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[Emergency Branch Quest
Choice A: Evacuate academy before sweep (24 h).
Choice B: Acquire Obscura Veil Stone to mask dragon core (48 h).
Note: Veil Stones once used by Gravewind smugglers. A fragment lies in Hollowfell Mine.
Reward: Blood-line purity +3 and stealth upgrade.
Failure: Guild detection. ]
Zephyr met Fenna's eyes. "We are going to Hollowfell mine. I got a plan."
She nodded. "Together."
Rain hammered on roof tiles, each drop a ticking second counting down to discovery.
Star flexed wings, silver eyes fierce despite size. Zephyr stroked his scaled head and felt a surge of shared resolve.
"Then let the hunt begin," he whispered.
Outside, thunder cracked like a dragon's distant roar echoing their vow.
The rain had turned into a thin mist by the time Zephyr, Fenna, and Star slipped through the academy's south orchard, their boots sinking into the soft earth. Frost still clung stubbornly to the shaded patches, crunching underfoot with every careful step.
Above them, Lowmoor academy's main spires pierced the mist like jagged black fangs. The silver detection chest had arrived two hours earlier, carried on the shoulders of four Royal Guild soldiers in rune-marked armor. It now sat in the Headmistress's Tower, humming with restrained power, waiting for the full sweep that would expose every hidden mana pulse.
And hidden within Zephyr's cloak, curled close to his heart, was Star, an existence too bright, too wild, too dangerous to survive discovery.
"We have twenty-four hours," Fenna whispered. Her hazel eyes burned with fierce determination. "Are you sure the Veil Stone lies in the Hollowfell Mine?"
Zephyr nodded. "Abandoned twenty years ago after a tunnel collapse. I read it in an old book. Grave wind smugglers used to hide relics there. If there's even a fragment left, we can mask Star's core long enough to survive the inspection."
Star chirped softly, as if understanding the weight of their mission. Zephyr ran a thumb down the hatchling's spine, feeling the steady thrum of warmth beneath the black and silver scales.
"Let's move," he said, his voice steady. "Failure is not an option."
Lowmoor academy's outer walls were patrolled day and night now, but there were still old ways out. The ways forgotten by most. Only known to a few students who sneaked out. Fenna got this information from a student. Specifically her bench mate, that girl's big brother was one of the graduates. She got this information from her brother.
Fenna led them to a collapsed root cellar beneath the academy gardens, half hidden under a tumble of dead vines and rotted barrels. Zephyr crawled through first, scraping his cloak on rough stone. Fenna passed Star carefully after him, then followed, sealing the entrance behind them with a small illusion talisman she had snuck from Greenhouse storage.
The passage beyond was narrow, walls were slick with damp. It stank of mold and old earth, but it sloped gently downward toward freedom.
When they emerged into the trees outside the academy's southern border, the mist thickened into a heavy fog. Perfect cover.
They didn't stop.
The path to Hollowfell Mine wound through a narrow forest valley known as Gloom Hollow. Even during daylight, little sun reached the mossy floor. Now, with mist swirling low among the trunks, it felt like they were walking through a world half-forgotten by light.
Star squirmed in Zephyr's sling, his senses on edge. Zephyr could feel the hatchling's unease through their bond, a low, restless tension.
"Beast trails crisscross the Hollow," Fenna murmured, drawing a short blade from her belt. "Stay sharp."
They traveled fast, but not recklessly, eyes scanning every movement of branch and shadow. Twice, Zephyr's Dragon Sense warned him of danger before it struck.
Once it was a Frostmane Fox, a sleek predator with shimmering blue fur and needle-sharp teeth. Zephyr and Fenna hid in the underbrush as the fox sniffed the air and moved on, uninterested.
The second time was worse.A low rumbling growl froze them in place.
From the mist emerged a Hollow Stalker, a mutated panther-like beast, black as pitch, with hollow sockets where eyes should have been. It sniffed the air hungrily, drawn to their heat.
[Name: Hollow Stalker
Rank: C-Rank Beast. Stealth and predation type. Highly aggressive toward mana signatures.]
Zephyr's heart pounded. Star hissed softly inside the sling, sensing the threat.
"Don't run," Fenna whispered. "It hunts movement."
The Hollow Stalker crept closer, nostrils flaring. Zephyr tightened his grip on Fenna's hand, feeling the low hum of Star's magic gathering in his chest.
"Not yet," he thought desperately. "I can't reveal him."
He remembered the flask of Moonleaf Pollen dust Fenna had packed in their emergency kit. Carefully, he drew it from his belt, uncorked it, and flicked the dust into the air.
Moonleaf scent was sharp and bitter, it hit the Hollow Stalker's sensitive nose. It recoiled, snarling, then turned and melted back into the mist, retreating into the Hollow's deeper shadows.
They waited a full minute before moving again, breathless with relief.
"That was too close," Fenna muttered.
Zephyr nodded grimly. "We have to be faster."
By mid night, they reached the edge of a sheer ravine. Below, the jagged mouth of Hollowfell Mine yawned in the rock face, framed by broken beams and collapsed scaffolding. Cold air poured from it, carrying the stale scent of dust and minerals.
The mine looked abandoned, but Dragon Sense warned Zephyr otherwise. Faint, sluggish auras flickered below. Signs of wild beasts that had made the ruins their den.
Fenna tugged her hood lower. "We need to be careful. The Veil Stone won't sit out in the open."
Zephyr set Star down gently on a rock. The hatchling flapped his tiny wings and chirped questioningly.
"We need your nose, little one," Zephyr said. "Find heat. Find light."