Veer stared at Tara as if she had just suggested capturing a storm in a bottle.
"What do you exactly mean by a cage?" he asked, disbelief clear in his voice. "That thing is larger than most Academy towers. How big of a cage are you planning to build?"
Priya folded her arms. "Explain it properly, Tara. No half theories."
Tara stepped toward the enchanted map spread across the camp table. The faint glow painted sharp lines across her focused face.
"Look closely at this terrain," she said.
Everyone gathered.
Her finger traced a section north of their position — a heavily wooded region where the markings grew dense and dark.
"These forests are tightly packed. The trees grow unnaturally close to one another because mana concentration here is extremely high. We can move through the gaps."
She paused.
"The Sky Reaper cannot."
Understanding flickered across a few faces.
"You want to trap it inside the forest?" Kiran asked slowly.
"Not exactly," Tara replied. "We lure it toward this region — then create a pit large enough for it to fall into. Dense mana soil is unstable when disrupted correctly. If we collapse the ground beneath it…"
Veer raised a hand.
"Have you forgotten something very important? It has wings. Massive ones. It falls — it flies right back out."
Before Tara could respond, Avdhoot spoke.
"Not if those wings stop working."
The group turned toward him.
"If we focus every ranged attack on its wings," he continued calmly, "fire, lightning, concentrated mana bursts — we may not destroy them completely. But even partial damage could ground it long enough."
He met their eyes.
"It's a theory. Nothing more."
Siddhant exhaled slowly. "As all of you have already mentioned… that creature is enormous. The scale alone makes this uncertain."
"You're forgetting something," Meira said.
All eyes shifted to her.
"The Affinity Orbs."
Recognition spread instantly.
"Each group was issued four," she continued. "We still have ours. Siddhant's team has theirs."
She counted quietly.
"That makes eight."
Priya looked down, frustration flashing briefly across her face. "We lost ours when we abandoned camp."
"You were trying to survive," Avdhoot said. "Not inventory supplies."
Kiran frowned. "Will eight be enough to bring something like that down?"
Tara shook her head slightly.
"Probably not."
Silence thickened.
"But," she added, "it gives us one chance to find out."
Bhavna leaned forward, voice steady despite the tension. "The plan still has holes. Many of them."
"Then we fill them," Siddhant said.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Bhavna frowned again.
"We're forgetting something important."
Avdhoot already knew the answer.
"The herbs."
Duty didn't disappear just because terror had arrived.
"How many remain?" he asked.
Meira checked her notes.
"For our group — twelve Starlight Blooms and five Ironleaf Bark."
Bhavna followed, "Priya's team still needs nine Windflowers and four Sunroots."
Siddhant nodded once. "We require seven Blooms and three Bark."
Avdhoot studied the numbers.
Then he straightened.
"We have two days left," he said.
"One beast to outmaneuver. Herbs to collect. One injured student. And a valley full of unaware groups."
His voice hardened.
"I will not let anyone die on my watch."
The quiet conviction in his tone settled into every chest around the table.
"So here's what we do," he continued. "Tomorrow we prioritize herb completion. Fast. Efficient. Minimal mana usage."
He looked at each leader in turn.
"By tomorrow afternoon, quotas must be finished. That gives us time to prepare the battlefield."
Siddhant watched him carefully now — no longer just observing, but measuring.
Not competition.
Recognition.
Meira suddenly glanced toward the darkening sky.
"It's already getting late."
As if on cue, Karan lifted a wrapped bundle with a grin.
"Good thing both our groups caught Ember Rabbits."
Veer blinked. "You too?"
Karan tilted his head slightly.
"When did you catch yours?"
"First day," Veer said proudly.
Soon, the camp filled with quiet, purposeful movement. Fires were rekindled. The meat was cleaned and skewered. The familiar rhythm of survival returned — grounding them.
Siddhant approached Avdhoot.
"Walk with me."
They stepped beyond the firelight, boots crunching softly over frost-touched earth.
For a few moments, neither spoke.
Then Siddhant asked quietly,
"You blew the emergency whistle… didn't you?"
Avdhoot nodded.
"Then why hasn't the Academy responded?"
The question lingered heavily between them.
"I've been asking myself the same thing," Avdhoot admitted. "Either help is delayed… or something is preventing it."
"Neither answer is comforting."
"No," Avdhoot agreed. "When we return, we demand answers."
Back inside the camp, Veer was attempting — very unsuccessfully — to supervise the roasting process.
"Priya, if you burn that, I will personally mourn the rabbit."
Priya almost smiled.
"How are you this calm?" she asked suddenly. "After everything?"
Veer shrugged.
"Because of our leader."
She studied him.
"You trust him that much?"
"I do," Veer said simply. "I have doubts about this plan too. Anyone sane would. But if there's someone who can get us out of Wildwood Valley…"
He glanced toward the darkness where Avdhoot stood.
"It's him."
Priya's expression softened.
"But he can't do it alone," Veer added. "So we stop doubting… and start roasting."
A quiet laugh escaped her before she could stop it.
When Avdhoot and Siddhant returned, the food was ready.
They ate beneath a sky heavy with unmoving clouds, discussing angles, timing, terrain collapse patterns, orb synchronization — turning theory into something sharper.
Something real.
Miles away, high within the Academy walls, a lone figure stood before a towering window overlooking the distant wilderness.
Watching.
Smiling.
"So… you survived the Sky Reaper," the figure murmured.
A pause.
"But this will be your last campaign with them… Avdhoot."
The wind rattled the glass softly.
Far below — unseen — the valley waited.
And something within it was beginning to shift.
[End of Chapter 17]