The bone-masked figures advanced in silence, their boots making no sound on the forest floor. The air around them felt heavier, as if the shadows themselves leaned closer to watch.
Kael shifted his stance, guiding Lina a step farther back without taking his eyes off them."Stay behind me," he said.
The tallest puppet tilted its head again, jerking unnaturally, as though testing the limits of some unseen tether. Then it lunged.
Steelflashed—Kael's rune-blade met the jagged sword with a ringing clash. Sparks danced, but instead of retreating, the puppet leaned in, pushing with a strength that didn't belong to any mortal body.
Sera loosed her arrow. It struck the second puppet square in the throat, but there was no cry of pain—only the crunch of bone and the sound of the arrow snapping as it fell to the ground, the puppet's head twitching but never breaking its gaze.
Lina gasped. "It's not alive!"
Kael twisted his blade, breaking the lock. With a swift pivot, he slashed upward, runes igniting in pale blue light. The cut bit deep, severing the puppet's arm at the elbow. The limb fell, fingers still twitching.
But the puppet didn't slow. It came at him again, one-handed, movements jerky but relentless.
The third puppet darted for Lina, its blade arcing toward her unguarded side. Kael moved to intercept—but Sera was faster. She drew a short knife from her boot and stepped into its path, catching the strike with a flash of steel. The force shuddered through her arm, but she held her ground.
"Go!" Sera barked. "I'll—"
Her words were cut short when the severed arm on the ground curled like a spider and launched itself at her ankle, bony fingers clawing for purchase.
Kael's eyes narrowed. The runes on his blade burned brighter. He slashed through the air—not at the puppet, but at the empty space between them. A crescent of pale light ripped forward, severing the unseen strings that shimmered faintly for just an instant before vanishing.
The puppet froze mid-step. Its body crumpled like a dropped marionette.
Sera kicked free from the crawling arm, breathing hard. "What in all the hells—"
Kael didn't answer. The remaining two puppets had stopped moving, their heads snapping toward the same point deeper in the forest.
And then… they turned and fled.
The silence that followed was worse than the fight.
Sera spat on the ground. "They weren't after me. Or the girl." She looked at Kael. "They were after you."
Kael sheathed the rune-blade, but the light in the runes lingered. "I know."
Lina tugged on his sleeve. "What were they?"
Kael's eyes stayed fixed on the direction the puppets had gone."Trouble," he said quietly. "And trouble doesn't travel without a master."
Far beyond the trees, unseen by them all, a figure cloaked in black stood on a ridge, watching. In its hands, thin silver threads glimmered faintly before fading into the wind.
The hunt had only just begun.