Famu studied the old Crowned Heron.
Titan Feather-Crested Herons were the graceful white feathers of the skies above the Samei Rainforest. As a Furnace-Core Creature of the species, he should have carried himself like a monarch of the sky.
In reality, however, the old Crowned Heron was bloated and obese, with deformities across much of his body and severe fluid buildup in his abdomen. The roots of his feathers were dark gray, a sign of malnutrition, and great sections were missing from the wings that, when spread, could have covered the forest below. He had completely lost the dignity a ruler of the skies ought to possess. Apart from his face, nothing about him would have made anyone think he was a Titan Feather-Crested Heron.
But that explained the females that frequently traveled back and forth between the water and the canopy.
They soaked their feathers with water and used it to feed the emperor in his twilight years. Yet for all their efforts, the enormous difference in size still left them unable to provide the old Crowned Heron with enough water to drink. Naturally, the old emperor had become malnourished.
Unable to fly or move about, he could only sit in his nest beneath the scorching sun and wait for death.
Through the dust, Famu looked again at the young Crowned Heron.
Golden-Horn Dute's wish had come true for the Crowned Heron. The old bird had successfully raised a successor, a Furnace-Core Creature. It was thanks to his child that the old Crowned Heron could still cling to life rather than be abandoned by the flock.
That was good news for Famu as well.
It meant the earth vein controlled by the Titan Feather-Crested Herons could nurture two generations of Furnace-Core Creatures. It was far richer than the territory of the Horned Giant Rhino Family.
"Leave this place, Ronan. Fly up into the sky," the old Crowned Heron urged hoarsely.
If the child kept being stubborn, it would be too late.
"The Death God comes from the shadows, and when your wings are bathed in sunlight, the Death God will not come looking for you. Leave! Get away from me!"
"Damn it, why won't you listen? I'm going to die anyway!" the old Crowned Heron roared. "Fly up into the sky!"
"I want you to watch everything that happens here clearly from the sky. Look closely at the most terrifying creature in this rainforest and etch it deep into your heart. Never overstep!"
"Whoosh—"
Ronan the Crowned Heron lowered his head and gave a sudden beat of his wings. The air pressure forced down the dust as he shot straight into the sky, casting a shadow from high above. The white Crowned Heron was like a holy devotee, clad in white and praying in the air.
"You've always been proud and complacent, thinking that with wings on your back, you could climb to the clouds and no creature could touch you. Just like me when I was young." Seeing Ronan take flight, the old Crowned Heron felt at ease. He now had the resolve to face what lay behind the dust.
"But Crowned Herons have never had a place among the rulers of the rainforest." He sat up.
When the dust cleared, an ashen-blue face drew close to his.
Typhon, the Death God of the rainforest.
The ruler of the Samei Rainforest, a super species that gained a Furnace Core upon reaching adulthood.
"I heard it was you who kept that Nightmare Leopard in captivity?" the old Crowned Heron spoke first.
The old Crowned Heron was certain the other party could understand him. In his youth, he had studied the most orthodox Mud Language of Samei.
Famu heard the old bird's steady tones, much clearer than Colin's heavily accented speech. He slowly moved his body, scales piling up layer upon layer as he encircled the Titan Feather-Crested Heron.
"You know quite a bit," Famu said.
"News always travels quickly through the skies. Besides, a Nightmare Leopard serving a Typhon could hardly escape the notice of other creatures. They compare you and that Nightmare Leopard to the Death God and a ghost," the old Crowned Heron replied.
"Then you should understand why I've come."
"I do. You came in pursuit of the earth vein." The old Crowned Heron looked straight into Famu's ferocious face without fear.
He did have a question hidden in his heart, but he could not ask it.
He wanted to ask, How did you find this place?
You traveled all this way, crossing half the distance of the Mara River. Were you so sure we lived here, and that an earth vein was hidden here?
There was no point thinking it over carefully. He could come up with no answer, and it only made the Black Typhon seem more terrifying.
"Where is the earth vein?" Famu asked, raising his head to look at the young male in the sky. "You don't have to answer. After all, the child you care about most is already safe."
Famu was, in fact, threatening him.
The Titan Feather-Crested Heron would have to land someday.
The Death God would follow him like a shadow.
The old Crowned Heron knew that better than anyone. He knew what these super species were capable of. He shook his head. "No, I'll tell you. That earth vein baptized my child and me, allowing our family to hold dominion over the vastest territory. Those gifts have been enough for us. Wisdom was a luxury for us to begin with. Perhaps without it, we would live more freely."
With that, the old Crowned Heron awkwardly moved his tattered wings. "Perhaps you'll need to carry me. I'll show you the way."
Ronan soared through the air, watching his father wrapped in the Black Typhon's coils.
Then the Black Typhon carried his father into the river and began moving along it.
Ronan understood something.
He knew about Earth Vein Energy. It was a blessing from the earth, and this energy had given his father and him wisdom and strength far beyond those of their kind.
His father had never told him where the earth vein was, but now his father was going to lead the Typhon to it.
Are we truly so powerless?
He glared resentfully at the winding black shadow in the river, gnashing his beak as he let out a heart-rending shriek beneath the clouds.
Titan Feather-Crested Herons ruled the skies, and every creature in the Samei Rainforest trembled at the sight of their wings. Were they really so helpless before this Typhon?
Typhons were snakes too, and Titan Feather-Crested Herons were skilled at hunting snakes.
Ronan had once hunted a giant anaconda over seven meters long. This Typhon... he compared them in his mind. It was about twice the size of that giant anaconda. He truly could not deal with it.
But he still had a vast family.
Watching the Black Typhon drag his father out of sight into the rainforest, Ronan made up his mind.
He beat his wings, raised his head, and let out a long cry. Titan Feather-Crested Herons scattered throughout the canopy raised their heads. One, two, dozens of them rose from every corner of the green sea of trees, gathering around Ronan in a white flock that blotted out the sunlight.
Ronan flew to the highest point and looked down at his family.
He was the youngest king among them.
He gave the orders, and the entire family was his sharp blade.
No matter how powerful the Typhon was on land, that was on land. The sky was the territory of the Titan Feather-Crested Herons.
The Crowned Herons could harass the Typhon in flocks to their hearts' content, while Ronan would learn the earth vein's location from his father.
Once he knew where the earth vein was, Ronan would surely be able to reach it first.
That was their earth vein. What right did the Typhon have to take it?
Absorb the earth vein.
Receive Mother Earth's baptism.
Like his father before him, he would let Earth Vein Energy fill his bones and blood. He was already a Furnace-Core Creature, but he was still young. He could grow even stronger. Once he had absorbed the energy in the earth vein and led his family into the sky, what could the Typhon do to the Titan Feather-Crested Herons that held dominion over the heavens?
He was the aerial monarch of this rainforest.
The more Ronan thought about it, the hotter he felt all over. The Furnace Core in his chest throbbed, and ambition blazed inside him like a fire.
He whistled through the clouds, his entire family following behind him, white wings filling the sky.