The Skyrazor Eagle stood like a living thunderstorm—its feathers crackling with streaks of blue lightning, its wings spanning wider than three trees. Aru had never seen anything so majestic… or so terrifying.
"W-who are you?" Aru asked, voice shaking.
The eagle dipped its head, eyes glowing like twin suns.
"I am ASTRYON, High Sentinel of the Northern Ridge."
Zara blinked. "The Astryon? Guardian of the Cloudspire Peaks? The bird who once carried a storm on its back?"
Astryon puffed his feathers. "The storm followed me, not the other way around. But yes."
Tiko whispered to Rella, "He's humble… but in a BRAGGY way."
Rella whispered back, "Just like Aru."
Aru glared at her. "Hey!"
Astryon turned to him again, studying him with unnerving intensity.
"You, young runner… you carry the Primordial Flow. The spark of the ancient Golden Line."
Aru frowned. "I swear everyone is making these words up as they go."
Zara slapped his shoulder lightly. "Aru, he means your magic is VERY old and VERY important. Please try to be serious for five seconds."
Astryon continued:
"For centuries, the Flow was believed extinct. The Golden Runners were protectors of the world. Swift beyond time, graceful beyond wind…"
He paused dramatically.
"…and terrible at paying attention."
Everyone slowly turned toward Aru.
Aru groaned. "It was ONE TIME. ONE TIME I ran into a tree."
"Four times," Tiko corrected. "That I saw."
Astryon flapped his wings once, creating a gust.
"The Chain Commander seeks your power. He drains ancient magic to increase his own strength."
Bolo cracked his knuckles. "Let him come. I'll drain his teeth."
Astryon ignored that.
"Aru must leave the forest."
Everyone froze.
Zara stepped forward. "Leave? Why?"
"Because the commander has marked him," Astryon said. "The runes will track his magic. This forest is no longer safe."
Aru's heart sank. Leave? His home? His friends? The forest he's known since birth?
"No," he whispered. "I… I can't leave everyone behind."
Astryon lowered his giant head to eye level with Aru.
"You won't be leaving them behind. They will follow if they choose. The journey ahead is long and dangerous. But the world needs the Golden Runner."
Aru whispered, "But I'm not a Golden Runner. I'm just me."
Astryon hummed.
"That is how all heroes begin."
A New Threat Emerges
The trees trembled again—but this time not from the commander.
Something else moved in the distance.
A rumbling like rolling thunder.A sound like a hundred metal legs scraping stone.
Zara whispered, "What now…?"
Astryon's feathers flared."The commander sent his Scavenger Drones. We cannot stay."
Aru gulped. "Drones? Like… mechanical?"
Tiko squeaked, "MECHANICAL BUGS!? I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR ROBOT BUGS!"
Rella grimaced. "I hate insects. I hate robots. A combination is my personal nightmare."
Bolo grinned. "Finally. A challenge worth punching."
Astryon spread his wings.
"Form a circle around the boy."
Everyone moved instantly—even Eldros, though slowly—surrounding Aru.
The forest canopy cracked—
—and dozens of glowing red eyes appeared between the trees.
Metallic mandibles clicked.
Spider-like bodies crawled from the shadows—half metal, half strange living sinew, each carved with the commander's runes.
Aru whispered, "Oh no."
Tiko whispered, "OH YES—WAIT NO—OH NO!"
The drones charged.
Aru's Second Awakening
The forest exploded into chaos.
Drones leaped.Chains whirred.Mandibles snapped.
Aru's legs burned with golden heat.
He dashed forward—
not with fear.
But with instinct.
He moved between drones like wind, leaving golden trails. The world blurred. He felt the Flow guiding his steps—
Left.Leap.Kick.
He struck a drone's core with a glowing hoof.
BOOM—The drone shattered into metal shards.
Zara fought beside him, claws slashing runes off their armor.Tiko rode on Eldros's back, screaming battle cries like a warrior mouse.Rella blasted drones with bursts of healing light—"DON'T ASK WHY HEALING LIGHT HURTS THEM, JUST BE GRATEFUL!"
Bolo grabbed a drone and slammed it into another drone like they were action figures.
But still—
More crawled from the forest.
Astryon unleashed a storm blast that wiped out a dozen at once.
"Aru! Use your speed! Break their command cores!"
"I'm TRYING!" Aru yelled, kicking another drone so hard it flew into a treetop.
Zara shouted, "Aru—BEHIND YOU!"
A drone lunged.Aru stumbled—his legs flaring—
—and suddenly he dashed straight up a tree trunk.
Tiko screamed, "BRO JUST PULLED A VERTICAL PARKOUR!"
Aru used the momentum—flipped backward—and kicked the drone into the ground.
The Retreat
Astryon landed, electricity sparking.
"Enough. There are too many. You must leave NOW."
"But what about—" Aru began.
Eldros stepped beside him. "We go with you."
Zara nodded. "Always."
Bolo lifted his hammer. "Let's go break destiny."
Rella sighed. "Fine. But if we die, I'm haunting all of you."
Tiko squeaked triumphantly. "ADVENTURE!"
Astryon knelt.
"Climb onto my back."
Aru hesitated. Leaving the forest felt like leaving his life behind.
But the drones kept swarming.
Aru took a breath—
and climbed onto the eagle's back.
"Everyone hold on!" Astryon commanded.
The creatures climbed aboard—except Eldros, who looked at the eagle awkwardly.
Eldros raised his trunk. "Er… I cannot fly."
Astryon's eyes glowed.
"You can today."
Lightning wrapped around Eldros like glowing armor, lifting him off the ground.
Eldros screamed. "I DO NOT LIKE THIS."
"TOO LATE!" Tiko yelled.
Astryon flapped his wings—
and they blasted off into the sky.
The forest shrank beneath them.Drones swarmed like ants.Chains glowed ominously from far away—the commander watching, calculating.
Aru looked back at the only home he had ever known.
And for the first time—
he felt the world expand.