The morning sun had barely risen, but everyone was already gathered.

  Rhyzar stood at the entrance, relaxed as ever, arms crossed, his usual smirk playing on his lips. Dad was there, watching with his customary calm. Mom stood beside him, sipping her morning tea like this was just another day.

  And then there was Lina.

  Lina, who had been watching Rhyzar since the moment he arrived.

  She hadn’t said a word. She hadn’t thrown a tantrum. She hadn’t even greeted him.

  She just… stared.

  Hard.

  She chewed on her plushie like a beaver gnawing on wood, her tiny jaw working furiously. Every few moments, she would stop, pace, turn back, and continue biting.

  Rhyzar blinked at her. Then he looked at Dad. “Uh… what’s going on with this one?”

  Dad waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t mind her.”

  Rhyzar raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off. “Alright then. Let’s go—”

  Before we could move, Lina stepped forward.

  The whole room went still.

  She marched straight up to Rhyzar, stopped in front of him, and beckoned him down with one small hand.

  Rhyzar glanced at me. I had no idea what was happening.

  Cautiously, he leaned down.

  Lina cupped her hands around his ear and whispered, voice low and serious—

  “I’m watching you.”

  Then, without another word, she turned on her heel and walked away, her plushie swinging in her grip.

  Silence.

  Rhyzar blinked after her, brow furrowing. “…What.”

  Dad sipped his tea. “Don’t mind her.”

  I sighed. “Too late.”

  Bobo cackled.

  I stepped outside, expecting to see a carriage. Maybe some magical beast-drawn transport. Something reasonable.

  Instead—nothing.

  Just the open sky, the crisp morning air, and Rhyzar standing like he wasn’t about to drop a bomb on me.

  I frowned. “Uh… how are we getting there?”

  Rhyzar grinned. “We’re flying.”

  I blinked. “Flying?”

  He reached into his jacket and pulled out something that looked like a mix between a mask and a pair of goggles—thick, slightly tinted lenses with a lower half wrapping around like a breathing mask.

  “Put this on,” he said. “You’ll need it to breathe.”

  That made me pause. “…Breathe?”

  “Yeah.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why would I need help breathing—”

  Then he waved his hand.

  The air shifted.

  A shadow loomed over us.

  I tilted my head up—

  And up.

  And up.

  A massive figure took shape, blocking out the sun. Wings, monstrous in size, stretched wide, sending a gust of wind rolling through the yard. Feathers shimmered like polished obsidian, catching the light with an unnatural gleam.

  A beak like sharpened steel. Talons that could crush a carriage.

  A creature so large it looked like a building.

  I stared.

  The ground trembled slightly as the beast settled, its piercing golden eyes locking onto me with an intelligence that sent chills down my spine.

  It was a bird.

  No—not just a bird.

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  A behemoth of the sky.

  I swallowed. “Uh…”

  Rhyzar clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Better put that mask on, kid.”

  I did.

  This creature was massive.

  Did I say massive?

  I meant massive.

  So big I could’ve walked around on its back like strolling through my living room. Actually, bigger than my living room. It was less like riding a beast and more like standing on a floating island with wings.

  Its talons alone? Bigger than my entire body. That beak? It could’ve swallowed ten of me in one gulp and still had room for dessert.

  It was that massive.

  And now, I was standing on it.

  Correction: I was barely staying on it.

  The moment we took off—

  I lost all sense of control.

  The force slammed into me like a physical wall. Wind roared past, pressing against my chest, my limbs, everything. It felt like being hit by an avalanche made of air. My legs buckled, and if it weren’t for Rhyzar gripping the back of my collar, I would’ve been blown clean off.

  Bobo clung to my shoulder, fur flattened against his body, looking like he regretted every life choice that led him here.

  “Relax,” Rhyzar said casually, as if we weren’t tearing through the sky at impossible speed. “The wind won’t kill you. Probably.”

  “Probably?!”

  I tried looking down.

  Bad idea.

  The city was already a blur behind us. One second it was there—the next, it was gone. The world streaked past in stretched-out colors, everything below warping into indistinct shapes. Trees, rivers, valleys—all blending together, consumed by the sheer velocity.

  Mountains.

  That was our destination.

  A vast, towering range loomed ahead, stretching endlessly across the horizon. Peaks rose like jagged fangs, shrouded in mist and wisps of clouds.

  And we were heading straight for them.

  As we got closer, I saw a massive fortress.

  No simple fortress, though. The fortress was the mountain—and the mountain was the fortress.

  It wasn’t just built into it; it bled into the stone itself, like the mountain had grown around the structure for centuries, swallowing it whole but never breaking it. Towering steel walls, reinforced with obsidian-black plating, jutted out from the rock face like jagged teeth. Watchtowers lined the ridges, their sharp spires stabbing toward the sky, each manned by figures in dark uniforms.

  And the people?

