Rumi watched the Choral route keeper from an overhanging boulder, measuring the distance to its floating screen before she moved alone.
Below her vantage point, a Choral route keeper stood at the center of a wide canyon terrace, manipulating a floating screen.
The defensive screen pulsed with shifting spatial runes, projecting geometric barriers between three distinct physical landing markers.
Rumi twitched her lynx ears, her sharp feline senses tracking the subtle shimmer of distorted space across the roadbed.
"He shifts his barrier every fifteen seconds," she whispered into her ear talisman, her tail flicking with playful focus.
"First anchor on the gravel bend, the second checkpoint on the broken arch, and the final marker on the drainage sluice."
"Do you want me to flank his blind spot?" Nari's voice asked from the lower culvert entrance.
"Stay right where you are, sister," Rumi answered with a confident smirk, flexing her polished claws against the stone.
