no heat, just honesty.
"Listen Lira, I'm not mad—"
"I know you're not mad," Lira continued. "But I still should have—"
Jay navigated around a particularly nasty boulders, the bike tilting at an angle that made Lira grip tighter instinctively. "You left for Kaelen. To a place ruled by the elders, which I know you hate with every fiber of your being. But you went anyway because he needed someone."
"I'm sorry." Lira said, her voice muffled by the air.
Jay sighed. "It's good to have you here."
Lira didn't respond immediately.
"And what isn't dominated by the elders?" she said finally, attempting levity.
"Your stubbornness," Jay shot back without hesitation.
The laugh that broke from both of them was genuine, bright against the oppressive atmosphere of the Scourged Zone. It echoed off the rocky formations before being swallowed by the dense vegetation.
When the laughter faded, Jay's voice carried something more serious: "I get why you did it. Doesn't mean I didn't miss you."
"I missed you too."
"Good. Now let's kill some wolves and pretend we're well-adjusted people with healthy communication habits."
Lira smiled against Jay's shoulder. "That's oddly specific but... DEAL."
...
The terrain became rockier as they approached the coordinates marked on their mission parameters. Jay slowed the bike, her earth-attuned senses picked up subtle shifts in the ground. The vegetation here was sparser, giving way to exposed stone and scattered boulders.
They dismounted near a natural clearing, securing the bike behind rock clusters where it would be hidden from casual observation. Lira checked her equipment once more: bow secured across her waist, quiver containing thirty-four arrows, backup knife at her hip. Jay simply placed one hand flat against the ground, her eyes closing as she extended her awareness through the earth.
"It's clear within fifty meters," Jay reported after a moment. "I can't sense major vibrations."
"Let's start searching then."
They moved cautiously through the zone, reading the terrain for signs of beast activity, searching for territorial markers, disturbed earth, anything that suggested predator presence.
It took Twenty minutes to find the first evidence.
"Here," Lira said quietly, crouching near a boulder.
Claw marks scored the rock's surface, deep grooves that suggested significant strength behind the strikes. It wasn't fresh but the edges suggested they were recent.
Jay examined the markings with interest. "Scourge Wolf. Definitely. The spacing matches."
They continued their search, finding more signs as they progressed. Scattered remains of what looked like an F-rank herbivore beasts, most bones were picked clean but some were still fresh enough to carry scent. More claw marks on trees and stones.
An hour and a half passed. The sun had climbed higher, though the Scourged Zone's haze made judging time by light alone unreliable. Lira was beginning to wonder if they'd need to expand their search radius when Jay stopped abruptly.
"Found something," she said, kneeling.
The ground here showed clear disturbance. Multiple sets of tracks converged on rock clusters about two hundred meters ahead. The markings grew denser, and more aggressive. This wasn't just a hunting ground anymore.
"Den packs," Lira said.
"A big one, from the looks of it."
They approached with extreme caution, using the natural cover provided by boulders and vegetation. When they finally got eyes on the den itself, Lira counted carefully.
Seventeen visible wolves. F-rank classification based on size and crystal growth. Each one was bear-sized, their fur was dark and tangled, crystal spikes protruded along their spines as a natural armor. Their canines were elongated, visible even from this distance.
Only seventeen was visible, but there was sure to be more inside the den. In a normal pack, six to seven wolves was the max, but this was a den. A breeding ground. That meant potentially thirty or more total.
Jay's whisper was barely audible: "That's a lot."
"We're not taking them all at once," Lira said firmly. "We isolate smaller groups. Take them down before they can alert the main den."
"Agreed. The scouts first?" Jay said, staring at three wolves visible at the den's perimeter, moving in patrol patterns that suggested habitual behavior rather than active hunting.
Lira nodded.
"I'll take high ground," Lira said. "You draw them in and i'll cover from above."
Jay grinned despite the tension. "You just love to play sniper."
"I don't want to die, Jay."
"Fair."
They moved into position. Lira climbed a sturdy tree with branches that provided both cover and clear sight lines. She notched an arrow, then thought better of it. Conserve the real ammunition. She dismissed the physical arrow and instead drew on her aether, forming a condensed projectile that shimmered silver.
Below, Jay positioned herself behind a boulder, one hand pressed flat against the earth. She was calm and focused, waiting for the right moment.
The three scout wolves separated slightly as they moved through their patrol route. One ranged ahead, investigating a scent marker. The other two maintained formation, close enough but not bunched.
Jay struck.
