The climb out of the canyon felt longer than the descent.
Every meter upward was another reminder of everything they'd just lost—Mira ripped from them by the storm, the sigil stone drained to near dormancy, Danny's power spiraling out of control, and Tempestron escaping with a casual arrogance that made Shadeclaw's blood burn.
Danny, now back in human form, stumbled once as they reached the last ledge. Shadeclaw caught him by the arm—not gently, but not cruelly either.
"Easy," Shadeclaw growled, voice rough as scraped stone.
"I've got it," Danny said, though his knees nearly buckled.
"You don't," Shadeclaw snapped.
He didn't mean it as an insult. He meant it as fact. Danny didn't argue.
Swift and Jade reached the plateau behind them, followed by Jake panting dramatically and Bumble bouncing like an excited metal child. The cadets climbed last, shaken and exhausted, unsure whether to stare at Danny as if he were a god or a bomb.
The wind was calmer now. Not calm—nothing on this cursed planet was calm—but it no longer screamed in frantic spirals. The air tasted less like imminent death and more like a bruise healing slowly beneath the skin.
Danny exhaled a long, shaking breath of relief.
The sigil stone—held carefully in both hands—glowed faintly against his palms. Not bright. But alive. That small ember of gold was the only reason the stormworld hadn't collapsed entirely.
Shadeclaw didn't look at the stone. Couldn't. His eyes were fixed on the sky where Tempestron had vanished. The muscles along his arms trembled beneath his fur.
"We should be chasing him," Shadeclaw growled. "Every second we waste—"
"Is a second Mira stays alive," Swift finished. "If Tempestron intended to kill her, he would have done it already. She's leverage, Shadeclaw. And right now, this—" he pointed at the sigil stone— "is a greater priority to every power in existence. Including Tempestron."
Shadeclaw's jaw tightened so hard it creaked.
Jade cracked his knuckles. "We'll get her. We're not leaving someone behind. Not ever."
Jake nodded vigorously. "Y-yeah! We're… we're a team. Best team on the G.A.M.B.I.T. And also the worst, but that's not important!"
"CORRECT," Bumble confirmed. "WE SCORE HIGH IN CHAOS. LOW IN STRATEGY."
Swift sighed. "Thank you, Bumble."
The comms crackled suddenly.
"WhistleDawn to ground team," Commander Wynn's voice cut through the air. "We detected a massive dimensional rupture and Golden Dragon emissions. Status report."
Jake grabbed the comm. "EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE—ow—"
Jade clapped a hand over his mouth. "We're fine, Commander. Everything's fine. Just a little kidnapped-wolf situation, but we got the rock!"
Danny leaned forward. "Commander… we need extraction. Now. And containment protocols. The sigil stone is drained."
The pause on the other end was long.
"Copy that," Wynn said quietly. "Switchblades and shuttles inbound. Hold position."
Shadeclaw bared his teeth. "We're not going back."
Danny turned to him. "Shadeclaw—"
"No." His voice was low, trembling. "Not while she's being dragged through storms by that—thing."
"The sigil stone must go to HQ," Swift said firmly. "If the Elemental Lords are draining them, then keeping it on this dying rock is suicide."
"I don't CARE," Shadeclaw snapped.
"You will," Danny said softly, "when you calm down."
Shadeclaw whirled on him, shadow coiling like mist torn from a black hole. "Calm? Calm? She's gone because YOU flew ahead! Because YOU let him get to her first!"
The words hit harder than lightning.
Danny didn't flinch from them.
"I know," he whispered. "And I'll spend the rest of my life making up for that if I have to. But right now, Shadeclaw…"
He stepped closer.
"…right now, we don't make this worse."
Shadeclaw closed his eyes, shaking, fists clenched so hard blood dripped from his palms.
He didn't say he forgave Danny.
He didn't say Danny was wrong.
He didn't say anything at all.
He just let the shadows settle and stood still.
The distant roar of engines echoed across the plateau.
Three Switchblades descended first—sleek, stingray-shaped fighters slicing through the thinning storm. Gunship escorts followed, lights sweeping across the cracked terrain. Then the shuttle touched down, ramp opening with a hiss.
Commander Wynn stood inside the doorway, hands clasped behind her back.
When she saw Danny holding the sigil stone, her eyes widened with reverence and fear.
When she saw Shadeclaw's expression, her face fell.
"Where is Mira?"
The canyon wind carried the silence like a funeral procession.
Danny bowed his head. "Tempestron took her."
Wynn inhaled sharply. "Then we don't have time to waste. Get on board. And secure that stone."
