Chapter 11 — Shadows in the Green
The forest's green light was dimming into a grayish gloom, shadows lengthening like black fingers between the trees. Kael didn't need Side to tell him they were being herded — the rhythm of bird calls was off, and the air had that thick, expectant weight before a kill.
Veythar stopped mid-step. His human eyes flicked toward the treeline. "Four shapes. Close. They move like predators, but smell like men."
Kael smiled faintly, resting a hand on his sword hilt. "Then let's give them something worth catching."
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They moved into a clearing where the grass came up to Kael's knees, the wind making the blades sway in hypnotic waves. The moment they stepped into the open, the trap was sprung.
Two men burst from the left treeline, axes raised. Another came from behind with a halberd. The fourth — a bowman — stayed hidden, the faint whistle of a drawn string giving him away.
Kael's blade was in motion before the first man reached him. The steel caught the sunlight as it flashed upward, batting aside the descending axe. His wrist twisted, edge cutting deep into the man's ribs before the scream could even start.
The second axeman swung wide, aiming to cleave Kael in half. Kael ducked under it, his free hand snapping out to grab the man's wrist. A sharp twist — the crack of bone — and the axe fell. Kael shoved the man into the halberdier's charge, using him like a human shield.
The halberd punched through his ally's back. Kael was already inside his guard, stepping into the man's space, blade sliding along the halberd shaft until it found flesh. One clean thrust, then out.
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The bowstring twanged. Kael twisted, but not fast enough — the arrow grazed his side, hot pain blooming under his ribs.
> Side: "That's twice now, Kael. Archers seem to like you."
Kael: "They'll love me less in ten seconds."
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With a flick of his fingers, Kael hurled his sword into the grass, letting it sink into the earth at an angle. He dropped low, one hand brushing the ground. Space itself folded — just a ripple — and he was gone.
The bowman jerked in surprise as Kael materialized behind him. The man had only time to widen his eyes before Kael's hand seized the back of his neck and drove him forward into the trunk of a tree with bone-cracking force.
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When Kael returned to the clearing, the wind smelled faintly of iron and something else — the whisper of shadows curling under his boots. One by one, the corpses slid into the black pool at his feet, gone in moments.
Veythar raised an eyebrow. "Leaving witnesses?"
Kael sheathed his sword, retrieved from where it still stood in the grass. "Not today. But next time they send friends, I want them nervous."
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The hunt had just begun.
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