Veyra moved into position, arrow notched, eyes narrowing. Dren lifted his mace, eyes blazing. Grok shifted his shield forward, creating cover.
The leader roared, muscles swelling as it heaved against Thorn's vines. But the party closed in, ready to strike as one. Thorn held the Bronze II in place, vines straining. Karl struck for its eye, but the tusked beast jerked free.
"Strike at Joint—behind the leg!" Veyra called.
Karl drove his spear into the gap behind its foreleg. Grok slammed his shield into the tusks, forcing the beast's head aside. Dren's mace came down like thunder, cracking bone.
The Razorhog screamed, throwing Thorn loose in a spray of dirt.
Veyra's arrow hissed through the chaos, burying deep in its throat. Karl surged in, finishing with a hard thrust through its eye.
The leader fell with a crash, shaking the earth beneath their feet.
The fight was brutal but precise. Karl claimed the Essence Crystals from the boars, and with Grok and Dren's sturdy strength, they hauled the carcasses back toward the Sanctuary.
Hours slipped by as the hunt went on. They killed a Moonfang Hare, Bronze I, its silver fur gleaming in twilight. A Cloudfeather Shrike, Bronze II, dropped from the sky in a scatter of razor-sharp feathers. Later, they cornered a Scaled Shadowfox, Bronze II, its obsidian scales dulling only after its last breath.
Their packs grew heavy with meat, hides, and Essence Crystals—resources that would strengthen both their bodies and the Sanctuary's reserves.
A sharp cry cut through the forest. Ember dove from the canopy, landing on Karl's arm, wings twitching, feathers bristling with urgency.
Karl held up a hand, signaling the hunt was done.
"Back to the Sanctuary," he said firmly, voice steady, leaving no room for argument.
The group moved as one, carrying their hard-earned prizes through the dim forest, the glow of the Sanctuary now a guiding beacon ahead.
As soon as Karl and his hunting party crossed the barrier, the weight of their spoils became apparent. The air of safety within the Sanctuary seemed sharper, steadier after the tense hours outside.
"Separate the meat and materials," Karl ordered firmly, his voice carrying across the clearing. "Food into the warehouse, hides and bones to Toren to create weapons."
He gathered the shimmering crystals from their kills—four Bronze I and three Bronze II essence crystals—before heading toward the treehouse with Thorn and Ember by his side.
The others moved without pause. Lysa and Renn began with the boar meat, laying it neatly into storage racks. Mira worked quickly, hands sure as she sorted organs into clay jars, murmuring softly about tonics she could brew. Grok and Dren shouldered the heavier loads, tusks and armored hides thudding as they set them by the forge. Toren was already waiting, eyes sharp, hammer in hand.
The clearing filled with quiet rhythm—the scrape of wood, the clang of metal, the rustle of leaves. The Sanctuary, for a moment, felt alive with purpose.
Inside the treehouse, Karl faced Ember. She ruffled her feathers, eyes sharp with unspent urgency. Thorn settled close, vines twitching faintly, already acting as the bridge for their bond.
Karl folded his arms. "All right, Ember. Tell me what you found."
Ember tilted her head, amber eyes flashing, but even with her growing intelligence, Karl couldn't piece together her urgent cries and wing gestures. Instead, he reached out through Thorn's bond. A ripple of thought, sharp and electric, poured into him—Ember's memories shared through Thorn like echoes of lightning.
The information she found is—
A rival Lord's barrier glowing pale in the northeast, its edges pulsing steadily.
Hunters moving within it—armed men and beasts working together to bring down prey.
No signs of preparation for war or rallying of troops. Only survival, just like them.
Karl let out a long breath, some of the tension draining from his shoulders. "So… they're focused on beasts, not us." For now, but Ember's urgency had not faded. She shrieked once, feathers bristling, before turning her thoughts outward again.
While Sylas moved in the shadows, Ember had taken to the skies, Storm Sense thrumming through her chest like a taut bowstring. Her amber eyes scanned the forest floor below as she circled above in sky
It didn't take long, in a clearing beyond the twisted tree teemed with movement of wolf pack. Seven in all, four they already knew: scarred, lean predators that had tested their barrier before. But three more prowled among them—Bronze I wolves, younger yet fierce, their eyes glowing faintly in the dim light.
Ember's feathers bristled. The pack was larger than before, their coordination uncanny. She shrieked softly, a note carried on the wind, then rose higher to avoid detection.
But one of the alphas paused, ears pricking, eyes sharp. For a tense heartbeat, it gazed skyward. Ember froze mid-flight, wings spread wide, gliding with the air currents until its attention shifted back to the pack. Only then did she wheel away, heart pounding, carrying news for Karl.
Karl's grip on his spear tightened. Information provided by Ember still crackled through his mind like echoes of lightning, but the image that lingered most was the wolves—seven of them now, their eyes glowing, their movements too deliberate to dismiss as mere beasts.
He stood. "Everyone. Gather beneath the treehouse. Now."
The summons obeyed quickly. Grok and Dren left their loads at Toren's forge; Mira wiped her hands free of herbs and ash; Sylva brushed soil from her green-stained fingers. Renn and Veyra came up from the stores, quiet but alert. Toren followed last, soot still smudging his scarred arms. Thorn prowled behind Karl, vines swaying, while Ember perched high, feathers ruffled and eyes gleaming.
Karl let the silence stretch as they assembled. The flicker of firelight painted the gathered faces—scarred, tired, determined. Then he spoke.
"Ember has returned from scouting, and the news isn't good."
Murmurs rippled through the group.
"There is no movement from lord we earlier discovered, they're focused on survival. No signs of war, no troops marching this way." Relief flashed in some faces—Sylva's quiet exhale, Renn's small nod. But Karl's tone sharpened as he went on.
"But the wolves…" He let the words hang. "There are seven now. Four that we have encountered before and three more, younger, Bronze I beast. They are moving in a pack—I think when the barrier will fall, they'll be the first to strike."
"They're no longer just beasts we can ignore," Karl said quietly. "They're a threat that must be eliminated."
Veyra's voice was calm but cold. "Seven wolves. Dangerous, but not unbeatable—if we strike first."
Renn nodded. "If we wait, that will make thing worse. Barrier is going to fall tomorrow; it will be fine if only wolves attack but I think that rival lord might take advantage of that movement we are fighting those wolves. Which we will not be able to handle, that's why we need to handle wolf pack as soon as possible.
Dren slammed his mace into his shield with a booming clang. "Then let's hunt them. Tear them apart before they even stepped in our territory."
Renn crossed his arms, voice measured. "If we do this, we will need to make sufficient preparation. Their hides are tough, and we don't have number advantage. A clean fight won't be possible."
Mira raised a vial, her tone grim. "Sylva and I have already brewed some toxins and vitality potion that will help use a lot.
Karl's gaze swept across them all. "Good. Then listen carefully. This battle decides whether we can truly establish ourselves here or not, so everyone prepare yourself well.
He exhaled slowly, then spoke with clarity. "We currently have eight Bronze Level I Essence Crystals and three Bronze Level II. I plan to use four crystals for summons before the battle."
That stirred whisper. Finally, Toren asked the question hanging in the air: "Why not all eleven? Tomorrow's battle won't be easy."
Karl nodded, as if expecting it. "We could summon all eleven, yes. But the Level II crystals don't increase the odds of calling higher-ranked summons. Using them for summoning would be a waste. And as for the rest—I'd rather keep them in reserve. If one of the new summon shows special potential, I can strengthen them with the remaining crystals."
The reasoning sound good so no one argued further.