Liora ran like she wasn't touching the ground.
Her bare feet skimmed over roots, rocks, and ghost-thin streams. Moonlight seemed to follow her, painting her pale skin silver, her eyes glowing like twin full moons. Her breath was steady, even though her heart was racing.
Behind her, the forest wasn't just dark — it was hungry.
The Bvuri weren't chasing her. Not exactly. They were spreading, their formless bodies slipping through the cracks between the trees, between the air itself, bending the world into something… wrong.
Liora nocked an arrow, her bow humming softly, like it knew what was coming. The arrowhead glowed faintly — spirit-light, the only thing that could pierce a Bvuri's heart. If they even had hearts.
She didn't need to look back to know they were getting closer. The air was getting colder. The shadows were whispering her name.
Liora… Liora… little key…
She ran faster.
"Hey Kael," Tafara huffed as they sprinted through the trees. "Do we even know where we're going?"
"Towards the creepy death whispers," Kael called back.
"Fantastic," Tafara grinned. "Love a clear plan."
Ranga swung through low branches above them, using his flaming spears like torches, burning away patches of Bvuri mist that tried to block their path.
"Whatever happens," Dendera's deep voice carried over the rush of air, "we protect Kael and we protect the girl."
"Yeah," Tafara snorted. "Easy. Just hold back ancient spirits no one understands while babysitting a guy who might explode into a murder beast. No pressure."
Nyeredzi moved beside Kael, her spirit-sight shimmering faintly around her. "They want both of you," she said softly. "They're calling you… brother."
Kael's stomach twisted. "I'm not their brother."
"Tell them that when they're wearing your skin."
Liora skidded to a stop at the edge of a clearing. A wall of mist rose in front of her, tendrils curling and twitching, half-alive. In the center, a shape formed — not a human, not a beast.
A Bvuri Warden.
Its body was too long, arms stretching past its knees, fingers twitching like they were learning how to move. Its head split open into three faces, all whispering in different languages, none of them meant for living ears.
Liora's bowstring hummed. She raised her arrow.
"Stay back," she said softly.
The Bvuri laughed — or at least, made a sound that tried to be laughter. The trees around her bent away, afraid.
Then it lunged.
Liora's arrow flew.
It didn't miss.
The spirit-light pierced the Warden's chest — but it didn't stop. The Bvuri kept coming, even as the light ate through its flesh like fire through dry leaves.
Liora fired again.
This time, the arrow exploded, blasting the clearing with a burst of silver light. The Bvuri shrieked, its body splitting apart, but not dying — never dying.
"Where's your door, little key?" the voices asked. "Where's our brother?"
Liora's heart skipped.
They weren't here to kill her.
They were here to take her.
A roar split the trees — part lion, part man.
Kael.
He hit the Warden from the side, claws glowing faintly, his lion spirit pushing through his skin. The Bvuri screeched, its form twisting to avoid him — but Kael was too fast.
He tore through the mist, forcing it to break apart — at least for a moment.
"Run!" Kael shouted at Liora.
She didn't move.
Because the ground itself rose up — Dendera's shield slamming into place, blocking off one path while his foot stomped down, shaking the earth and sending spirit-ripples outward, repelling smaller Bvuri trying to creep closer.
Tafara appeared out of nowhere, grinning wildly as he vaulted over Dendera's shield, twin daggers already in motion, slicing through Bvuri tendrils like he was cutting smoke. "Man, I missed stabbing stuff!"
Ranga flipped down from the trees, his flaming spears spinning. "Keep them off Kael!" he shouted, hurling one spear into the mist. It exploded on contact, flames spreading through the mist like oil catching fire.
Nyeredzi's hands moved in slow circles, her spirit-sight reaching deep into the forest. She wasn't fighting — not directly. She was tracking the Bvuri's core, the part hidden beyond normal sight.
"They're shifting," she murmured. "They're trying to surround us."
"Then we keep moving," Kael growled, eyes flickering between gold and black. "We protect the girl — no matter what."
The Bvuri regrouped — dozens of smaller shadows forming a spiral, all eyes locked on Liora. They reached for her, hungry, desperate.
Liora inhaled deeply.
The moon shifted above them.
Her eyes glowed pure silver.
Her next arrow wasn't just spirit-light — it was moonlight itself, condensed into a blade so sharp it cut the air.
She fired.
The arrow didn't just pierce the Bvuri — it unraveled them, threads of shadow peeling away into the sky, dissolving into nothing.
Even Kael stepped back.
"Okay," Tafara muttered. "Remind me never to piss her off."
Liora lowered her bow. "They'll keep coming," she said softly. "Until they have me. Or him." Her silver gaze locked on Kael.
"Then they'll have to try harder," Kael said, claws fading back into fingers. "Because we're not done."
The Bvuri were retreating — for now. But the forest was still wrong, the air still cold.
This wasn't the end.
It was just the first move.
End of Chapter Four