---
He tore a thread of it away, not enough to move the meter, enough to make it angry. It went mad for a moment, claws hammering, tail whipping, head snapping. Pain Resistance turned the sharp edge of the blows into a manageable dull pressure. He gave ground because he chose to. He wanted it in the open.
The mountain mouth appeared as a wide V of night ahead. The predator felt it too. It dropped low and lunged. Kai let it pass him by a finger width, hooked two claws into the ridged plate behind its skull, and rode it like a thrown boulder into the stars.
They burst into moonlight together. Sand received them with a sucking whisper. Cold air hit the inside of Kai's mouth like water.
The Stalker vanished.
