"I... you fat freak, you broke my wing!" Falcon shrieked back, though he flinched, instinctively shuffling backward on his butt as she took a menacing step forward. "You ruined my status! You humiliated me in front of the whole pack!"
"I’ll do more than humiliate you! I’ll turn your wings into chicken tenders!" Ingrid screamed, rolling up her sleeves. "Come here and say that to my face, you overgrown turkey..."
"What is going on here?!"
An aged voice cut through the chaos and the surrounding crowd of beastmen instantly drop to their knees, bowing their heads.
Ingrid paused, blinking as the atmosphere pressed down on her. From the center path of the village, two tall figures strode into the clearing. Leading the pair was a massive, broad-shouldered man with lion-like golden eyes, thick grey-streaked hair, and a scarred chest wrapped in heavy leather armor.
The Chief of the Pack, Elder Stilles.
Walking right beside him was a sight that made Ingrid’s stomach drop. The second man was clearly older, but his resemblance to Falcon was striking, same hawk-like nose, same sharp brown feathers sprouting along his arms, and the exact same arrogant posture. Except this man carried himself very differently. The original Ingrid’s memory supplied me with his name, Falcon’s father; Hawk.
For a moment, I almost let out a laugh. What with these people’s names? Hawk? Falcon? What next, Horse?
Hawk’s piercing eyes swept over the bruised, crying Falcon sitting in the dirt, took in his dislocated wing, and then locked straight onto Ingrid.
The glare he leveled at her was insane. It was hatred, the kind of look that promised skinning, gutting, and burning at the stake. If looks could incinerate, Ingrid would have been reduced to a pile of fine ash on the spot.
"Dad!" Falcon wailed the second he saw Hawk, instantly turning on the waterworks like a spoiled, battered child. "Look what she did to me! The fat pig went insane! She attacked me, snapped my wing, and tried to murder me! She’s a monster!"
"Quiet, Falcon!" the Chief snapped, though his eyes narrowed dangerously as he surveyed the damage. He turned his heavy gaze to Ingrid. "Ingrid. Explain yourself. How dare you assault an elite warrior of this pack?"
Hawk stepped forward, his avian claws flexing visibly. "There is nothing to explain, Chief! Look at my son! His wing is broken right before the Autumn Hunt! This wretched, useless girl has committed treason against our warrior ranks! I demand her immediate execution! Throw her into the pit of wild beasts!"
The crowd whispered in hushed, terrified tones, already writing Ingrid’s obituary.
Ingrid opened her mouth to yell back, to explain that the little bastard had ambushed her from behind with a dagger, but before she could utter a single word, a dark shadow stepped smoothly into her line of sight.
Lysander.
The snake beastman slid directly between Ingrid and the furious Elder, positioning his sleek, towering frame like an impenetrable wall.
He didn’t draw a weapon nor did he raise his voice. He simply stood there, his tall, lean body shielding her entirely from Elder Vane’s suffocating aura. The rot on the right side of his face seemed to pulse faintly under the sunlight, but his single silver eye locked onto the Chief with absolute, chilling calm.
"Elder Hawk," Lysander’s raspy, dark-velvet voice echoed softly through the quiet clearing, carrying a cold weight that made the temperature drop by ten degrees. "Your son initiated a fight, lost, and then attempted a cowardly sneak attack while her back was turned."
He tilted his head slightly, his tone smooth yet laced with poison. "If anyone belongs in the pit... it is the dishonorable bird whimpering at your feet."
The entire clearing went dead silent. Ingrid stood frozen behind him, her eyes wide as she stared at the back of the single-horned snake who had just shielded her from an entire pack hierarchy.
{ DING! }
The golden system panel popped back up in front of her eyes, completely uninvited.
{ See? He’s protecting you already. Now stop staring at his scales like a creep and start thinking about how you’re going to purge that dark corrosion, Host. You have 24 hours before his Beast Core collapses and takes you both down with it. Happy bonding! }
’Wait, WHAT?!’ Ingrid screamed internally, her jaw dropping all over again. ’Did you just say twenty four hours?!’
{Technically, you now have 23 hours and 39 minutes,} the System corrected, a smug little chime echoing in her head.
{Tick-tock, Host. Every second you spend standing here catching flies with your mouth is a second closer to your soul getting atomized alongside his collapsing core.}
Ingrid felt a wave of dizziness wash over her so fast her knees buckled. Twenty-three hours?! She couldn’t even cure a common cold without modern pharmaceuticals, let alone purge a terrifying, flesh-eating dark rot from a mutated snake prince!
’Lorna123, I am a former logistics manager, not a miracle worker!’ she shrieked internally, frantically gripping the sides of her head. ’I don’t even know what his core is! How am I supposed to heal him?!’
{Relax. I am a generous System,} the mechanical voice droned.
The translucent window materializing directly over Lysander’s shoulder flickered to life. Three detailed, glowing botanical illustrations popped into view.
The first was a pitch-black orchid that seemed to bleed red sap; the second was a jagged, glowing blue root shaped like a coiled dragon; and the third was a pale white blossom that pulsed with a faint, soothing golden light.
{To purge the dark corrosion and stabilize his Beast Core, you must refine an oral potion using three key ingredients: Shadow-Bleeding Orchid, Frost-Coil Root, and the Lunar Ember Bloom.}
Ingrid’s eyes scanned the glowing panel, a brief glimmer of hope sparking in her chest.
’Okay... okay, that doesn’t sound completely impossible. Where do I find them? Do we have an apothecary? A market? Do I even have money?’
{Hahaha! Oh, Host, your optimism is adorable,} the System cackled, sounding entirely too amused by her distress. {These are high-tier spirit plants. They don’t grow in local gardens. All three can only be found in a single location: The Whispering Ravine.}