SSS Rank: Strongest Beast Master

The trap was confirmed. This truth hung in the air, colder than the howling wind. They were being watched. They were being herded like animals into a cage.

Titus slammed his armored fist against a rock. CRUNCH! "They want to assassinate us," he said. "We should go back and report to the Headmaster."

"We can't," Seraph stated, her voice flat and hard. "Comms are out. We're on our own. And even if we could, retreating is what they expect. It just means they'll set another better trap later."

"So we walk into it?" Draven growled, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword. "I say we charge their observation post right now. A direct assault."

"And get picked off by their defenses before we're halfway there?" Jax countered, shaking his head. "They're expecting that, too. That's a fool's plan."

The team was at a standstill, the weight of their isolation pressing in.

Jonah, who had been quietly receiving intel from his Gale-Screecher, finally spoke. "We don't have to retreat, and we actually don't have to charge blindly."

All eyes turned to him.

"They want us to walk their path," Jonah said, a cunning smile playing on his lips. "So let's give them what they want."

Seraph understood immediately. Her own lips curved into a dangerous smile. "A diversion. I like it." She looked at Vanessa. "Can you do anything about their surveillance runes?"

Vanessa had been nervously fiddling with her runic detector. Suddenly, she looked excited. Her fear disappeared. In its place was the bright look of a true scholar seeing a fascinating problem. "Their runes are powerful, but they're standard military-issue. They broadcast on a specific magical frequency. I can't disable them from here, but I can... jam the signal."

She knelt and opened her kit, pulling out several small, grey stones and a set of carving tools. "I can craft some temporary Runic Scramblers. When we place them, they'll create a bubble of magical static. It will be like a blind spot. Inside the bubble, they won't be able to see a thing."

"Good," Seraph said. "How long will that take?"

"Give me about twenty minutes," Vanessa replied, already etching a complex glowing line into the first stone.

"Alright," Seraph said, turning back to Jonah. "She can give us cover. What's your part?"

Jonah's smile widened. He closed his eyes and summoned another Progeny. Specter, his Phantom Weaver, appeared beside him, a faint shimmer in the air.

"My part," Jonah said, "is to give them a show." He focused his will on Specter. "I'll have it create an Illusionary Decoy. A perfect copy of our entire team. The decoys will walk the path Boris wants us to take, right into her trap. While she's watching them, the real us will take a different route."

Draven let out a low whistle. "Deceive them with magic, blind them with runes, and then hit them where they're not looking. That's a plan I can get behind."

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High up, in a hidden room in a mountain, Colonel Boris watched a magic screen, smiling. It showed a blurry picture of Seraph's team. They were moving on time, walking in a line on the main path into a tight, dangerous valley.

"They're taking the bait," she murmured to her communications officer. "Predictable as ever. Seraph's fatal flaw has always been her arrogance. She thinks she can overcome any direct threat."

"The shock charges are armed and ready, Colonel," the officer reported. "At your command, we can bring half the mountain down on that canyon. It will look like a natural, unfortunate rockslide. No survivors, no evidence."

"Excellent," Boris said, leaning back in her chair. She took a slow sip of hot tea, the picture of calm, deadly confidence. Her plan was working perfectly. Soon, the Academy's little saint and his troublesome guardian would be nothing more than a tragic footnote in a field report. Her asset would be neutralized, and she could finally move to reclaim the Beast Weaver's secrets for the Bureau.

She watched the screen intently as the illusory team took their first steps into the canyon. "Prepare to trigger the charges on my mark," she commanded. "Let's make this quick."

________________________________________________________________________________

Miles away, the real team was moving. They were hidden by a thick fog. They took a dangerous, hidden path. The Gale-Screecher had found it. The air around them was buzzing faintly from the Runic Scramblers Vanessa had placed, masking them from the Bureau's prying eyes.

They moved in silence, a team of ghosts. Draven and Titus took the lead, their strength and agility making the dangerous climb look easy. Seraph followed close behind, her hand never far from her sidearm. Jax moved like a shadow, his keen eyes scanning for any non-magical threats.

And at the center of the group, Jonah and Vanessa walked side by side.

"Are you sure the illusion will hold?" Vanessa whispered, her voice barely audible over the howling wind.

Jonah nodded, his eyes half-closed in concentration. He was maintaining the illusion from miles away, a feat that took a tremendous amount of focus. "It's perfect. Specter is mirroring their heat signatures, their movements, even the sound of their footsteps. As far as Boris knows, we're walking right into her kill box."

Vanessa looked at him with a new level of respect. "Your pets are seriously cool."

"They're Progeny," Jonah corrected automatically, but he was smiling.

They were no longer the prey. They were no longer reacting to the Bureau's moves. They had flipped the board. They were the hunters now.

Their new path, guided by the Gale-Screecher's sonar map in Jonah's mind, was leading them on a wide, circling route. It would take them to the back of the canyon where the decoy nest was located.

They were playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse, but the mice had just become invisible, and they were creeping up right behind the cat. The only question was, what would they find when they finally reached the cheese?