Mist clung low to the valley as morning crept across the ridgeline. From the mouth of the cave, Kael watched sunlight push dimly through the fog, pale and uncertain. Below, the road remained quiet, but the memory of last night's torchlight still lingered in his mind.
Sera stepped up beside him, arms crossed, her cloak pulled tight against the wind.
"They've moved east," she murmured, scanning the valley. "At least two units. One heading toward the merchant routes. The other? Might be looping around. Smart enough to flank. Not smart enough to hide the trail."
Kael said nothing. His hand rested on the rune-sword at his hip. The runes had pulsed faintly again when he woke — not strong, but enough to make him uneasy.
"They're searching for something," he said. "Not just me. They're sweeping too wide."
Sera nodded. "Could be looking for whatever you're carrying. The scroll. Or the girl."
Kael stiffened. "They wouldn't touch her."
"Not if they knew what was good for them."
Behind them, Lina sat near the fire, legs crossed and focused on trying to braid a few strands of moss. She looked more rested, though her eyes still flinched at sharp sounds.
Kael stepped back into the cave, kneeling beside her. "We're leaving soon. Think you're ready?"
Lina nodded. "I don't want to be here when they come back."
Kael smiled faintly. "Me neither."
By midday, the three of them had made their way down the far slope of the highland trail, moving deeper into a region known as the Greyhollow Vale — a low forest where trees twisted like they were grown from smoke and memories. The ground here was damp, soft, and covered in moss that deadened every footstep.
Sera walked in front, blades at her sides, eyes scanning every tree.
Lina stayed close to Kael, her small hand still clutching his fingers like a lifeline.
Birdsong was scarce.
Kael didn't like it.
They stopped by a stream to refill their flasks. The water ran cold and clear over flat stones. Sera crouched by the bank, watching the reflection of the sky ripple across the surface.
"That's the third silence," she said under her breath.
Kael looked over. "Silence?"
"No frogs. No birds. No fox tracks. This forest is alive… but too quiet."
"You think something's here?"
Sera stood and wiped her hands. "I think something's watching."
Kael scanned the trees. Nothing. No movement. No scent of smoke or magic. Just fog and moss and damp earth.
Still… the sword on his back thrummed softly. A warning.
He reached back and loosened it in its sheath.
Lina noticed. "Something wrong?"
"Stay close," he said. "Don't speak."
They walked for another mile in tense silence.
Then came the whisper.
It was faint — like a breath — and yet it reached through the trees, curling through Kael's mind like smoke through old wood.
"Vorrin…"
He stopped.
Sera froze.
Kael drew his sword slowly. The runes were glowing again — not fully, but enough to light faint lines of amber across the metal. The air turned cold.
Lina grabbed his sleeve. "Kael… what was that?"
He turned, heart pounding. "You heard it?"
She nodded.
Sera stepped closer, knives drawn. "That wasn't wind."
"Behind us," Kael said. "Something's following."
Sera looked at the trees. "How close?"
"I don't know. But it knows my name."
Then the forest shifted.
A low groaning creak echoed between the trunks — like bark stretching over bone — and something moved in the mist.
Not fast.
Not loud.
But heavy.
Lumbering.
Wrong.
Sera grabbed Lina and pulled her behind a thick tree. "Eyes up," she whispered. "Don't blink."
Kael raised his sword.
From the fog ahead came a shape — tall, gaunt, its body wrapped in rotted cloth and silver chains that dragged across the mossy earth. Its face was hidden beneath a broken porcelain mask, cracked in half, revealing only a single glowing eye behind the slit.
Kael stepped forward. "What are you?"
The figure did not reply.
It raised a hand — pale and skeletal — and the ground beneath it burned with symbols. Not flames… but seething red glyphs, carved into the soil by unseen force.
Sera hissed. "That's binding magic."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Necromancy?"
"No," she whispered. "Older. Something worse."
The masked figure pointed directly at Kael.
"Return the flame," it said.
The voice was wrong. Too deep. As if echoed from inside a coffin.
Kael's blood ran cold.
It lunged.
He barely raised his blade in time to deflect the first blow. A long, rusted chain shot forward like a whip, striking the stone beside him and carving through it like butter.
Kael slashed upward — his sword humming with heat — and the runes flared brightly. The creature staggered back, one arm severed, black smoke spilling from the wound instead of blood.
But it didn't scream.
It didn't bleed.
It just reattached the chain, and kept coming.
Kael shouted, "Run!"
Sera grabbed Lina and bolted through the trees.
Kael followed, ducking low as another chain whipped past, slicing bark from a tree.
The thing gave chase, moving faster than anything its size should have.
They didn't stop running until they reached a narrow ravine. A fallen tree spanned the gap — narrow, slick, and rotting — but passable.
Sera didn't hesitate. She slung Lina across first, then turned back and shouted, "Kael, move!"
Kael turned just in time to see the creature step into the clearing behind him. Its eye blazed red, and the chains began to whirl.
Kael sprinted.
The creature lashed out — a chain struck his leg, tearing cloth and drawing blood — but he leapt onto the tree and ran across.
He landed hard on the other side.
Sera raised her bow, notched an arrow, and loosed it.
The arrow hit the creature square in the mask — shattering it.
What lay beneath was not a face.
Not human.
Not elf.
Just a hollow cavity filled with pulsing embers and empty darkness.
The creature stood for a moment — watching them — and then slowly retreated into the fog without a sound.
Kael lay on the ground, chest heaving.
Sera lowered her bow. "…Well, that's new."
Kael touched his leg. Blood. Not deep, but it burned. The wound pulsed faintly.
Lina knelt beside him. "Are you okay?"
"I'll live," he said.
Sera walked forward, looking into the fog. "That thing wasn't sent to kill you."
Kael looked up. "What?"
"It could have. But it didn't. It wanted something else."
He stared into the trees.
"Return the flame," it had said.
Kael's hand moved to the scroll inside his cloak.
Something was coming for him.
Something that didn't bleed… and couldn't die.