“Don’t let it set the tremor,” Jao barked. “If it burrows whole, we lose it—and the pass.”
Kira planted her staff and leapt, her kinsect springing to life. It dove, singing through the heat, and struck a glowing seam along the creature’s flank. The beast howled—an earth-shaking sound that rolled through the basin and sent pebbles skittering like frightened frogs. Steam hissed from its seams, and a shower of glassy shards rained down. The hunters dodged under a canopy of sparks.
Outside, snow began to lace the air with quiet. Somewhere beyond the light, a distant rumble promised new stories. Kira raised her cup alone for a heartbeat—for the hunters gone, for the monsters slain, and for the thin, wild thread that tied them all to the land they both loved and feared.
They left before dawn. Lanterns bobbed like steady stars while the caravan’s wagons rolled out. The air tasted of wet stone and pine. Birds made nervous clouds above as they took to the thermals. By midday the path narrowed, and the wind began to carry a low, metallic hum.
“Elder’s orders,” grumbled Jao, the hammer-wielding sergeant, rubbing at a scar that ran from temple to jaw. “We clear the pass, or the trade routes close for the season. Simple as that.”