Shadeclaw growled at her. "We go after him. Now."
"No," Wynn said firmly. "We return to Headquarters. The Council must be notified immediately."
Shadeclaw took a step forward. "You think I care about your Council?!"
Danny moved between them.
"We'll find her, Shadeclaw. I swear it. But we need help. And the Buddies will come with everything they have."
Shadeclaw's hand twitched—he wanted to strike something, someone, the universe itself.
But Danny didn't move aside.
After a long, painful pause, Shadeclaw lowered his gaze.
"…Fine."
It was not acceptance.
It was surrender to necessity.
They boarded the shuttle.
Danny kept the sigil stone against his chest, where it pulsed faintly at his heartbeat's rhythm.
Shadeclaw sat alone, rigid and trembling.
Jake sat between two B.E.A.R. units for emotional support.
Jade kept pacing like a caged animal, whispering, "I swear I'm gonna punch the storm off that guy next time."
Swift studied Tempestron's atmospheric residue on his tablet.
Bumble hummed a heroic tune at completely the wrong tempo.
The shuttle lifted off.
As the plateau fell away beneath them, Danny felt the sigil stone twitch.
Not in fear.
In direction.
It knew where its siblings slept.
And where the Elemental Lords were waiting.
Danny whispered into the wind, too softly for anyone else to hear:
"We're coming, Mira. I won't fail you again."
The shuttle docked with the WhistleDawn.
Klaxons sounded. Crew scrambled. Officers saluted. The sight of a crippled sigil stone in Danny's hands was enough to shatter protocol—everyone froze for a moment.
When Danny stepped onto the deck, Soren—massive, steel-eyed, arms crossed—strode toward them.
His heavy footsteps echoed.
"You lost one of my cadets."
Danny bowed his head. "Yes."
"You brought back a sigil stone."
"Yes."
Soren exhaled through his nose. "Then we fix both."
He turned sharply.
"Bridge! Prepare for ascent and long-range jump. Set our course for Buddies Headquarters."
Shadeclaw snarled behind him. "You're taking us AWAY from her—"
Soren whirled so fast it stunned even Jade.
"I am taking you," Soren growled, leaning in close, "where you need to be. Not where your grief demands. Mira is alive. And you are no use to her dead."
Shadeclaw trembled—but remained silent.
"Good," Soren said. "Now strap in. This storm isn't done with us."
The WhistleDawn hummed, engines powering up.
The stormworld shrank behind them.
And Danny felt Mira's absence like a missing limb.
But he also felt the sigil's whisper guiding them forward.
The hunt had begun.
The engines roared as the WhistleDawn cut upward through the thinning atmosphere. The view outside the bridge viewport was a swirl of clouds and lightning veined through fractured sky. The planet tried to claw them back with downdrafts and pressure spikes—but the Arrowhead-class ship was built for war, and it fought the storm with brute mechanical will.
Danny stood beside Soren on the command deck, one hand pressed against the containment cradle where the sigil stone now rested. The stone pulsed faintly—too faintly. He could feel its exhaustion like a sleeping heartbeat.
Shadeclaw paced along the rear of the bridge, shadow leaking from his shoulders in wisps. He said nothing. He barely breathed. He could not look away from the sight of the sky, as if by staring long enough he could reverse time and see the moment Mira was taken.
Jade stood near one of the structural supports, chewing on the inside of his cheek, fists clenched. Jake sat on the floor with Bumble, shaking and rubbing his temples. Swift stood a few feet away, rapidly typing data from Tempestron's storm residue into his console.
The ship lurched suddenly as a lightning spear brushed the starboard hull.
Wynn braced herself. "Shields holding at eighty-eight percent. Stormpiercer matrix at ninety-five."
"Maintain angle," Soren barked. "Ride the spiral, don't push through it."
"Aye, Staff Sergeant."
The ship angled its wings and rode the natural rotation of the atmospheric currents, slipping between pressure vortices like threading a cosmic needle. Even so, turbulence hammered across the hull.
Danny steadied himself with a hand on the railing.
The sigil stone pulsed again.
A faint flicker. Like a terrified whisper.
…not here… danger… higher…
Danny's eyes widened.
He opened his mouth to warn the bridge, but Swift beat him to it.
"Storm signature ahead!" Swift snapped. "Residual corridor energy—Tempestron's escape vector!"
Shadeclaw's head jerked up so fast his neck popped.
Danny stepped forward, gripping the railing tighter. "Can we intercept it?"
Wynn shook her head. "Not anymore. The corridor is collapsing. It's like chasing a dying lightning bolt."
