Arrival

 

Erik placed the brain crystal into a padded cloth and wrapped it before putting it into his backpack along with the vial of blood.

He stood up, shouldered his bag, and looked once more at the metalfur bear's corpse.

Erik turned and began walking back the way he had come, leaving the bear's body behind. He got what he needed. He then walked back to where the others were waiting. When he reached them, Mira approached him.

"Did you kill it?" she asked, eying his bloodstained clothes.

Erik nodded. "We need to move, we can't waste more time than we already did."

Mira, Amber, and Emily climbed onto the backs of the clones. June handed Erik the brain crystal and vial of blood he had collected from the Luminaclaw bear.

Erik took them and thanked June. His clone then shapeshifted into an Erendu, crouching low so that his master could climb onto his back easily.