Villainess is being pampered by her beast husbands

Chapter 495 - -495

"So what do we do?" Cutie asked, fear creeping into his voice.Kaya’s mind was racing, running through scenarios, calculating odds. "Vayu, you said your tribe is small, barely established. How many of you are there here?"

"Six," Vayu said. "Myself and five others. All scholars, not warriors."

"Can you fight if you have to?"

"We can defend ourselves, but against a full eagle assault?" Vayu’s voice was grim. "We’d be slaughtered."

"Then you can’t stay here either," Kaya said. "Once they find this settlement, they’ll tear it apart looking for information about where I’ve gone."

"I’m aware," Vayu said dryly. "I was already planning to evacuate my people as soon as you leave. We have contingency plans for this sort of thing."

"Good. Then here’s what we’re going to do." Kaya’s voice took on the tone of command, the soldier emerging fully. "We split up. Vayu, you and your people head south, deeper into snake territory where eagles won’t easily follow. Take anything important with you—records, books, anything that can’t be replaced."

"And you?" Vayu asked.

"We’re going north," Kaya said. "Toward the mountains. Rough terrain, lots of cover, and eagles won’t have the altitude advantage if we stay in the valleys and canyons."

"That’s insane," Veer said. "The northern mountains are harsh, dangerous. There are predators up there that make eagles look tame. And winter is coming—"

"Which is exactly why they won’t expect us to go there," Kaya countered. "Everyone will assume we’re heading for civilization, for safety. No one goes into the northern mountains by choice."

"There’s a reason for that," Ryn pointed out weakly from his resting spot.

"I know. But right now, unpredictable is our best defense." Kaya moved in the darkness, feeling her way to where she’d left her pack. "We need to be somewhere they won’t look, somewhere they’ll assume we’d never be stupid enough to go."

There was a long silence as everyone absorbed this plan.

Finally, Veer spoke. "You realize this could kill us just as surely as the eagles would."

"Yes," Kaya said simply. "But at least this way, we control our fate. We die on our terms, not theirs."

Another pause. Then Veer let out a rough laugh. "You really are insane. But fine. We go north."

"I’m coming too," Ryn said, struggling to sit up. "I can travel—"

"No," Kaya said firmly. "You’re still recovering. You’d slow us down and probably reopen your wound." She softened her tone slightly. "Vayu, can he go with you? Will your people look after him until he’s well enough to travel on his own?"

Vayu was quiet for a moment, then sighed. "Yes. We’ll take him. Though I’m still not happy about any of this."

"I’m not asking you to be happy," Kaya said. "I’m asking you to survive. All of us."

-

They worked in near-total darkness, moving by touch and whispered instructions. Vayu and his scholars gathered their most precious records, packing them into waterproof containers that could be carried or buried if necessary.

Kaya, Veer, and Cutie assembled their supplies—what little food they had, water skins, basic tools, warm clothing from Vayu’s stores.

Ryn protested repeatedly about being left behind, but Kaya remained firm. He was still too weak, still too injured. Taking him would be a death sentence for all of them.

"I’ll come find you," Kaya told him quietly as they prepared to leave. "Once things calm down, once we’ve established a safer position, I’ll come back."

"You can’t promise that," Ryn said, his voice rough with frustration and worry.

"No," Kaya admitted. "But I can try. And trying is better than giving up."

Ryn looked at her for a long moment, then nodded reluctantly. "Fine. But you better survive, human. You owe me a proper fight once I’m healed—I want to see how you beat an eagle lord with your bare hands."

Kaya smiled despite the tension. "Deal."

Outside, the sound of wings was getting closer. Vayu’s head snapped toward the sound, his expression tight.

"They’re maybe thirty minutes out now," he said. "Moving in a grid pattern, checking every settlement, every known camp. When they don’t find you at the obvious locations, they’ll start checking the less obvious ones."

"Then we need to move now," Kaya said.

---

They left Vayu’s settlement in two groups going opposite directions.

Vayu and his scholars headed south, moving silently through the forest, carrying Ryn on a makeshift stretcher. They would travel through the night, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the incoming eagle search parties.

Kaya, Veer, and Cutie went north.

The terrain immediately became more difficult. The gentle forests of the lowlands gave way to rocky hills, then steep inclines covered in dense, thorny underbrush. The temperature dropped noticeably as they climbed, the air becoming thinner, crisper.

Veer led the way, his superior night vision allowing him to navigate obstacles that Kaya could barely see. Cutie stayed close to Kaya, occasionally transforming into his rabbit form to squeeze through tight spaces, then shifting back to human to help her over difficult terrain.

They didn’t speak. Sound carried in the mountains, and they couldn’t risk being overheard.

Behind them, to the south, Kaya occasionally caught glimpses of movement in the sky—dark shapes silhouetted against the starlit clouds. The eagles, conducting their systematic search.

They climbed for what felt like hours. Kaya’s legs burned with the effort, her breathing labored in the thin air. But she pushed on, driven by the knowledge that stopping meant capture.

Eventually, Veer held up his hand, signaling a halt. They’d reached a narrow canyon, its walls rising steeply on either side, creating a natural corridor heading deeper into the mountains.

"We need to rest," Veer whispered. "Just for a few minutes. And we need to talk about what comes next."

They found a small alcove in the canyon wall, barely large enough for the three of them to squeeze into, and collapsed.

Kaya’s entire body ached. Her hands were scraped raw from grabbing rocks for balance. Her clothes were torn in several places from thorny bushes. But they were alive, and they’d put significant distance between themselves and Vayu’s settlement.

"How far have we come?" she asked quietly.

"Maybe five miles," Veer said. "Not as far as I’d like, but the terrain slowed us down."

"Will they search this far north?"

"Eventually," Veer said grimly. "Once they’ve exhausted the more likely locations. But we’ve bought ourselves time—maybe a day, maybe two."

"And then?"

"Then we need to be so deep in the mountains that even if they know we’re here, they can’t easily reach us."

Cutie shifted nervously. "Veer, you said there are predators in these mountains worse than eagles. What did you mean?"

Veer was quiet for a moment. "Bears. Big ones. They live in the high valleys and caves. Territorial, aggressive, and they don’t respect the usual tribe politics. To them, we’re all just meat."

"Great," Kaya muttered. "So we’re running from eagles into bear territory."

"Better than being caught," Veer said. "Bears we can potentially avoid. Eagles actively hunting us? No avoiding that."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, catching their breath, letting their racing hearts slow.