Mia was out of her depth. Her boots skidded across the wet cave floor as she backed away from the cages, her brain failing to process all the horror they'd just uncovered. This wasn't just some illegal beast collection—this was an entire trafficking operation. Dozens, maybe hundreds of beasts crammed behind hidden barriers, their strength leeched for profit or violence.
"We need to get out. Now," she said, her voice sharper than she intended.
Professor Hootsworth gave a curt nod, his eyes hard. "Agreed. There's no telling when the syndicate will return."
Nutmeg's ears flicked rapidly. "Something's already on the move. I hear… wings. Lots of them."
Mia didn't hesitate. She yanked her pack open and pulled out a small red capsule—a gift from Lira, the eccentric enchantment specialist she'd met back during the academy orientation. It was no bigger than a walnut, but Lira had claimed it was one of her best inventions.
"Emergency escape capsule," she had said. "Squeeze it and run. It'll know what to do."
Mia squeezed it once. The capsule clicked. Twice. A low hum began to resonate. On the third squeeze, it popped open with a flash of blue light, expanding into a full dome-shaped energy barrier that surrounded the three of them.
The air around them shimmered as the dome adapted to the environment, masking their heat signature and forming a temporary protective field. A heartbeat later, they bolted from the cave.
"Let's go!" Mia shouted, grabbing Nutmeg's arm as they scrambled onto Hootsworth's back.
The moment they were secured, Hootsworth launched upward, wings straining against the wind and storm as they pierced through the canopy. Rain battered them. Thunder roared overhead. But they were flying, and the forest dropped beneath them.
Mia dared a glance over her shoulder. Nothing.
"We're clear?" she asked.
"I don't think—" Nutmeg began, but was cut off by the sound of something slicing the air behind them.
A shrill mechanical screech echoed from the treetops as a squad of gleaming metallic birds burst through the trees. Sleek and silver, with glowing crimson eyes and thrusters embedded in their wings—Laser Falcons.
"Go! Go!" Mia shouted, her hands gripping the barrier's edge as Hootsworth banked hard to the left.
A flash of red lit the sky, and a sizzling blast of laser fire shot past them—missing by less than a meter. It struck the barrier, sending a ripple of red cracks spidering across its surface.
"Those aren't wild beasts!" Professor Hootsworth barked. "They're engineered constructs—probably remote-controlled!"
Nutmeg turned his body, holding tight with his legs as he summoned up his limited arsenal of long-range attacks. A flash of green energy crackled in his paw as he launched a barrage of thorny vines like spears at the pursuing falcons.
The vines struck one falcon square in the head, knocking it sideways into a tree—but three more took its place instantly.
"Barrier's holding!" Mia yelled. "For now!"
"The field is one-directional," Hootsworth shouted through the wind. "It can shield us from outside attacks but won't block our own. Nutmeg—keep them back!"
Nutmeg nodded and let loose another barrage, this time mixing it with a pulse of pure mana that arced between two falcons and sent them crashing into each other in a fiery spiral.
Behind them, the rest of the falcons adjusted course, coordinating in formation. They began circling, flanking from both sides.
Mia's heart pounded. "They're herding us! Trying to force us into an ambush!"
Professor Hootsworth flared his wings and dove suddenly, twisting around a burst of red energy that narrowly missed slicing through his feathers. His talons grazed the treetops as he pulled into a corkscrew spin, forcing the falcons to adjust and break formation.
Another laser fired—this one faster, brighter, angrier.
It clipped the barrier just below Nutmeg, leaving a deep, glowing gouge in the shield.
"Thirty percent barrier degradation," Hootsworth reported grimly. "We don't have long."
Mia cursed under her breath. "Lira, if I make it through this, I'm hugging you for a week."
They rose higher, banking sharply to escape the storm clouds, hoping the thinner air would dissuade the falcons. For a few seconds, the sky opened again, a thin line of blue breaking through the gloom. The sun's rays cast a golden sheen across Hootsworth's wings, and for just a heartbeat, it felt like they might actually make it.
Then it hit.
A beam of light ten times thicker than the others exploded from the treetops. It slammed into the barrier with a shriek like grinding steel. The world went white. The shield buckled inward, red cracks expanding like veins across every surface.
Professor Hootsworth screamed as the blast sent him lurching off balance. His wings faltered.
"We're falling!" Nutmeg yelled.
Mia clutched his fur with one hand and the saddle harness with the other as the wind whipped past her ears. Her stomach dropped as the ground raced toward them. The force of the beam had nearly shattered the shield, and with Hootsworth dazed from the impact, they were in a rapid, uncontrolled descent.
Branches snapped. Wind roared.
The last thing Mia saw before her vision blurred from the g-force was the forest canopy splitting open like a maw beneath them—and the jagged rocks waiting below.