---
The single word left Kai's mouth like the edge of a blade, quiet but final. The tunnel beyond the egg chamber mouth did not answer. Stone held its breath. The warm light of the chamber fell in a clean line across the floor and died against the dark, as if the shadow had teeth.
A sound rose that was not quite a footstep and not quite a growl. It was the careful hush of a hunter easing its weight from one claw to the next. Kai did not move. He let the sense work through him. Antenna Sensory Boost flared awake. The rock spoke in tiny tremors. Air currents curled around something large, dense, close. Predator's Instinct tightened his focus until the tunnel became a single narrow truth. There was a presence at the bend. It did not smell like the mountain. It smelled like old nests ripped open and left to steam in the cold.
The system touched his mind, voice level and cold.
[Ding! System Notification: Threat detected. Species: Egg Maw Stalker.
Rank: six star.
