The ruins of Eldermere faded behind them, swallowed by the mist rolling in from the valley. The weight of the past still clung to Lira's shoulders, but she forced her feet forward, step by step, away from the dead and toward the unknown.
Kael stumbled beside her.
His breath was ragged, his wounds barely bound. Every step was a battle, every movement slow and pained. His body had taken more than it should have survived.
Lira tightened her grip under his arm, half-carrying him as they trudged through the blackened remains of the road.
"You're slowing us down," she muttered.
Kael let out a breathless chuckle. "That's the first thing you say to me?"
Lira didn't answer. She just adjusted her grip and kept moving.
The sun had barely risen, but the sky was wrong.
Gray clouds churned overhead, thick and unmoving, as if the storm from the Rift had stretched its reach beyond the battlefield.
They walked in silence for a while, the only sounds of their boots crunching against dirt and the distant whisper of the wind.
Then Kael exhaled sharply. "Tell me the truth. Do you think I'm going to die?"
Lira didn't slow. "Not if you shut up and keep moving."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I've got."
He grunted. "Not very reassuring."
She adjusted his weight again. "You want reassurance? Fine. If you die, I'll be pissed off."
Kael gave a weak laugh. "That's the most sentimental thing you've ever said to me."
"Then don't make me repeat it."
He didn't respond.
Because he didn't have the strength to.
---- (A Few Hours Later – Deep in the Forest)
They had left the main road behind, moving through the edges of the forest where the undergrowth was thick and uneven. It made travel harder, but it kept them hidden.
Kael was getting worse.
His breathing had turned shallow, his weight growing heavier against Lira's side. He was barely walking now—she was dragging him more than he was moving.
"Kael." She shook him slightly. "Stay with me."
His eyelids flickered, his grip on her shoulder tightening for a moment before slipping. "Not my fault… you keep walking so damn fast."
Lira bit the inside of her cheek. He was too weak to continue like this. If she kept pushing him, he would collapse, and she wasn't sure if he'd get up again.
They needed to stop.
But stopping meant risking everything.
She glanced behind them. No sign of pursuit. But that didn't mean they were safe.
She cursed under her breath. There was no right answer.
"We need to rest," Kael muttered as if reading her thoughts.
Lira scanned their surroundings. A small clearing lay ahead, partially shielded by a fallen tree. It wasn't much, but it would do.
She half-dragged, half-lifted Kael toward it, lowering him carefully onto the ground. He groaned but didn't argue.
Lira knelt beside him, checking his wound. The bandage was soaked through, the bleeding slower than before but still dangerous.
She tore another strip from her already-ruined cloak, pressing it against his side. "This is going to hurt."
Kael gave a weak grin. "Just—just do it."
She tightened the fabric around his wound, earning a sharp intake of breath.
"Still alive?" she asked.
Kael let out a shaky breath. "Barely. But I appreciate your lack of bedside manners."
Lira snorted. "Good. That means you're still conscious."
His expression turned serious. "Lira… you should leave me here."
She stilled. "No."
"You need to move faster. I'm slowing you down."
"Shut up, Kael."
"You don't understand—"
"I understand just fine." She met his gaze. "You think I'm going to let you bleed out in the middle of nowhere? Not happening."
Kael sighed. He knew she wasn't going to listen. He knew she was stubborn enough to carry him the rest of the way if she had to.
"Then at least promise me something," he murmured.
Lira frowned. "What?"
"If it gets bad—really bad—don't let me turn into one of them."
Silence.
Lira's throat tightened. She didn't want to think about that possibility. Didn't want to think about what the Rift's influence could do to him.
Finally, she nodded. "You won't."
Kael closed his eyes. "Good."
Lira hoped she was telling the truth.
---- (That Night – Near the Edge of the Forest)
The wind shifted again.
Lira stiffened. She didn't know what it was, but something felt off.
The fire she had built was small, barely enough to keep them warm, but the flames flickered strangely—as if something unseen was disturbing them.
Kael was asleep, his breathing uneven but steady. He hadn't gotten worse. But he hadn't gotten better, either.
Lira stood, scanning the darkness between the trees.
Then—movement.
She reached for her sword.
A shadow shifted just beyond the fire's reach. Not human. Not animal.
And then—
The Rift pulsed.
Lira inhaled sharply, her body tensing. It was faint, just a tremor, barely noticeable. But she had felt it.
She knew it wasn't just in her head.
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
The Rift was still watching.
Even here. Even now.
She tightened her grip on her blade.
She didn't know what was coming.
But whatever it was—
It wasn't finished with them yet.
---- (Midnight – The Forest's Edge)
Lira kept her sword drawn as she moved away from the fire, her breath controlled, her footsteps silent.
The trees loomed high around her, their twisted branches clawing at the sky like skeletal fingers. The deeper shadows between them shifted in the flickering firelight.
Something was out there.
She had spent enough years on the battlefield to recognize the feeling of being watched. It was an instinct sharpened over time, a presence that prickled at the back of her skull, urging her to turn—to see.
But when she did, there was nothing.
Not yet.
The wind whispered through the trees, carrying the scent of damp earth and something faintly rotting.
Lira's grip tightened on her sword.
She crouched low, scanning the undergrowth, listening. There were no footsteps. No rustling of leaves. But the forest was not silent.
It was breathing.
A slow, deep exhalation.
Not from her.
Not from Kael.
From something else.
She exhaled through her nose and pressed forward. Her boots made no sound against the moss-covered ground as she slipped between the trees, her body low, her muscles coiled.
Then she saw it.
A single footprint in the damp soil.
Not an animal's.
Too large. Too precise.
The edges of the print had already begun to darken as if sinking into the earth itself.
Lira straightened slowly, scanning the treetops.
Still nothing.
But she knew—she knew.
They weren't alone.
----
They left the forest behind before the first light of dawn touched the horizon. The air felt lighter here, but not safer.
Kael was awake now, though barely. His fever had worsened overnight, and his skin was damp with sweat despite the cold air. Lira could feel the heat radiating from him as she half-dragged him up the sloping path.
They had to find shelter.
Soon.
She glanced ahead, her vision adjusting to the dim pre-dawn light. A shape stood in the distance.
Not a person.
Not a ruin.
A settlement.
Lira stilled.
Smoke curled from the chimneys, faint and gray against the dark sky. The silhouette of wooden walls rose just beyond the nearest ridge, old but sturdy.
It was the first sign of civilization they had seen since Eldermere.
Kael stirred beside her, his breath ragged. "Is that—?"
"Maybe," Lira muttered.
Hope was a dangerous thing.
She had learned long ago not to trust it.
Still, she adjusted her grip and kept walking.
They didn't have a choice.
---- (At the Settlement's Gates)
The gates loomed over them, built of reinforced wood, old but strong. A pair of torches burned low near the entrance, casting flickering shadows across the damp earth.
Lira knocked once.
Then again.
Silence.
She could hear movement inside. A presence shifting behind the walls, unseen but watching.
Then, just before the gate creaked open, she heard it.
A whisper.
Not from behind the walls.
Not from the trees.
From the wind itself.
"Aric."
Lira's blood ran cold.
The gate opened.
She stepped inside.