The earth beneath the lead wolf erupted. Not a single spear, but a wave of multiple earth spears bursted upward in sequence like ocean waves translated to solid rock. The first wolf had no chance. The wave caught it mid-step, as spears pierced through its body brutally. The Head, neck, and torso, were all punctured simultaneously. It died before it could sense the attack.
The second and third wolves froze, their brains struggling to understand what had just happened. Their pack mate was there, and then it was replaced by a corpse pinned to a rising stone.
Two aether arrows struck the second wolf in the head from above. The condensed energy punched through skull and brain, killing it instantly. The body collapsed.
The third wolf's survival instincts finally kicked in. It turned and ran, not toward the den but away from the immediate threat, trying to circle back and alert the pack through a safer route.
Lira was already chasing it. She pulled the bowstring again, forming another aether arrow, and released. The projectile struck the fleeing wolf's left hind leg. The beast stumbled, its own momentum carried it forward in a tumbling roll.
Before it could recover, stone bullets materialized in the air beside Jay, formed from compressed earth. She gestured, and they shot forward with rifle-like velocity. The bullets caught the wolf in the skull, ending it.
Silence settled over the clearing.
Jay approached the corpse, pulling out her harvesting blade. Her dimensional storage ring, a simple band on her right index finger, absorbed the materials as she worked, crystals, some usable hide, teeth that could be sold for component crafting.
"Three down," Jay said quietly. "But the clock's started."
"I know." Lira dropped from the tree with grace. "The den will notice these three didn't return. We've got maybe thirty minutes before they send more scouts."
"Then we set up for the next group."
They repositioned, using the scout corpses as bait. It was crude but effective. Packs investigated when mates go missing. The question was how many they'd send.
Twenty-seven minutes later, howls echoed through the zone.
"Here we go," Jay muttered.
Wolves emerged from the direction of the den, moving with purpose rather than casual patrol behavior. They were searching, noses to the ground, following scent trails.
Lira counted silently. Five.
The wolves found their dead scouts after ten minutes of tracking. The lead wolf, slightly larger than the others, possibly a pack sub-leader, opened its jaws to howl.
An earth spear tore through its throat mid-vocalization. The howl became a wet gurgle, then nothing as the wolf collapsed. It was dead before it understood what had killed it.
The remaining four wolves scattered immediately, their formation broke as they searched for the attacker. One turned back toward the den, intending to flee and alert the main pack.
Jay was already in front of it.
She'd been hiding in the earth itself, using her affinity to sink into the ground and move beneath the surface. The escaping wolf ran directly into an earth spear that Jay thrust upward as she emerged. The weapon punched into the beast's skull, killing it instantly.
Above, Lira had already drawn. Six aether arrows formed simultaneously, a technique that strained her concentration but provided overwhelming firepower.
She released.
Two arrows struck one wolf in the head. Two more caught another wolf in its hind legs, crippling it but wasn't fatal. The last two arrows missed entirely as their target dodged with instincts.
The injured wolf, unable to run, did the only thing it could. It howled, calling for reinforcement.
The sound cut off as an earth spear pierced its skull. Jay didn't waste time with hesitation.
The last surviving wolf stood alone, surrounded by the corpses of its pack mates. It stared at Jay, then up at Lira in the tree, its eyes carrying something that might have been comprehension. It was outnumbered, outmatched, and very likely dead.
But it wasn't going down passively.
The wolf charged at Jay with desperate speed, closing the distance faster than what Jay genuinely expected. Adrenaline and survival instinct pushed it beyond normal limits.
Jay lifted her left hand. Four earth spears materialized behind her, floating in formation like weapons waiting for deployment. She gestured, and they shot forward in sequence.
The wolf dodged the first spear with a twist of its body, muscle memory saving it from the initial strike. The second spear caught its right foreleg. The weapon shattered on impact against its hide like armor, but the force was enough to send the beast tumbling.
The initial spear that had being dodged, curved back through the air under Jay's control, striking the wolf in the head while it was grounded. The third and fourth spear followed immediately after, and together they ended it.
Silence returned.
"Let's harvest quick," Jay said, already moving toward the nearest corpse. "The others will start moving soon."
Lira dropped from the tree, checking her aether reserves. She'd used condensed arrows rather than physical ones, which drained her aether but it was manageable. Her actual ammunition remained intact. A worthwhile trade.
They worked quickly. The dimensional storage ring absorbed the crystals and materials without complaint.
"Eight down," Lira said as they finished. "At least twenty-two more, probably closer to thirty."
"And now they know something's hunting them." Jay wiped her blade clean. "Next group won't be scouts. They'll send hunters."
Lira looked toward the den, invisible beyond the terrain.
"Then we'd better be ready."