The roar echoed again low and long like something ancient stretching awake after centuries of sleep. It vibrated through the ground and up through Evan’s boots. Gale raised its wings and growled. Ember pressed against the enclosure fence while Strand flattened its body low to the ground. Crest screeched sharply and leapt onto a perch with wings wide.
Evan looked toward the horizon. A faint red glow pulsed behind the forest. Not wild lightning not storm reflection but something deeper. Something alive.
“The watcher warned me” Evan whispered
But he did not expect the awakening to grow this fast.
He tightened the straps on his coat and walked to Gale. “We need to scout it. Not close but enough to understand the direction of the threat”
Gale lowered its head in agreement. Evan felt the wyvern’s breath warm on his hands. He mounted quickly.
Before taking off Evan addressed Ember Strand and Crest. “Guard the camp. If danger comes do not fight unless forced. Stay inside the reinforced posts”
Crest screeched in defiance but Evan shook his head. “Not this time. This is sky reconnaissance not a fight”
Gale launched into the air.
They rose above the camp racing toward the red horizon. The wind carried heat even though the land below was cold. The Rootstorm pulsed with growing intensity.
Evan guided Gale high enough to avoid immediate danger. The forest below wriggled with shadow movement. Hundreds of beasts flowed toward a central point deep within the trees.
It was not a migration. It was a gathering.
Evan studied the pattern. The shadow beasts formed concentric rings around a clearing. The trees near the center leaned outward as if pushed by raw mana. The ground glowed with cracks of red light stretching like roots.
That was the source of the roar.
Evan swallowed hard. “Gale we cannot go closer. Climb higher”
Gale rose above the corrupted treetops. From this height Evan could see the entire region shift like a living organism. Red veins pulsed across the land feeding energy to the central glow.
If the Rootstorm kept expanding it would reach towns within a week. And the watchtower barriers would not hold without constant cores.
Evan guided Gale in a wide arc around the clearing to understand the scale. The central glow brightened and a sudden burst of red light shot upward. Gale jerked back with a startled roar.
Evan gripped the harness. “Easy. Stay steady”
A massive shape moved beneath the light. Not a beast. Not anything natural. A cluster of shadow beasts fused together into a towering formation pulsing with Rootstorm energy.
A composite monster
Evan felt a chill sweep through him.
“We cannot let this reach the frontier” he whispered
They turned back toward the camp. Gale flew fast as if wanting to escape the sight.
When they reached the ridge the sun had dropped below the mountains leaving the land in dim red twilight. Evan dismounted and walked quickly to the enclosures.
Ember whined softly sensing his distress. Strand pressed against the fence. Crest screeched twice as if asking for explanation.
Evan breathed deeply.
“We cannot wait for the council’s next message. We must strengthen the camp tonight. Build higher walls. Reinforce the northern posts. Expand the training grounds. We prepare for coordinated flight. And we prepare for evacuation routes for nearby villages”
Gale stepped beside him lowering its wings in silent agreement.
Evan walked to the center of the camp his voice steady but urgent.
“Dragon Freight was born for logistics. But now we deliver survival. This is more than transport. This is a race against the Rootstorm itself”
He looked toward the horizon where faint red light pulsed like a heartbeat in the dark.
“Our sky fleet must be ready before that pulse reaches the valley”
He turned to Gale Ember Strand Crest and the two new wyverns.
“Starting tonight we train not as individual beasts but as a coordinated squad. We fly as one. We survive as one”
The wind blew through the camp carrying the distant echo of another roar.
Evan stood tall.
The Rootstorm was waking
And Dragon Freight would meet it in the sky.