The battle came into view slowly, revealed in fragments through gaps in the foliage.
Kael crouched low behind a thick bush, and Vera pressed against his side as the scene unfolded before them. Ember returned to perch on his shoulder, her small body tense as they all took in the chaos ahead.
Two massive birds dominated the clearing—each easily seven feet tall with bodies built like living boulders. Their feathers weren't soft plumage but layered stone plates that clicked and scraped against each other with every movement. Talons carved furrows in the earth, and their beaks looked sharp enough to crack steel. Rock-type mythbeasts, Kael's interface helpfully noted, though their exact species name remained frustratingly absent due to the world's naming curse.
Facing them were three tamers—two men and a woman, all looking worse for wear. Dirt and blood stained their clothes, exhaustion evident in their movements. Their mythbeasts formed a defensive line between them and the stone birds.
Two of the creatures were massive oxen, easily nine feet long and built like living tanks. Thick vines and moss grew across their hides, marking them as grass-types. They moved with ponderous strength, their attacks slow but devastating when they connected. The third mythbeast was sleeker, more elegant—a wolf wreathed in swirling air currents that marked it as wind-type. It darted and weaved, faster than its companions but clearly struggling against the rock birds' armored hides.
"They're losing," Kael whispered, watching one of the oxen take a brutal peck to its shoulder. The tamer—a broad-shouldered man with a scraggly beard—shouted something Kael couldn't quite catch, and the ox bellowed in response, ramming forward with earth-shaking force.
The rock bird simply dug in its talons and absorbed the impact, barely budging.
Through their bonds, Kael felt Vera's analysis of the fight. The birds were too well-armored, their stone plating deflecting most attacks. The wind wolf's strikes were too light to do real damage. The grass oxen had power but lacked speed—the birds could avoid their strongest attacks with ease.
"We could help," Kael murmured, thinking aloud. "But I don't want to reveal ourselves yet. Not until we know more about these people."
An idea formed. His telekinesis wasn't strong enough to lift a seven-foot stone bird, but it didn't need to be. He just needed to nudge, to interfere subtly, to tip the balance without being obvious about it.
Through their bond, he communicated his plan to Vera. She understood immediately, her crystalline patterns pulsing once in acknowledgment.
One of the rock birds launched itself at the wind wolf, talons extended for a killing strike. The wolf tried to dodge, its wind-enhanced speed carrying it left—
Kael and Vera reached out with their combined psychic force, pushing gently at the bird's wing just as it committed to its attack. The bird's trajectory shifted, just slightly, just enough. Its talons scraped across the wolf's flank instead of puncturing its chest.
The wolf's tamer—the woman, with short dark hair and fierce eyes—didn't seem to notice anything unusual. She just looked relieved that her beast had survived.
They continued their interference, working in perfect synchronization. When the birds attacked, Kael and Vera would nudge them off-course. Not always—that would be too obvious—but enough to matter. A wing pushed here, a talon redirected there. Small adjustments that made the difference between devastating hits and glancing blows.
The three tamers seemed to rally, sensing the shift in momentum even if they didn't understand the cause. The bearded man's ox managed to land a solid hit, its head smashing into one bird's leg with a crack that suggested fractures. The wind wolf scored shallow cuts across the other bird's face, targeting its eyes.
But the rock birds were adapting. Kael could see their intelligence, the way they began coordinating their attacks, forcing the defenders to split their attention.
Then both birds suddenly broke off, retreating to opposite sides of the clearing. They faced each other across the battlefield, their stone-plated bodies beginning to glow with an inner light.
"Oh, that's not good," Kael breathed.
His interface flared urgently.
[Combined Special Attack Detected]
[Type: Stone Barrage]
[Warning: High damage area effect]
The birds opened their beaks in unison, and the glow intensified. Chunks of stone began to orbit around their bodies, dozens of them, ranging from fist-sized to boulder-sized. The air itself seemed to hum with building power.
The three tamers recognized the danger immediately. The bearded man shouted something, and all three mythbeasts moved to form a tighter defensive formation. But Kael could see it wouldn't be enough. The oxen were already injured, their stamina depleted. The wind wolf was fast but fragile. When those stone projectiles launched—and they would launch in seconds—the defense would shatter.
The tamers would die.
Kael met Vera's eyes. Through their bond, he felt her readiness. Ember's flames flickered brighter on his shoulder, her determination burning hot.
"No more hiding," he said, standing. "We fight."
Vera moved before the words fully left his mouth, her powerful body launching from the undergrowth with explosive speed. Kael ran behind her, Ember streaking ahead in a blur of fire and light. They burst into the clearing just as the rock birds released their attack.
The three tamers' eyes went wide as Kael, Vera, and Ember positioned themselves directly in front of their defensive line. The woman shouted something—a warning or a question, Kael couldn't tell over the sound of dozens of stone projectiles hurtling toward them.
"Brace!" Kael yelled, raising both hands as if to gesture his mythbeasts forward, while actually preparing his own psychic and flame powers.
The stones flew.
Vera's eyes blazed violet as her psychic force erupted outward, creating a barrier of invisible energy. Ember superheated the air around them, flames dancing between her small hands. And Kael added his own telekinetic force to Vera's, strengthening their defense while making it look like he was simply commanding his beasts.
Rocks slammed into their barrier, shattering on impact or deflecting wildly. Not all of them—some got through, forcing everyone to dodge desperately. Kael felt a sharp pain as one stone clipped his shoulder, but he didn't break concentration.
When the barrage ended, they were all still standing. Battered, but standing.
The three tamers stared at them with expressions of shock and gratitude. The bearded man opened his mouth to speak—
But the rock birds weren't done. They advanced now, seeing their special attack had failed, their stone bodies scraping and clicking as they moved with renewed aggression.
Kael turned to face them fully, Vera on his left, Ember hovering at his right. Behind them, he could hear the exhausted breathing of the three tamers and their mythbeasts.
The birds spread their wings, preparing to charge.
Kael's hands ignited with flame, carefully controlled to look like it was coming from Ember. His mind reached out telekinetically, ready to strike.
"Round two," he said quietly.
The rock birds charged.