The shadow grew larger with each heartbeat.
Its wings blotted out the sun, its cry a shattering screech that rattled Ashan's teeth.
The Nightfang Wolf's voice thundered in his mind. "Run! It's already seen us!"
Ashan didn't argue. He scooped the calf into his arms — surprisingly heavy for its size — and bolted toward the jagged paths that wound up the valley's cliffs. Gravel skittered under his boots, every step sending pebbles tumbling down the slope.
The Sky Vulture dove. Its wings carved the wind into knives, slicing branches clean off as it descended.
Ashan ducked as a gust nearly sent him sprawling. "You sure this thing isn't just a big bird?!" he yelled over the roar.
"That 'big bird' eats spirit beasts the way you eat bread!" the wolf snapped, sprinting beside him. "And it can smell divine blood from leagues away!"
Ashan risked a glance back. The vulture's eyes burned like molten gold, its hooked beak glinting with a metallic sheen. Its talons — each the size of Ashan's arm — stretched wide, aiming for them.
The wolf lunged upward, meeting the talons mid-swipe. Its claws raked across the vulture's scales, forcing it to veer aside, but the sheer force of the wingbeat slammed Ashan against a boulder.
The calf bleated in panic.
The vulture circled in the air for another strike.
Ashan's hand found the Heavenly Whip. His breath was ragged, his chest a furnace of fear and adrenaline. He remembered the wolf's words: If you die, I die.
The vulture screamed again — and dove.
Instinct took over. Ashan snapped the whip upward. The cord arced through the air, glowing brighter than before. But this time, it didn't stop at a crack — the whip split in two.
No… not split. Doubled.
From the original cord unfurled a second, ethereal strand of pure lightning, mirroring its movements.
The whip struck.
Both cords lashed into the vulture's chest — one physical, one pure energy. The sound was like the sky itself tearing. Sparks exploded, dancing across the beast's feathers.
The vulture shrieked and tumbled sideways, crashing into the cliffside and shattering stone in its wake.
Ashan staggered, staring at the weapon in his hand. The second cord flickered, then coiled back into the first as though it had never existed.
The wolf landed beside him, eyes wide. "The Whip's Second Fang…" It almost sounded impressed. "That power can strike both body and soul. Even cultivators fear it."
Ashan's legs felt like water. "I didn't even know it could do that!"
"Neither did I." The wolf glanced skyward. The vulture was already pulling itself free from the rock, smoke rising from its scorched feathers. "And it still lives. We must move!"
They ran — up narrow ledges, across crumbling ridges, through patches of thorn and shale. The calf clung to Ashan's arms, unnervingly silent now, as though it knew the gravity of what hunted them.
The vulture's shadow followed them the whole way.
Hours passed before the cliffs gave way to the higher passes of the mountain. Ashan collapsed against a cold stone wall, every muscle screaming.
The wolf scanned the skies, its voice low. "It won't give up easily. But you've wounded it — and more importantly, you've awakened part of the whip's true nature."
Ashan groaned. "Great. Can we awaken the part where it just teleports us somewhere safe?"
The wolf ignored his sarcasm. "There is a place beyond these peaks — the Temple of the First Shepherd. If the legends are true, the one who holds the Heavenly Whip can find sanctuary there… and answers."
Ashan looked up at the jagged horizon.
He didn't know what waited beyond those mountains, but one thing was clear — if the vulture didn't kill him, the path to that temple might.