The forest went quiet first.
Not the normal quiet—the kind where birds paused between calls or insects shifted deeper into the underbrush—but a hollow silence, as if sound itself had decided to hide.
Priya Devkaran felt it before she understood it.
Her hand tightened around the strap of her pack as she slowed, instinct screaming louder than logic. The trees around them—tall, dark-barked sentinels—stood unnaturally still. Even the wind had withdrawn.
"Stop," she whispered.
Kiran halted immediately. Bhavna froze mid-step. Akshay, a pace ahead, turned back with a grin that faded the moment he saw Priya's expression.
"You feel it too?" Bhavna murmured.
Priya nodded once. "This isn't normal."
They were deep in Ember Fang territory—rocky forest slopes giving way to open breaks of stone and brush. The zone was known for sudden dangers, but this… this was different.
Akshay adjusted his spear. "Could be a predator nearby. Tier Two, maybe."
"No," Kiran said quietly, eyes scanning the canopy. "Predators don't silence the forest like this."
A distant thud echoed.
Not loud. Not close.
But heavy.
The ground vibrated under their boots.
Priya's heart dropped.
Another sound followed—like leather tearing against the sky.
Bhavna looked up first.
Her breath caught. "Priya…"
The shadow passed overhead.
It blotted out the light for half a second, massive and moving far too smoothly for something that size. Leaves trembled as air displaced itself violently above them.
Then came the sound.
A roar—sharp, tearing, metallic in its fury—ripped through the forest and shattered the silence completely.
Birds exploded from the trees. Branches cracked. Loose stones slid down nearby slopes.
Akshay swore. "That's not Tier Two."
Priya swallowed. Her mind raced through everything she'd ever read, everything instructors had warned about.
Large aerial predator. Highland-adjacent forest. Territorial roar.
Her blood ran cold.
"Sky Reaper," she said.
The words landed like a curse.
Kiran's face drained of color. "That's a Tier Three beast."
"Sometimes worse," Bhavna whispered.
The roar came again—closer this time.
"Move," Priya snapped. "Now. We pull back toward denser cover."
They ran.
Branches whipped past as they pushed through undergrowth, boots slamming against uneven ground. The sound of wings followed—huge, powerful, beating the air with terrifying ease.
Then the forest ahead exploded.
A tree shattered, cleaved cleanly as something crashed through it and landed.
The Sky Reaper emerged.
It stood taller than a horse, its body lean and armored with overlapping slate-black plates. Wings folded partially against its sides—wide, serrated at the edges like jagged blades. Its head was narrow and angular, eyes glowing a predatory amber, locked onto them with cruel intelligence.
Claws dug into the earth, carving furrows in stone and soil alike.
It screamed again.
Akshay reacted on instinct.
He hurled his spear.
The weapon struck true—embedding into the beast's shoulder.
The Sky Reaper barely flinched.
Its head snapped toward Akshay.
"No—!" Priya shouted.
Too late.
The beast lunged.
It moved faster than something that size should, crossing the distance in a blur of motion. Akshay raised his arms, lightning flaring desperately—but the claw came down first.
The impact sent him flying.
He hit the ground hard, rolling, blood staining the dirt almost instantly.
"AKSHAY!" Bhavna screamed.
The Sky Reaper reared back, wings spreading wide—
—and then, suddenly, it leapt.
With a thunderous beat of wings, it launched upward, tearing free from the ground and vanishing into the sky above the canopy.
Silence followed.
Heavy. Disbelieving.
Kiran stared upward. "Did it… leave?"
Priya's ears rang. Her heart hammered violently against her ribs.
"Don't trust it," she said, already moving.
They rushed to Akshay.
He lay on his side, gasping, one leg twisted at an unnatural angle. Blood seeped through torn fabric along his ribs and thigh. His lightning flickered weakly before fading.
"I'm… fine," he tried, voice strained.
"You're not," Bhavna said, hands already glowing faintly as she began emergency treatment.
Priya knelt beside him, forcing herself to stay calm. Leader. You're the leader.
"Akshay, stay with us. Don't move."
Kiran scanned the sky repeatedly. "I don't hear it."
"That doesn't mean anything," Priya replied.
They worked fast—bandages, salves, pressure. Akshay hissed in pain, teeth clenched.
Then Bhavna froze.
Her eyes widened.
"Priya…"
A shadow slid across the ground.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Priya looked up.
The Sky Reaper was back.
It hadn't fled.
It had circled.
The beast descended silently this time, landing atop a broken rock formation overlooking them. Its head tilted slightly, studying them—not attacking, not roaring.
Watching.
Like a predator playing with wounded prey.
Kiran's voice trembled. "It's… waiting."
Priya stood, placing herself between the beast and her team. Fear burned in her chest, but something stronger rose with it.
Defiance.
"You want us?" she whispered under her breath. "You'll have to earn it."
The Sky Reaper spread its wings again.
The ground shook.
And somewhere in the distance, faint but unmistakable—
movement.
Footsteps.
More than four.
The Sky Reaper's eyes shifted—just slightly—toward the approaching presence.
Priya's breath caught.
Help was coming.
Whether it would be enough… was another question entirely.
[End of Chapter 11]