The big man saw it coming. He sharply planted his feed on the ground, raising his greatsword horizontally.
"Come on then!" Thane roared.
The alpha's talons met the blade. Metal shrieked against scale. For a moment, they were locked—monster and hunter, both refusing to give ground.
Then Reven moved.
He crossed the distance in seconds, the Razorwing integration still allowing him speed beyond normal hunter capabilities. His hands still glowed with residual heat from the Emberstone and found the alpha's exposed flank where wing met body.
And he grabbed it as hard he could.
The alpha's scales were thick. Resistant. Designed to withstand its own fire breath and the thermal environment of volcanic regions.
But Reven wasn't using normal fire.
He was using heat stored from Calamity-touched integration, channeled through hands that had been altered by something that had ended civilizations. The scales didn't just burn—they melted. Flesh underneath cauterized instantly. The alpha's blood—superheated, viscous—hissed when it contacted air.
The creature thrashed. Twisted. Trying to dislodge him.
Reven held on. Pushing deep, as far as he could manage. All to find the gap between its ribs where the heart would be.
And released everything the Emberstone had stored.
The alpha's chest cavity exploded from internal pressure. Not violently. Not outwardly. The heat simply had nowhere to go except into the creature's own organs.
It died before it hit the ground.
Four down.
The remaining drakes froze. The subsonic coordination cut off mid-pulse. For several seconds, they hung in the air, wings beating automatically, staring at their fallen alpha.
Seeing this, they scattered. Not having an alpha to lead them anymore, they moved without coordination for the first time. No strategy. Only panic.
Reven watched them go, but couldn't pursue. His hands were still smoking. His chest felt hollow where the Emberstone had emptied itself. The Razorwing integration was fading quickly.
He looked at Thane.
The big man was staring at him with an expression somewhere between awe and concern.
"What?" Reven asked.
"Your hands. They were glowing."
"Heat manipulation. Part of what I integrated."
"That's not—" Thane stopped. "Normal hunters don't do that. Normal anything doesn't do that."
"I'm not normal anymore."
"No." Thane sheathed his greatsword slowly. "No, you're really not."
Harvesting the alpha took an hour.
Reven worked methodically, using his Calamity Sight to identify the best materials. Thane watched from a distance, occasionally helping when physical strength was needed but otherwise staying quiet.
The alpha's flame sac was exceptional.
[MATERIAL: SCORCHWING ALPHA FLAME SAC]
- QUALITY:HIGH-GRADE
- ESSENCE:CONCENTRATED FIRE AFFINITY
HIDDEN PROPERTIES:
Sac contains crystallized flame essence (rare in Scorchwings). Thermal output 47% higher than standard alpha specimens. Structure suggests abnormal development—possibly environmental factor.
- ASSESSMENT: SUITABLE FOR ADVANCED CRAFTING, ENCHANTMENT WORK, OR HIGH-QUALITY INTEGRATION
"This is incredible," Reven muttered, carefully extracting the organ. "This shouldn't exist in a standard Scorchwing. Something changed this alpha. It's way stronger than it should be."
"Can you use it?"
"For crafting, definitely. For integration..." Reven considered. "Maybe. If I can handle the essence concentration."
He continued working. delicately as if he were a butcher. Gathering the talons from the alpha. Wing membrane from two of the fallen drakes. Scales that had survived the heat he had unleshed through the drakes. By the time he finished, they had enough materials to keep Haven's Reach supplied for weeks.
Thane helped carry the haul. They walked back in silence for a while.
"You fight like someone who's been broken and learned to make the pieces sharper."
Reven glanced at him. "You sound like you speak from experience."
"Maybe I do." Thane's expression was distant. "My family expected me to be perfect. Strong. Obedient. The ideal heir to carry on their legacy. When I didn't fit that mold—when I couldn't be what they wanted—they tried to break me into the right shape."
"And?"
"And I broke. But not the way they intended." He grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes. "So I left. I found my own path. I found my own definition of what strength meant." He looked at Reven. "You did something similar, didn't you?"
"I didn't have a choice. My guild used me as bait. They left me to die. I survived, but it changed me into... this." Reven gestured at himself—the fading glow from his hands, the crimson veins barely visible under his skin. "Now I'm trying to figure out if that change was worth it."
"Was it?"
"Ask me after we hunt the Colossus."
Thane laughed—genuine this time. "You passed Mira's test, by the way. She's going to hate that."
"You think she'll let me hunt the Colossus?"
"I think she'll insist on coming with you. And trust me—you want her there." Thane shifted the material bundle. "She's the best tactical hunter I've ever seen. It's like she is always three moves ahead. Sees angles nobody else does. If anyone can figure out how to kill something unkillable, it's her."
"And you?"
"Me? I just hit things really hard until they stop moving." He grinned. "But I'm very good at it."
They continued walking. Haven's Reach came into view over the next ridge—small, struggling, but still standing.
"Thane?" Reven said quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. For coming. For having my back."
"Don't mention it." The big man clapped him on the shoulder—hard enough that Reven stumbled slightly. "Besides, someone had to make sure you didn't die embarrassingly. It would have been a waste of good craftsmanship."
They reached the gates together.
Mira was waiting, arms crossed, expression carefully neutral.
"You're alive," she said.
"Surprisingly, yes."
"Both of you."
"Teamwork." Thane dumped the material bundle at her feet. "Also, your exile friend here can apparently melt drake scales with his bare hands. Thought you should know."
Mira looked at the materials. At the high-grade flame sac visible through the bundle's opening. At Reven's hands, which were still faintly smoking.
"We need to talk," she said. "Council meeting. One hour. Both of you."
She walked away.
Thane watched her go. "Told you she'd be impressed."
"That wasn't impressed. That looked like she was concerned."
"With Mira, they're the same thing." Thane headed toward the barracks. "I'm going to clean my gear and maybe sleep for a week. You coming?"
"In a minute."
Reven stood at the gate, looking at Haven's Reach. At the flickering heartstone. At the settlement that had given him a chance when nobody else would.
He'd proven himself in an actual hunt. He had shown them he could hunt real threats. Earning the right to attempt the impossible.
Now came the hard part: actually doing it.
His hands stopped smoking. The last of the Emberstone's heat dissipated. The Razorwing integration would fade momentarily.
But the memory remained. The feeling of moving faster than he should. Of channeling heat like a weapon. Of standing beside someone who had his back without question or judgment.
For the first time since the Obsidian Trench, Reven felt something that might have been hope.
Not certainty. Not confidence.
Just the possibility that maybe—maybe—he could actually pull this off.
He shouldered his supply pack and followed Thane toward the settlement.
Eighty-one days until the heartstone failed.
Time to start planning the impossible.