Kael'thir moved through the canyon, his claws scraping against the stone, his body stronger, faster, sharper.
The warrior had escaped him.
A first.
Kael'thir had never faced something that could match him, evade him, and survive.
It burned in his mind, like a wound that refused to heal.
It had escaped.
But it had not won.
Next time, he would not allow it to leave alive.
His wings twitched.
The mana from his kills had reshaped them.
He could feel it—his body was different now.
Stronger.
Closer.
Not yet.
But soon.
The sky was waiting.
And he would claim it.
The fox moved beside him now.
Not behind.
Not at a distance.
But with him.
Something had changed.
Kael'thir could feel it, even if he did not understand it yet.
She had seen the warrior.
She had seen his first true battle.
And now, she had stepped forward.
Not as prey.
Not as a spectator.
But as something else.
Kael'thir did not know what.
But he would.
In time.
For now—
He hunted.
The wind carried the scent of something new.
Kael'thir stopped.
His nostrils flared, pupils narrowing to slits.
Not blood.
Not rot.
Not a beast.
Something else.
Something unnatural.
His instincts whispered—
Not prey.
Not a warrior.
Something in-between.
Something wrong.
Kael'thir's claws flexed against the stone.
He turned his head slightly.
The fox had stopped as well.
She smelled it too.
Her golden eyes were locked onto the horizon, ears flicked forward in focus.
She did not move.
She did not grin.
For the first time, she was tense.
That was new.
Kael'thir's tail curled slightly.
He did not like uncertainty.
If she was wary—
Then this thing ahead was worth hunting.
And killing.
He began to move.
The terrain changed as Kael'thir followed the scent.
The canyon widened, the walls stretching out to reveal a broken valley.
Scattered bones littered the ground—some small, others massive.
Remains of creatures Kael'thir had never seen before.
He moved through them silently, his eyes sweeping across the wasteland.
There was no decay.
No stench of rot.
The bones were clean.
Stripped of flesh.
As if they had been devoured completely.
Kael'thir's instincts sharpened.
Something had killed here.
Not for survival.
Not for hunger.
For something else.
And it was still nearby.
A shift in the wind.
A flicker of movement.
Kael'thir froze.
His pupils contracted into razor-thin slits.
Something was watching him.
Not from above.
Not from behind.
From beneath.
The ground trembled.
Kael'thir's muscles tensed.
Then—
The earth split open.
A massive, gaping maw burst forth, lined with rows of jagged teeth, snapping toward him like a living trap.
Kael'thir moved on instinct.
His body twisted sharply, claws scraping against the dirt as he threw himself backward just before the monstrous jaws could clamp shut.
The canyon floor exploded, dust and rock raining down as something tore its way free from the earth.
A nightmare of twisted flesh and bone.
The creature was massive, nearly the length of the canyon itself.
A serpentine horror, its body made of blackened chitin and bone, its many-limbed form shifting and writhing as it uncoiled from the earth.
Its head was a mass of snapping jaws, jagged fangs dripping with thick, bubbling saliva that hissed against the stone.
It had no eyes.
Only empty sockets, deep and hollow.
Yet, Kael'thir knew.
It could see him.
Feel him.
Sense him.
It had been waiting.
It had been hunting.
And now—
It had found him.
Kael'thir's tail curled behind him, his wings half-spread as he lowered his stance.
The creature was not like the Ravager.
Not like the raptors.
Not like any prey he had faced before.
This was something born of hunger itself.
And Kael'thir knew, deep in his core—
This thing did not die easily.
It had taken everything else in this valley.
It had survived here for who knows how long.
It had been the strongest.
Until now.
Kael'thir exhaled slowly.
That was fine.
That was perfect.
Because he was no longer a simple hunter.
He was no longer fighting to live.
He was fighting to ascend.
Kael'thir's claws flexed.
His instincts whispered—
This is what you need.
A true challenge.
A true kill.
A true meal.
He lifted his head, crimson eyes gleaming.
Then—
He lunged.
The battle began in an instant.
The creature struck first, its massive body whipping forward like a viper, its many limbs tearing across the stone, its jaws snapping too fast for something its size.
Kael'thir barely dodged.
The force of the strike sent shockwaves through the canyon, deep cracks spreading through the rock where it had landed.
Kael'thir twisted midair, his tail lashing toward its exposed side—
His claws raked against its shell.
A loud, grating screech.
His attack had barely scratched it.
Kael'thir's eyes narrowed.
Thick armor.
Too thick.
If his claws couldn't tear through it—
Then he would find another way.
The creature came again.
Faster than before.
Kael'thir moved with it, dodging left, then right, then underneath, weaving between its monstrous limbs as it crashed into the canyon walls.
It was strong.
Unreasonably strong.
But it was not precise.
It relied on sheer power, brute force.
And that was a mistake.
Kael'thir saw the pattern now.
The way it moved.
The way it struck wildly, overpowering everything before it.
That had worked—until it met him.
Kael'thir exhaled slowly.
His mind sharpened.
His claws flexed.
It was time to hunt properly.
No rushing.
No mindless attacks.
Just calculated destruction.
He would tear this thing apart.
Piece by piece.
And by the time it realized what had happened—
It would already be dead.
Kael'thir grinned.
Then, he struck.