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Star trembled; violet glow faltered. Zephyr felt the drain lash through their bond, raw, burning. He grabbed the dragonling, breaking contact. The web dimmed to dull lilac. The raptor plates caught fire.
"Time bought, not won," Fenna warned.
Zephyr stared at his bruised hands, at Star panting but fierce. The tunnel ran only twenty more meters before narrowing to nothing, beyond that, no escape. "We finish them here or die here."
He pressed his forehead to Star's. "No more running."
Zephyr felt the bloodline thrum again, deeper this time, like a drum under earth. "Listen," he whispered, voice shaking with awe. "I'll guide. You strike."
Star answered with a rising trill that sent dust dancing from the ceiling.
The raptor in the gap ground forward, snapping final strands. The other limped to the flank, half leg on fire but rage driving it.
"Star, attack on my word, Fenna support" Zephyr said.
She drew a crystal bead, thumb on the shatter ridge. Stone cracked; the first beast's head forced through. Amber eyes found Zephyr down the tunnel.
He stepped forward, knife raised. "Come then."
The raptor roared, forcing shoulders, scraping scale sparks. Behind it the mate crouched, ready.
Zephyr felt everything, the raptors' heartbeats like kettledrums, Star's fire racing blood, Fenna's breath feathering his neck. For one suspended instant he knew exactly where every talon would land.
"NOW!"
Fenna pitched the flash-flare; it burst a sun inside the tunnel mouth, blinding stone eyes with raw light. At the same moment Zephyr "Star attack now!" The first raptor stumbled, vision seared, tremor throwing its weight sideways.
A fireball landed across the raptor's exposed throat joint. Scale split; black blood spattered the wall, sizzling where it landed. The beast slammed against the tunnel, wedged anew, screeching fading into a guttural gurgle but not done yet.
Behind it, the limping mate reared, jaws yawning wide to spit a hail of gravel. Stoneclad's shard breath. Pebbles slashed forward, ricocheting off walls.
Zephyr flung himself over Star, felt the barrage rake his back like switchwhips. Pain exploded. Star answered with flame. The shards struck fire, detonating into clouds of steam and grit.
Shapes loomed, half-seen in the haze. The air burned like a forge's breath, thick with blood, stone, and smoke. And the raptors retreated, still burning but not beaten.
Night did not end with a clean victory.
After Star's final fireburst forced the raptors to withdraw, Zephyr, Fenna, and the dragonling spent hours in that cramped tunnel, blades ready, listening to distant screeches fade into the dark. Only when utter silence settled and Dragon Sense felt nothing but mice and dripping meltwater, did they dare limp back to the tower.
Fenna bound Zephyr's shredded shoulder, Star curled up exhausted on his chest, and the three of them collapsed into uneasy sleep while the ruins still smelled of scorched granite and beast blood.
Now, with dawn's first glimmer, quiet hope replaced the night's raw terror.
The stone tower crackled with soft dawn light. Thin beams slipped through broken roof slats, tracing golden ladders across dusty air. Zephyr woke first. His breath steamed in the cold, but warmth pulsed from the blanket‑nest beside him where Star slept curled around the blue‑green beast core. Each soft exhale sent sparks dancing across the dragonling's scales.
Zephyr woke first. Pain throbbed in his bandaged shoulder, but deeper warmth pulsed from the blanket-nest beside him, where Star slept curled around the C-rank beast core, spoils of the raptor nest and proof of last night's grit. Each slow exhale sent tiny sparks dancing across violet scales.
He eased to his knees and brushed a finger along the dragonling's neck. A pleasant hum answered through their bond, bloodline power freshly awakened, bright beneath his skin like sunlight under river ice.
Across the embers of a spent fire, Fenna stirred, blinking hazel eyes. "Morning," she whispered, voice rough from smoke and broken sleep.
"Morning." Zephyr let a weary grin spread. "We're still alive."
She managed a grin of her own. "Barely. Your shoulder?"
"Sore, not ruined." He rotated the joint and hissed. "Thank you for the stitching."
Her gaze slid to the still-smouldering scratches in the doorway stone, proof of raptor talons. "I'll brew a stronger medicine later. But first…" She nodded at Star. "He's ready for the core?"
Zephyr eyed the core. "We have to start sometime. He earned it." He looked back at her. "How bad was my fever last night?"
She shrugged. "Bad. Your bloodline surged trying to feed Star more power. But you're steady now." She lifted the sleeping dragon's wingtip. "He grew again while you snored. New span is, uh, forty-two centimetres."
"Already?" Zephyr's eyebrows shot up. "In one night he grew so much."
As though on cue, Star yawned wide, showing needle-sharp fangs, and chirped smugly. He nudged the core with a fore-claw, then fixed Zephyr with a bright, expectant stare.
Zephyr chuckled. "Impatient hatchling. All right, different menu today. Eat this core. Although some of the power is used up. It can give you a boost."
Star's pupils dilated. Zephyr waited for the System.
"Ready?" he asked.
Star opened his tiny jaws. Zephyr placed the core on his tongue. The dragon closed his mouth and gulped. For a heartbeat nothing happened then his scales rippled, deepening to royal violet. A puff of fire hissed from his nostrils, singeing straw.
Zephyr triggered Command Calm through the bond. Warm waves soothed the flare; Star settled, wings shivering as power threaded into bone and sinew.
Fragment absorbed. Surge avoided. Stats updated. Zephyr exhaled a laugh of relief. Fenna clapped once, softly. "Perfect uptake."
[Benefits of Core Grade C
Safe juvenile dose. Expected gain: +10 Strength, +10 Fire Affinity, +6 Wing Power. Surge risk 2 %.]