Cain and the leader of the flock hurtled through the sky, locked in a breakneck race toward the forest's edge.
The wind screamed past his ears, and his wingsuit fluttered violently against the pressure. His eyes flicked to the bird beside him.
Its wings pumped with lethal precision, each feather cutting through the air like sharpened blades. It was unyielding, unblinking — no hesitation, no flicker of fear.
Its gaze snapped to him, and it cawed, a sharp, high-pitched cry that reverberated through the air like a warning siren. It wasn't going to let him go.
Not until one of them crashed.
[Speed: 577 km/h]
[Altitude: 1,141 Meters]
Below them, the landscape blurred, but the towering treetops grew closer with every second.
Not ordinary trees — Cain could see it now.
'I need to glide. Weightless.'
Their bark shifted with irregular patterns, small, glimmering eyes blinking from between knots and crevices. Insectoid in nature, like cockroach eyes, hundreds of them glittering black and unblinking, reflecting flashes of sunlight as if appraising him.
They twitched with excitement, tendrils shaking in anticipation. It wasn't just a forest. It was a hunting ground, primed and waiting for prey.
'Predator Tree Saplings...'
Despite standing hundreds of meters tall, these trees were still considered saplings.
To reach full growth, they needed to consume flesh and blood—without it, they would wither and die.
"Truly trees from hell."
While Cain muttered — the trees did not stop rousing.
Their bodies stretched upward, awakened by the rush of potential prey.
Trunks groaned and lifted off the ground where they had once lain, as if toppled by some long-forgotten storm.
The bark cracked and twisted, hardening into ironwood rigidity, while sinewy vines lashed out like eager tongues.
Branches coiled and uncoiled, snapping at the air with frenetic energy — hungry for anything foolish enough to pass through.
[Altitude: 341 Meters]
Cain dove first, tucking his arms tight to his sides as the first wave of branches whipped past him. They moved with serpentine grace, not like plants at all.
He ducked beneath a jagged trunk that lashed out like a spear, its tip flaring with snapping jaws, barely missing his head. He could feel the rush of displaced air as it snapped shut behind him, sharp enough to shear flesh from bone.
Just a few meters away, the bird spun in midair, wings slicing through thinner branches like serrated blades, leaving trails of splintered wood and green ichor in its wake.
But even it knew better than to challenge the thicker branches head-on. They twisted and groaned as if alive, reaching up with the greed of a thousand fingers, eager to grab hold of both Cain and the bird.
The trees were hungry — but neither Cain nor the bird had any intention of slowing down.
[Speed: 309 km/h]
'Let's see who can fly better.'
As Cain and the leader bird plunged deeper into the dense canopy of the forest, the landscape transformed.
More of the predator trees stirred, awakened by the rush of movement. Their branches stretched and creaked, groaning like beasts roused from slumber.
High above, most of the flock maintained a safer altitude, their instincts sharp enough to avoid the writhing mass of vines below.
But a few braver bird brains — followed after Cain and the massive leader, wings cutting through the thick air.
Cain's eyes darted around, catching glimpses of what unfolded behind him.
The smaller birds zipped through the trees with reckless abandon, oblivious to the finer strands of vines weaving through the canopy.
His eyes witnessed — one snap taut around a bird's wing, its flight arrested with a violent jolt.
It flapped wildly, screeching, but more tendrils coiled around its body, strangling its momentum.
A dozen more darted forward, only to be snagged mid-flight. Vines wrapped around their wings, legs, and necks, dragging them deeper into the shadows where the writhing mass consumed them whole.
Further back, a larger bird, easily three meters wide, sliced cleanly through a thick branch.
Its blade-like wings severed it cleanly, or so it thought — but the delay was its undoing.
A mere second's hesitation was enough. Another branch shot out from behind, snapping onto its back. Spikes erupted from the bark and drove through its body like needles through cloth.
Cain watched, eyes wide, as the creature shriveled in seconds, its feathers losing luster, its wings crumbling to dust, and its body drying up like a husk.
Whatever life force it had was drained, siphoned into the predator tree.
Cain grimaced, facing forward. The bird leader was still there, neck and neck with him, wings beating furiously.
It spun in midair, its wings slicing toward him. Cain parried with a twist of his body, blades flashing.
The impact was brutal. His entire body shuddered, nearly spinning him out of control.
The ground surged closer, tangled with grasping vines that writhed like hungry fingers.
A fall wouldn't just be fatal — it would devour him alive.
Cain forced himself back into position, eyes locked on the swaying threats below.
The bird charged once again, wings arcing for another deadly strike.
But just before the bird could close the gap, the barren ground a few kilometers ahead erupted in a blast of dust and debris.
Dozens of turrets of varying sizes sprang to life, their barrels spinning with mechanical precision.
Bullets rained into the sky, shredding through feathers and wings, while explosive flame mortars crashed into the writhing vines below.
The trees hissed in fury, the flames crackling with a purifying glow that scorched deeper than ordinary fire.
The bird leader flared its wings, feathers hardening with a shimmer of energy that deflected the incoming fire.
It shielded its kin but wasn't willing to test its luck against the torrent of lead and flame.
With a final, screeching caw, it wheeled around, retreating into the higher altitudes, its eyes burning with rage as it locked Cain's face in memory.
Cain exhaled, the adrenaline slowly draining from his veins.
The laser targeting systems locked onto him, crimson dots flickering across his chest, but no shots followed.
Cain didn't flinch.
If it hadn't fired by now, it meant someone was watching — someone reasonable, or at the very least, patient.
Cain raised his hands slowly, palms open in a gesture of respect. His voice was clear and measured.
"Specialist, I apologize for intruding on your job."
His tone held neither arrogance nor desperation, it was a simple form of acknowledgment and respect. He wasn't raised to flaunt his family's status, even if the Roosevelts stood far above most.
For a moment, only silence greeted him. The laser blinked once, then disappeared. The turrets retracted back into their hidden compartments, folding seamlessly into the earth as if they were never there.
As he lowered his arms, a crackle of static hissed from a speaker embedded in one of the camouflaged towers. The voice that followed was thick with a Southern drawl, dripping with rugged charm and just a hint of warning.
"Kid, you best not be pokin' 'round where ya don't belong."