The wind at the edge of the Grey Peaks didn’t just blow; it bit. It carried the scent of wet slate, ancient pine, and something that didn’t belong: the metallic tang of polished steel.
Shino crouched on a jagged outcropping of obsidian, her pale blue hair whipping against her cheeks. To any human eye, she would have been invisible—a ghost in leather and fur blending into the shadows of the cliff. Her tail, long and tipped with a tuft of soft fur, gave a sharp, rhythmic twitch. It was the only sign of her irritation.
"Three carriages. Twelve mounted guards. Four footmen," she whispered, her voice like the rustle of dry leaves.
On her shoulder, a falcon with feathers the color of frost let out a low, sharp click.
"I know, Hecate," Shino murmured, her golden eyes narrowing as she adjusted the grip on her composite longbow. "It’s a lot of noise for a simple diplomatic crossing. They’re practically inviting the mountain to eat them."
Below, in the narrow throat of the pass, the royal caravan of the Kingdom of Ober moved with a slow, arrogant grace. The lead carriage was draped in banners of gold and crimson—the colors of Prince Gabriel Ober. Shino had heard of him; the humans called him the 'Golden Heir,' a man who had likely never stepped in mud or gone a day without a hot meal.
Suddenly, the mountain answered her warning.
A low rumble shook the obsidian beneath Shino’s boots. It wasn't an earthquake. From the cavernous mouth of a nearby ridge, a shape erupted—a Manticore. It was a nightmare of matted fur and scorpion-like chitin, its lion-face twisted into a permanent snarl of hunger.
The ambush was perfect. Too perfect.
Shino watched with clinical detachment as the monster smashed into the lead horse. The guards scrambled, their horses bolting in a blind panic. But as the chaos unfolded, Shino’s eyes locked onto a figure stumbling from the wreckage of the central carriage.
Gabriel Ober didn't look like a prince now. His crown was gone, his fine silk tunic was stained with soot, and he was staring directly into the yellow eyes of the beast. The guards were retreating—not falling, but backing away—leaving a clear path between the monster and the heir.
"Betrayal," Shino breathed, her pupils slitting into thin lines.
She hated human politics. She hated their loud cities and their hollow promises. But as she watched Gabriel reach for a sword he clearly didn't know how to use, his face pale with a terror that looked like a mirror of her own past, her hand moved on instinct.
She stood, her boots finding purchase on the very edge of the abyss. She reached back, pulling a heavy, silver-tipped arrow from her quiver.
"Hecate! Sight him!"
The falcon took flight, a blur of white against the grey sky. Shino raised the bow. The world slowed. The screaming of the horses faded. The pounding of her own heart became a steady, rhythmic drum. She didn't look at the monster; she looked at the space exactly three inches above its left eye.
She inhaled, held it, and felt the tension of the string hum against her ear.
Let the wind be my path, she thought, a classic Cait Sith mantra. And the silence be my kill.
She released.
The silver arrow didn't just fly; it hissed through the air, a streak of light cutting through the mountain mist. It passed so close to Gabriel’s head that the wind of its passage ruffled his blonde hair.
A split second later, the Manticore’s head snapped back. The silver tip buried itself deep into the beast’s orbital bone. It let out a gurgling roar, stumbling back from the Prince.
"Move, you idiot!" Shino yelled, her voice echoing off the canyon walls.
Gabriel looked up, his blue eyes wide as he searched the cliffs. He saw her—a small, fierce silhouette against the clouds, already reaching for a second arrow.
Shino didn't wait for him to say thank you. She whistled a sharp, descending note. Hecate dove, talons extended toward the Prince’s cloak, guiding him toward the narrow crevice beneath Shino’s perch.
"The hunt has just started," Shino muttered to herself, her ears pinning back against her head. "And I'm the only one
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who knows the way out."
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and then Add to home screen.