"Absolutely not," Herox said commandingly
"Little sis, I do love your confidence, I really do, but that thing could literally swallow one of my failed dangerous potions and can still walk away unbothered," Zyver said, his usual humor edged with genuine alarm.
"Brothers, I've fought worse than this before, I grew up surrounded by dangers all day. This time, I want to know what I'm capable of, and I won't learn anything if I'm standing behind all of you every time something dangerous crosses our path." Zaiveil said, her voice was calm despite the tension coiling through her surroundings.
"This isn't the place to test that, a Ridgeback Beast is not a training dummy, Princess Zai." Elder Nixie said, this time her gentle tone is gone.
Although her gaze flicked between Zaiveil and the beast with a little bit consideration.
"I understand the risk, everyone." Zaiveil said
"But–"
"But if I retreat from every threat every time just because it's convenient, then I'll never learn to trust my own strength. What's the purpose of training in this forest then? Elder Cryzton said before that my charm's rank places me well above most of the charmers in the beginner stage, so I'd like to find out if that's true." She added, cutting what zyver will say.
"And if you can't? If something goes wrong, Zai, we are miles away from the palace, miles away from any real help." Herox's voice carried an edge of a restrained fear beneath the authority he was showing.
"Then all of you will be right here to pull me out if I need it," Zaiveil said, meeting her eldest brother's gaze steadily.
Everyone was silenced by what she said.
"I'm not asking to fight it alone, Big Brother. I'm asking for the chance to try fighting it first. With all of you here, I know I will be safe because I know that you guys will always guarantee my safety."
The Ridgeback's patience seemed to be thinning, its weight shifting forward, haunches lowering in the unmistakable posture of an imminent charge.
Zyrcus, who had remained quiet throughout the exchange, finally spoke, his voice steady even with the tension around them.
"Big Brother, we came here so she could understand her strength, to train her capabilities. And this pressure from the ridgeback beast is what she needed."
Herox's jaw tightened, his eyes darting between his sister's resolute expression and to the beast who's readying itself to strike.
His composed exterior finally cracked, not into surrender, but into the trust of an older brother choosing to believe in someone he loved.
"The moment this goes wrong, we will intervene, no arguments and no hesitation. Do you understand me, Zai?" Herox said, after letting out a deep breath.
"I understand, Big Brother." Zaiveil said while giving a small smile to his eldest brother.
Zaiveil was already stepping forward, she's putting careful distance between herself, her siblings and Elder Nixie.
"Little sis," Zyver suddenly called her, his voice cracking with worry.
"Trust me, Second Brother," she said, without looking back.
The Ridgeback's growl rose into a full, monstrous roar, and it lunged towards his first target, the one nearest to him, which is Zaiveil
Before the beast lunged on Zaiveil, she moved on instinct, her body remembering eighteen years of brutal, relentless training.
She sidestepped the beast's first attack, the Ridgeback's claws raking through the empty air where she'd stood a heartbeat before.,
Her brothers' and Elder Nixie gasp behind her, getting ready to attack the ridgeback beast.
The beast recovered quickly after seeing that it doesn't caught its prey, whirling with a speed that belied its size, its bony plating scraping audibly against low-hanging branches as it turned around to face Zaiveil one more time.
Zaiveil took a step back, while observing the beast carefully. She's looking for its weakness.
"Zai, be careful!" Herox's low voice carried a tight warning coming from behind her.
The Ridgeback charged again, faster this time, and Zaiveil realized with a sudden, sharp clarity that she wouldn't be able to dodge cleanly a second time, because the beast speed doubled, which she wasn't expecting.
She had one choice, and only a heartbeat to make it.
The warmth beneath her ribs surged upward, answering some silent, desperate call she hadn't consciously voiced, and Zaiveil raised both hands instinctively as the Ridgeback closed the final distance between them, its jaws parting in a snarl full of jagged, yellowed teeth.
Light bloomed between her palms, it's sudden and brilliant, there's gold threaded with faint, shifting silver, the same shimmering glow she'd seen ripple across the Trial Stone, across the stream, across the Veilbound Locket's tarnished surface.
The Ridgeback's roar cut short into something closer to a startled yelp as the light met its charge head-on.
"Little sis!" Zyver's voice cracked through the clearing, sharp with panic.
Zaiveil didn't answer, her entire focus was entirely narrowed to the beast bearing down on her. This time the unfamiliar power was finally answering her call.
The light exploded outward from between her palms in a burst of gold and shifting silver, and the Ridgeback beast momentum carried it straight into the blast before it could veer aside.
The beast's snarl broke into a strangled, pained roar as Zaiveil charm struck its shoulder, searing light rippling across its mottled hide before it staggered sideways, claws tearing furrows into the earth as it fought to regain its footing.
Zaiveil felt the power surge through her like a current finally given somewhere to go, wild and unfamiliar, clinging beneath her skin with a force that left her fingertips tingling and her breath coming quick.
"It's working, Her charm, it's actually working!" Zyver's voice cracked with disbelief behind her.
"Sis, don't let it get up!" Heriot called, his tone carried more fierce encouragement than actual instruction, his blade still raised and ready anytime needed.
The Ridgeback shook itself, its glowing yellow eyes narrowing on Zaiveil with renewed, furious focus, the scorch marks along its shoulder smoking faintly in the fading light. It didn't retreat. If anything, the pain seemed to sharpen its aggression, its haunches coiling low once more as it prepared for a second charge, this time it's faster and angrier than the first attack.
Zaiveil raised her hands again, reaching for that same warm golden current, but this time it resisted her, slower to answer, the wild rush from moments before already felt like nothing.
'Come on, I need more time.' she thought, gritting her teeth.
The Ridgeback lunged, and this time Zaiveil's body couldn't fully dodge, her body twisting at the last possible outcome, her speed wasn't enough to dodge the beast's entire second attack, but it's enough to minimize the damage she might receive.
Its claws caught her right forearm instead of her throat, there's four parallel gashes tearing through the fabric and her skin. Pain and blood filled up her arm, the beast claw was sharp and immediate, and she bit back a cry as she stumbled, catching herself against a low root before she could fall.
"Zai!"