The mana still burned in his veins.
Kael'thir stood over the fallen Ravager, his breath slow, steady, controlled.
His body was different now.
The change was subtle but absolute.
His muscles had thickened. His balance had sharpened. His claws felt stronger, sharper, heavier.
But it was his wings that felt it the most.
They twitched behind him, no longer the useless, frail appendages that had burdened him since birth.
The mana from his kills had settled into them, saturating the bones, twisting through the membranes, reinforcing the tendons.
His body was telling him something.
Soon.
He could almost taste the sky.
But not yet.
Not yet.
Kael'thir exhaled, licking the last remnants of blood from his fangs.
It was time to move forward.
The canyon stretched beyond him, rising higher, cutting through the land like an ancient scar.
Kael'thir could feel it—stronger prey lay ahead.
More worthy kills.
The creatures watching from the shadows had changed, too.
They had sensed what he had done.
They knew now—
He was no longer just another predator.
He was something beyond them.
Something that could not be challenged lightly.
Good.
Let them fear him.
Let them watch him rise.
Kael'thir's tail flicked once as he began to move.
The fox followed.
She always did.
His body still ached from battle.
The Ravager had not been a simple hunt.
It had forced him to struggle.
To adapt.
To fight differently.
Kael'thir knew he had won because he had been smarter.
Not just stronger.
And that, more than anything, confirmed something for him.
The next fight would be harder.
The next kill would not be easy.
It never would be.
And that was exactly how it should be.
He would welcome it.
Because every kill, every challenge, every fall made him stronger.
And strength was all that mattered.
The wind shifted.
Kael'thir's nostrils flared.
A new scent.
Not blood.
Not rot.
Something else.
Something… familiar.
Kael'thir slowed, his crimson eyes narrowing.
His instincts whispered—
Not prey.
Not like before.
This was something different.
Something like the warrior he had slain.
His tail curled, his mind sharpening.
A new kind of hunt.
He would see what kind of prey this was.
And if it was worthy—
He would devour it, too.
Kael'thir began to move.
The fox followed.
And ahead—
Something was waiting.