​Taga blinked, confused by the sudden change in topic.

"They... they are strong, Great Female. But since they moved to the high caves, and the fire king had wounded their Chief, he has not come out."

"Isn’t that because he’s ashamed of his wounded wing?" Hana asked, but Taga shook his head, unsure, and then leaned in to whisper to the Elder, and Kulu wouldn’t hear.

"I have heard rumors, Great female. It has been around before the chief’s fight with the fire king. They say the reason he was not able to win was that he was cursed." Hana blinked, interested in this conversation. "They say his skin is turning redder by the day and falling away."

​Hana felt a cold shiver of confirmation and exhilaration. She didn’t even need to pretend it was poison or lie about it. The symptoms of the Chief were either a result of radiation or a thermal leak.

He had been exposed to the power conductor without any appropriate measures, and this was what it caused him.

Now, she had her leverage.

​She turned to the Falcon Elder, her expression shifting from calculation to a mask of grim, feigned concern. She didn’t look like a scavenger; she looked like a doctor delivering a death sentence.

​"I heard that the heartbeat that was found here was taken by the Falcon tribe and that you call it the Heart of the Sky," Hana said, her voice ringing with a bit of authority and concern. "But that stone isn’t a blessing. It’s a parasite. If your Chief is truly sick as I have heard—if his skin is peeling and his strength is failing—it’s because that ’Heart’ is eating him alive."

​The Elder stiffened. His hand tightened on his spear. "How do you know of the Chief’s sickness and our divine relic, land-crawler?"

Gossip, what else? Hana thought, but shook her head.

"That is not important. What is important is that I have seen this ’divinity’ before," Hana lied smoothly, stepping closer until her bare feet were inches from the threshold of the tunnel. "In the lowlands, we call it the Cold Fire. It glows beautifully while it rots the bones of anyone who keeps it near. Your Chief isn’t just wounded from the dragon; he’s being poisoned by the very thing he thinks is protecting him."

​She saw Kulu’s head snap up. The hollow look in his eyes was replaced by a sharp, desperate fear.

​"Is that why he does not heal?" Kulu whispered, his voice cracking. "The healers say his spirit is broken, but his flesh... it falls away even when we wash it."

​"It falls away because the air in his room is toxic," Hana stated. She looked into the dark cave, narrowing her eyes as if she could see the invisible poison. "I can take that curse away. I have the means to handle it. If I take the stone, the poison leaves with me, and your Chief might actually stand a chance to fly again."

​She looked at Kulu, pinning him with a gaze that demanded he make a choice.

​"I don’t want your ’Heart,’ Prince. I want that door open so I can get my people’s tools," she said, gesturing toward the bunker. "If I take the stone to the door, I’m doing you a favor. I’m cleaning your house of a curse that will eventually kill every Falcon in these caves."

Fear was a weapon Hana could never get tired of exploiting.

​Kulu looked at the Elder. The old bird’s face looked conflicted. They worshipped the light, but they feared the rot.

​Come on, Hana thought, her thumb brushing the cut on her cheek. Take the bait. Let me in so I can grab that battery. I want to know what is inside this bunker.

​"Lira... the females..." the Elder muttered. "They have started to lose their hair. We thought it was the thin air of the ridge."

​"It’s the stone," Hana pressed. "Every hour it stays in there, your tribe grows weaker. Let me in. I’ll take the curse to the metal door where it belongs, and your tribe won’t have to suffer any more."

Usually, this was the part where they would doubt Hana and his words of caution at each other, but it was as if all caution had been thrown into the wind because they were scared and worried that the curse would spread, and they would be next.

If the curse spread to their feathers, they would never be able to fly again. And what was a worse sentence for a falcon than taking away their ability to fly?

​Kulu stepped forward, his wings half-unfurling. The desperation to save his father—to be a ’hero’ again after Lira had discarded him—overrode his caution.

​"If she is telling the truth, she will be able to handle the heart," Kulu said to the Elder. "And if she is a liar, the heart will take her instead of Father. So, let her try."

​The Elder looked at Hana’s shimmering silver dress and her calm, cold eyes. He finally lowered his spear and said, "Follow the Prince. But if you touch the Chief... if you bring a knife to a man who cannot defend himself... the dragon will find only your bones when he comes for you."

​"I’m not here for his life," Hana said, already moving past them. "I’m here for the power."

​As she followed Kulu into the cool, feather-scented dark, she glanced back at Caspian. He looked ready to tear the mountain apart, but she gave him a sharp, warning look.

​Stay, she signaled with a tilt of her head. I’m winning.

And so, disgruntledly, Caspian stayed behind and let the falcon prince take Hana away.

> ​[TIME REMAINING: 10 HOURS 58 MINUTES]

​Step one: The Trick, she thought. Step two: The Battery. Step three: Secure the Prince.

Hana followed Kulu, her bare feet adjusting to the shift from sun-baked dirt to the smooth, cool stone of the interior. To get the layout right, one had to understand that the Red Cliffs weren’t just a flat wall; they were a series of jagged, tiered plateaus connected by natural stone bridges and hollowed-out arteries.

The bunker hatch sat on the lowest terrace, a wide ledge that hugged the mountain’s base. The Falcon tribe’s living quarters, however, were carved into the mid-tier heights. That is, it was high above.

High above them, she could see the silhouette of hanging wooden nests and wooden walkways tucked into the jagged rock. The village was vertical, far out of reach for anyone without feathers. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

’Ah, if I had planned to stage a siege, I would’ve been at a severe disadvantage,’ Hana thought as she stared.