Mist clung to the slopes of Arayat Mountain, curling around ancient trees like pale, restless spirits. In the heart of this forbidden land lay Song Village, a settlement of fewer than three hundred souls. The villagers had lived here for generations, their lives entwined with the dangerous beauty of the mountain.
Today, however, the air was heavier than the morning fog.
The funeral pyre stood in the center of the village square, its unlit wood stacked high. A silence hung over the gathered crowd—broken only by the wind whispering through the prayer flags that lined the rooftops. Children huddled close to their mothers, too young to understand why their elders' eyes were rimmed with grief.
At the foot of the pyre knelt Wynn, her small frame stiff with unspoken sorrow. Only fourteen summers old, yet she knelt as the village's newly chosen chief. She had not sought this role; it had been thrust upon her by tragedy.
Her father, Chief Renlan, had fallen only two nights ago. Age had been wearing him down, but it was the wounds—deep, jagged gashes across his back—that had ended him. They were the marks of a Seventh Order Rockfang Boar, a beast of such ferocity that even seasoned warriors feared its charge. He had fought it alone to protect a group of foragers who had ventured too close to its territory. The villagers returned with herbs in their baskets… but without their chief.
The weight of those events pressed down on Wynn like the sky itself.
A hand rested lightly on her shoulder. She looked up to see Elder Tian, the oldest and wisest man in Song Village. His hair was a river of white, his face lined by decades of wind and battle. In his deep, calm voice, he began the rites, speaking of Chief Renlan's courage, of his victories, of the peace he had brought during his years of leadership.
When the torch was set to the pyre, flames leapt into the mist, and the villagers bowed their heads. Smoke curled into the sky, carrying the spirit of their leader toward the mountain peaks. Wynn stood there, watching until the last ember faded.
---
The mourning feast that followed was subdued. Villagers spoke in hushed voices, their eyes darting toward Wynn.
"She's too young," one man whispered.
"But she has the Earth-Feathered Eagle," a woman replied.
"Even so… will that be enough?"
Wynn pretended not to hear them, though each word cut deeper than any blade. The Earth-Feathered Eagle—Kaelis, her contracted beast—stood at the edge of the gathering. Its wings, patterned with rich brown and streaks of gold, shimmered faintly even in the dim light. Its amber eyes scanned the crowd with sharp intelligence. Kaelis was still a Fourth Order Beast, but it was already formidable, capable of summoning walls of stone or striking with talons like steel.
Two figures approached Wynn's table.
"Wynn," said Wei Jian, her childhood friend. Tall and broad-shouldered for his age, he carried his spear strapped across his back, his dark hair tied into a warrior's knot. "If anyone doubts you, let me silence them."
Beside him stood Lan Xue, the third of their lifelong trio. She wore her healer's satchel across her chest, the faint scent of crushed spirit herbs clinging to her clothes. "Ignore them," she said softly. "Father always told us that a true leader is judged by her actions, not her years."
Wynn smiled faintly. "I'll need both of you more than ever now."
---
Later that night, she sat alone on the roof of her home, gazing at the moon. Elder Tian joined her, moving with a slow but steady step.
"The flames have barely died," he said, settling beside her, "yet the mountain stirs."
Wynn turned to him, puzzled.
"This morning," Elder Tian continued, "a scout returned from the Western Ridge. A Fifth Order Ironhide Serpent has been spotted coiled around the base of an ancient tree. That tree bears Silver Moon Fruit—a treasure that can accelerate cultivation for both man and beast. It will not be long before Meng Village hears of it."
Wynn's breath caught. The Silver Moon Fruit was rare, ripening only once every twenty years. If Meng Village claimed it, they could raise their Guardian Beast's power beyond the Fifth Order—an advantage Song Village could not afford their rivals to have.
"What would my father have done?" she asked quietly.
Elder Tian's gaze was steady. "He would have gone himself. But now, that duty falls to you."
---
The following dawn, the village square stirred with life as Wynn prepared for the journey. Wei Jian was already there, leaning on his spear with a grin.
"Thought you'd leave without us?" he said.
Lan Xue arrived moments later, her satchel packed with salves and dried herbs. "If you're going to fight an Ironhide Serpent, you'll need me to keep you breathing afterward."
Kaelis descended from the sky in a rush of wind, its wings scattering dust and straw. Its sharp cry echoed against the slopes of Arayat Mountain. Wynn rested her hand on its neck.
"This isn't just about the Silver Moon Fruit," she told them. "If we let Meng Village grow stronger, they'll come for us. And if we let beasts like the serpent claim treasures unchecked, soon even the Ninth Order ones will rule these mountains."
Wei Jian smirked. "Then let's see how much trouble a serpent can give the new chief of Song Village."
Lan Xue shot him a look. "Or how much trouble the new chief will give the serpent."
Wynn's lips curved into a faint smile. "Either way… we return with that fruit."
And so, beneath the shadow of Arayat's towering peaks, they set off together with the elder Tian the scout Mira —into the land where danger was as common as the wind, and every step might bring them closer to glory… or to death..