  They were everywhere.

  Not with the chaotic bustle of a city or the aimless wandering of a civilian settlement—no, this was something else. Purpose was what defined this place. Every single person was doing something—training in tight formations, sparring in open courtyards, patrolling the perimeter with disciplined efficiency.

  Even from up here, I could see how they moved—sharp, controlled, relentless.

  They weren’t just soldiers. They were something more.

  And the birds—

  Bobo tapped my shoulder, pointing down, and I followed his gaze.

  There were dozens of them. The same gargantuan creatures we rode perched along ridges and landing platforms carved into the cliff. Each one stood like an unshakable pillar of power, talons gripping stone and steel. Some rested, some preened their feathers, but many prepared for flight—soldiers strapping on harnesses, checking gear with practiced precision.

  This wasn’t just a fortress.

  This was a stronghold. A place built for war.

  And we weren’t stopping there.

  We were heading past it.

  Rhyzar stood near the front of the beast, arms crossed, expression unreadable. The wind whipped at his coat, but he barely seemed to notice.

  “We’re not stopping?” I asked, raising my voice over the roaring air.

  He smirked. “No.”

  I frowned. “Then where—”

  “Look ahead.”

  I turned.

  Beyond the fortress, deeper into the mountain range, something else loomed.

  The wind howled as we descended.

  The fortress was already behind us, fading into the distance as Rhyzar’s massive bird carried us downward.

  The descent was too smooth.

  For such a behemoth, I expected turbulence, roaring winds, maybe a stomach-turning drop. Instead, the creature adjusted its wings, angling downward in a slow, controlled glide—silent, calculated, almost unnatural in how effortless it seemed.

  Mountains turned to shadows, the sky shrank into a thin band of light, and below…

  A hole.

  No—a crater.

  Massive. Endless. A wound in the world that shouldn’t exist.

  The closer we got, the more I felt it.

  It swallowed light. A pull, a weight in the air pressing against my chest. This wasn’t just darkness—it was something unsettling.

  The edges weren’t jagged like a collapse or landslide—no, it was something else. Something intentional.

  It felt less like a place—more like an open mouth, waiting.

  Even Bobo, usually thrilled by danger, went still. His ears twitched, his tail flicked, but he made no sound. He just watched.

  Rhyzar stood at the front, arms crossed as usual.

  The beast touched down without a sound, claws sinking into stone like it was flesh. Instantly, the air around us shifted—thicker, heavier, as though the air wasn’t just air anymore. Like something else was pressing in.

  I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

  And then—

  She appeared.

  No sound. No movement. No shift in the air.

  One moment, it was me, Bobo, and Rhyzar.

  The next—she was there.

  Standing in mid-air, just outside the bird’s path.

  She was there.

  Standing, waiting, watching.

  A figure cloaked in darkness, as though she were the shadows themselves. Her body was draped in black, flowing robes woven with feathers darker than night. Her face—what little I could see—was hidden behind a mask. A white mask, smooth and featureless, save for small, blood-red dots lining the forehead.

  My stomach tightened.

  I had questions, so many questions—like, was she even human?

  Something about her presence felt… wrong.

  Yet Rhyzar barely reacted.

  He only nodded. “Prepare the mark.”

  She bowed her head. “It is ready, my lord.”

  His voice didn’t shift. “Make it worth his time.”

  She bowed slightly again. “Yes, my lord.”

  That tone. That obedience.

  My mind filled with questions.

  Who was Rhyzar, really? How strong was he, and who was he to this person?

  I didn’t have time to ask.

  He turned to me.

  “Five hours. Survive.”

  I blinked. “…That’s it?”

  “If you find a way out, leave. If not, stay.” A smirk. “But don’t waste the opportunity.”

  His bird shifted its wings, preparing to ascend.

  I clenched my jaw. “…Any restrictions?”

  “None.”

  Rhyzar’s smirk deepened. “Go all out, boy. Hold nothing back!”

  I barely had time to process those words before—

  The masked woman moved.

  A single step forward—

  And the sigil beneath me pulsed.

  Purplish black energy enveloped me.

  A force gripped me, yanking at my bones. My stomach lurched.

  The air split.

  No warning—just a sudden, gut-wrenching shift—

  Like the universe had blinked.

  Space folded.

  For a fraction of a second, I wasn’t anywhere. Not in the sky. Not on the ground.

  My vision fractured—shapes blurred, colors bled into each other.

  And then—like a gust of wind—

  ZWUFFF.

  I staggered forward, boots scraping against solid ground. My knees nearly buckled.

  Cold. Damp. Stale air.

  A tunnel.

  The sigil was gone.

  The masked woman was gone.

  Rhyzar was gone.

  But something else was here.

  A sound.

  A scrape.

  A shift against stone.

  And then—

  A second sound.

  A third.

  Dozens.

  I clenched my jaw. Alright.

  Let’s begin.