Chapter 275: The Beast at the Top of the Food Chain

The moment Ren was securely settled on his back, Altair rose to his feet.

Ren let out a breath, fully expecting the giant bird to simply hop over the few yards of wriggling pink worms and gently deposit her onto the dead crocodile waiting with Viper.

Instead, Altair snapped his massive golden wings completely open.

With one powerful, deafening downward thrust that sent the muddy swamp water rippling violently in all directions, Altair took off from the ground. He shot straight upward with rocketing speed.

“Wait! Altair!” Ren shrieked, her voice completely lost in the roaring rush of the wind.

She was violently thrown backward, forced to flatten her body against his spine and hold on for dear life. The cold night wind whipped aggressively against her face, almost biting right through the magical warmth of her emerald silk dress.

Ren squeezed her eyes shut, screaming into his feathers. When she finally dared to peek over his shoulder, she couldn’t even see the ground anymore.

They were soaring hundreds of feet through the night sky, completely leaving a dumbfounded, utterly bewildered Viper stranded waist-deep in a murky swamp while clutching a dead crocodile.

’Why in the world did I genuinely think he was actually listening to me?!’ Ren screamed internally.

Where was he even taking her?! In this high-altitude situation, the giant Golden Eagle Prince was in absolute control. She decided right then and there that she was going to scold him thoroughly the absolute second they landed. But for now? She just had to go with it.

Slowly, Ren forced her rigid muscles to relax. She sat up just a fraction, the wind whipping the loose strands of her red hair wildly, and looked around.

The night sky was breathtakingly beautiful from up here. Without the towering canopy of the forest blocking her view, the moon looked impossibly massive—a big, round, brilliant silver orb hanging in the darkness. The stars looked like a thick dusting of glittering diamonds scattered across a velvet canvas.

It was so incredibly peaceful up in the clouds.

Ren almost found herself entirely lost in the mesmerizing beauty of it all.

Without warning, Altair suddenly tucked his wings and began a sharp, vertical descent.

Ren’s breath violently hitched. Her stomach completely dropped out of her body, leaving her organs somewhere in the stratosphere as they swooshed downward. She let out a breathless, terrified shriek, clenching her teary eyes tightly shut. The wind aggressively slapped against her skin as she flattened herself against his back, holding onto his neck tight enough to choke him.

CLACK!

Altair’s talons connected loudly with solid stone.

The impact jostled her, but Altair expertly absorbed the shock. Ren slowly, hesitantly peeked her teary green eyes open. She blinked rapidly, her vision clearing as she took in the dark, imposing, familiar architecture surrounding them.

Her eyes widened in pure shock. Black, smooth stone glinted under the moonlight. She was standing on the high, sweeping terrace of Syris’ obsidian castle.

Altair smoothly lowered his body to the cold stone floor, and Ren carefully, shakily slid off his back. Her legs felt like jelly, wobbling precariously as her feet touched solid ground.

“Thank you for carrying me,” Ren spoke in rushed, frantic hushed tones, aggressively waving her hands at him. “But you have to go right now! Shoo! Go back before the guards spot you!”

She placed her small hands against his thick, feathered chest and tried to push him toward the edge of the terrace. He wouldn’t budge an inch. As usual, he just stood there like a feathered brick wall, staring down at her with those unblinking silver eyes.

Then, he had the audacity to fold his wings, tuck his talons, and simply sit down on the obsidian floor, as if explicitly saying he wasn’t going anywhere.

Ren gasped, her jaw dropping.

“Altair!” Ren scolded him, her whisper sharp and frantic. “Stop being so stubborn! You don’t understand! Syris is incredibly possessive and very strong! He will not spare you if he catches you here! You need to go!”

Altair still wasn’t moving.

“Are you not afraid?!” Ren asked, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

Altair’s silver eyes slowly shifted from her flushed, panicked face to directly behind her.

Ren froze. She slowly turned around, dread pooling heavy in her gut.

Emerging from the dark arched doorway leading into the castle interior were three snake guards.

The guards stopped dead in their slithering tracks. They recognized her immediately as their King’s mate. Their slit eyes widened with relief.

But then, their gaze shifted, landing on the golden eagle sitting casually on their terrace.

A collective, terrified hiss erupted from all three guards. They instantly began slithering rapidly backward. They raised their obsidian spears, but their hands were trembling. Fear was evident on their faces.

Ren blinked in surprise. She noted that Viper had the exact same reaction to Altair.

’Are snakes really that afraid of eagles?’ Ren wondered, completely baffled by the display.

[System: Eagles and owls are the natural, apex predators of snakes, Host. The Beast World strictly follows the basic, underlying rules of the animal food chain. Their fear is entirely instinctual. To them, Altair is the Grim Reaper with feathers.]

Ren’s brows shot up. She looked at the trembling guards, a wild thought suddenly crossing her mind. ’Does that mean… Syris would be afraid of him, too?’

[System: It is certainly not impossible.]

Ren was suddenly very, very curious.

But her curiosity was instantly squashed by a heavy wave of dread. What if Syris wasn’t afraid? What if the Snake King was just blindingly, furiously angry instead that she had the audacity to bring another male, an eagle, at that, into his home?!

[System: There is only one way to find out! Let’s introduce them!]

’Absolutely not!’ Ren thought. She desperately wanted Altair to leave. She had just gotten Syris and Kael to stop actively trying to murder each other! Her blood pressure couldn’t take it.

’System, what are the odds I can successfully convince Altair to fly away right now?’

[System: Calculating… The statistical odds are currently sitting at 0.0001%.]

Ren released a long sigh of absolute defeat. Her shoulders slumped. She was just going to have to wing it and hope for the best.

Plastering a reassuring, entirely forced smile onto her face, Ren turned to the terrified, trembling snake guards.

“It’s okay!” Ren called out gently, holding her hands up in surrender. “The eagle is my friend! He is a very good bird! He won’t hurt anyone, I promise!”

The snake beastmen hardly relaxed. They kept their spears raised, their eyes darting nervously between her and Altair’s sharp beak.

“Where… where is Viper?” one of the guards stammered, his voice shaking. “He was sent to retrieve you.”

“Oh, Viper is fine! He just… really didn’t want to ride on my bird,” Ren lied smoothly. “So he’s coming via the normal route.” She casually gestured a thumb back toward the murky water.

To Ren’s relief, the snake beastmen immediately accepted her explanation without a shred of doubt. It made perfect sense to them that a fellow snake would refuse to willingly ride on the back of a giant eagle.

“We must escort you inside, then,” the guard swallowed hard, gesturing weakly toward the door with a trembling spear. “Our King has been… waiting.”

As the guards nervously turned around to lead the way, keeping a massive distance, Ren quickly turned to Altair.

The eagle rose gracefully to his feet.

“Listen to me,” Ren whispered urgently, stepping close to him. “You absolutely must stay in your beast form. Do not shift into a beastman unless I say you can, okay? Please?”

She stuck her bottom lip out in a pathetic pout, widening her bright green eyes into a desperate, pleading gaze.

Altair stared down at her pout. Slowly, he dipped his head in a solemn nod.

Ren released a shuddering sigh of relief. She gently caressed the soft golden feathers on his chest.

“Good birdy,” Ren whispered.

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