"Faster!" Shadeclaw snarled, slamming his claws into the metal floor. "We can still reach her!"
Soren turned his head with slow, heavy precision.
"Wolf," he growled, "you will stand down. NOW."
Shadeclaw bared his fangs. "I will NOT—"
Danny moved to him before anyone else could blink.
He grabbed Shadeclaw's arm—not tightly, not forcefully, just enough to anchor him.
"Shadeclaw," Danny whispered. "If we burn ourselves out chasing a dying trail, Mira dies. We lose everyone. We lose everything. Please."
Shadeclaw trembled, eyes wild.
His voice cracked—not with rage this time.
With fear.
"I can't lose her," he whispered. "I just got her back. I can't—Danny—I can't."
Danny's chest tightened.
"Then help me get her back," he murmured. "Alive. Not recklessly. Not alone."
Shadeclaw closed his eyes. His breath shuddered violently through him.
The shadows sank back into his skin.
He didn't speak again.
He didn't need to.
Soren turned away, satisfied. "Wynn. Bring us to orbit."
"Acknowledged."
The ship blasted through the thinning cloud layer.
The sky brightened.
The turbulence lessened.
And then, with one final shudder, the WhistleDawn burst free into the star-speckled void.
The stormworld shrank below them—still angry, still chaotic—but no longer able to reach them.
Jake crawled to his feet. "Thank the stars. I thought I was going to die. Or explode. Or both."
"BOTH WOULD HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE," Bumble agreed helpfully.
Jade patted Jake's back with too much force. "Relax! This is nothing. First day back in B.U.D.D.I.E.S. space, and we already got a kidnapped wolf, a god-stone, a dragon meltdown, and a beef with a wannabe weather god. We're killing it."
Jake whimpered.
Swift approached the containment cradle, observing the sigil stone's flickering glow. Danny stayed near him, watching with protective instinct.
Swift spoke without looking away. "It's stabilizing. Barely. Your creation flame bought us time."
Danny nodded faintly. "It still needs more power. Once we reach HQ, I'll finish recharging it."
Swift met his eyes. "Next time, you'll do it without almost blowing a canyon apart."
Danny's ears reddened.
"I'm working on it."
"You will," Swift said simply.
A soft chime sounded over the shipwide speakers.
"Entering outbound trajectory," Wynn reported. "Preparing for long-range jump to B.U.D.D.I.E.S. HQ."
Shadeclaw stiffened.
"HQ?" he growled. "We're going back to Headquarters while she's—while Mira—"
Soren didn't let him finish.
"You will secure that sigil stone. You will report Mira's abduction. And then you will hunt the Elemental Lords with the full might of the Buddies behind you."
Shadeclaw snarled. "Every minute we waste—"
Soren stepped forward, towering.
"LISTEN TO ME," Soren thundered, voice filling the bridge with the weight of command that could crush steel. "If you sprint blindly into battle, you will die. If Danny loses control again, half a solar system dies. If the Elemental Lords drain more sigils, ALL OF US DIE."
Shadeclaw froze.
Jade stopped pacing.
Jake hid behind Bumble.
Danny swallowed hard.
Soren leaned down, eye to eye with the shadow wolf.
"You want Mira back? You want revenge? Then follow orders. We bring this stone home. We gather strength. And then we strike."
Shadeclaw's breathing hitched.
Then, slowly, painfully…
he lowered his head.
He hated it.
But he understood.
The WhistleDawn aligned with its jump coordinates.
"Dimensional jump in thirty seconds," Wynn called from her console.
Danny moved closer to the viewport. The stormworld was just a speck behind them now.
He whispered beneath his breath, so soft only he could hear it:
"Mira. Hold on."
Across the bridge, Shadeclaw whispered the same.
"I'm coming."
Outside the ship, the void twisted.
Stars warped into spirals.
The hull groaned as the engines powered up.
Swift braced himself.
Jake screamed.
Bumble shouted, "YAAAAAAAAY!"
Soren crossed his arms, unmoving.
Jade spread his legs and grinned. "I LOVE THIS PART."
Wynn raised her voice.
"WhistleDawn—dimensional jump—ENGAGE."
Space folded inward like a breathing lung.
Light ripped apart and reformed.
Gravity dipped, surged, then flattened.
And the WhistleDawn disappeared.
Destination:
B.U.D.D.I.E.S. Headquarters —
a superstructure the size of a small planet,
the heart of the universe's defense,
and the only place where the sigil stone could awaken safely.
And from where the hunt for the Elemental Lords would truly begin.