---
[Ding! Warning! Warning! Host be careful. Danger ahead!]
A boulder at the tree line lurched upright. Bronze eyes burned in the gloom. Granite plates slide over sinew as the adult Stoneclad Raptor unfolded all four limbs. Beside it, a second silhouette shook off bracken needles, bigger, the mate. They had stalked through the entire day of ridges, masking their mana beneath earth-element hides until now, Few hundred metres from the tower.
Zephyr's shout ripped the hush. "FENNA… RAPTORS!"
The nearest beast launched, dust and stone spraying from its kick. Zephyr rolled aside as talons slammed into frozen turf where he'd knelt. The second raptor sprinted past him, straight for the door.
Inside, Star jerked awake, wings flaring. Fenna vaulted to her feet as tower stones shuddered under the monster's charge.
Zephyr drew a short iron knife he'd sleeved beneath his cloak. "First real fight," he thought, no controlled arena, no instructors with whistles. Only teeth and luck.
"Command Link: Spark Wing!" The blood bound order lashed across the beast bond.
Star burst through the doorway, a streak of violet fire, slashing the raptor's flank. Sparks off granite scales skittered like comets. The beast bellowed, hiding undented but balance broken. Fenna hurled a clay vial; it shattered on the raptor's shoulder, half the hide frosting white, half igniting in blue flame. The creature screeched, steam wreathing its head.
Zephyr pivoted to the first raptor that had turned on him. It lunged again, faster than the last strike and the knife met talon with a crack. Pain stung up his wrists; the creature's strength was monstrous even for rank E. He slid back, boots carving lines in frost.
"Star… Flank! Fenna, smoke sage now!"
The dragonling banked around, wings scything air, violet glow brightening as the Draconic Enhancement still pumped through his veins. He spat a tight fan of ember-dust across the second raptor's eyes. It roared, blinded, stamping embers out with stone shod claws.
Fenna dashed to Zephyr's side, snapping two bundles of sage and thornmint against flint. Pungent smoke roiled outward, masking their scent.
But Stoneclads hunted by tremor more than smell.
A tremor ripple shivered the earth. Star's landing had given them the range. The first raptor tracked the vibration, head tilting, golden eyes narrowing. It lunged again through the haze, jaws wide.
Zephyr hurled himself left, barely clearing the reach. Talon tips raked his shoulder, cloak torn, skin sliced. Warm blood soaked linen.
Instinct answered. "Dragon Pulse!" He slammed the butt of his knife down.
"Star, Tail attack! Just like we practiced today."
The dragonling dove like a thrown dagger, tail-blades shearing across the beast's muzzle. Blood beaded, sizzling against violet sparks. The wounded raptor shrieked and snapped, but Star had already boosted away.
Fenna flanked Zephyr, pressing a quick-seal leaf over his cut. "We can't out-muscle them," she hissed. "Need choke point."
"The tunnel." The narrow crawlway where they'd hidden after the theft lay a hundred strides uphill.
He sends his command to Star, "Retreat while attacking." Star answered with a descending trill and swept low across the second raptor, drawing its attention.
Zephyr and Fenna sprinted for the slope. Behind, talons pounded, shale cracked. Moonlight flickered on moving armor.
Star flipped mid-air, tucking wings, then flared wide, dumping speed to cling to the blinded raptor's nape. Small claws sought the joint between neck plates, violet sparks hissed into the wound. The beast bucked, smashing back against a pine. Bark exploded, but Star clung fast, channeling the lingering Draconic Boost, each second buying them ground.
The first raptor barreled past its mate, locked on the fleeing humans. Fenna tossed another tonic, it burst at its feet, ice slicking stone. The creature skidded, regained, vaulted over the slick with terrifying agility.
Zephyr saw the tunnel mouth ahead, a dark grin in the cliff face. "Star, disengage! Xenon swoop!"
The dragonling sprang off the raptor's back, beating air in the signature broken-wing pattern that lured predator reflex. Both beasts' heads snapped skyward, prey instinct. Star dove between trunks (mostly jumping) and banked after Zephyr, tucking in behind.
They reached the cleft. Zephyr shoved Fenna into the narrow gap first, then spun to guard the entrance. Only two strides wide raptors would have to squeeze, losing leverage. He planted feet, staff horizontally across the opening.
Fenna dragged a satchel of rune pegs from her belt. "Hold them three breaths."
The leading raptor crashed into the constriction without slowing. Granite plates grated against rock. It wedged, shoulders too broad, screeching fury. Talons carved sparks from stone trying to reach Zephyr.
"Breath one," Fenna muttered, hammering a peg into the left wall. Blue runes lit.
Zephyr jammed the knife between jaw and cliff, forcing the beast's head up. Hot carrion breath washed his face. He gagged, shoved harder. "Easy, boy. Dinner's inside if you reach," he taunted.
"Breath two." Second peg. Violet glow ribboned across the gap like spider-silk.
Stone behind Zephyr shuddered, the second raptor ramming the first from behind, trying to force it through. Claws scored Zephyr's boot sole. He cursed, weight sliding.
"Breath three." Fenna slammed the final peg home. "Down!"
Zephyr dropped. The rune threads snapped bright and cold, Stasis Web. A pane of luminous force laced the entrance, freezing everything it touched. The first raptor's foreclaws and snout locked mid-air, crystalline sheen creeping over armor. The second beast recoiled, howling, spine plates rattling.
A heartbeat of silence clung to the gorge.
Then the web cracked. Hairline fractures chased the runes, purple bleeding to white. Zephyr scrambled backward, dragging Fenna deeper into the crawl. "Not holding," he whispered. "They're too heavy."
Star squeezed past them, tail lashing. He planted himself before the shattering barrier, chest blazing violet. Core Resonance, the dragonling drew directly on the C-rank core's aura, his body acting as conduit. Light flared harsher, webs reforging with new density. He launched a huge fireball from his mouth.