The tension in Reidar's shoulders eased as soon as they left the camp.
They traveled in silence for half a mile before the first rustle of movement echoed behind them, but his wolves didn't react. They should have growled and should have positioned themselves between him and the threat if there was one. Instead, they remained calm, as if the figure wasn't there at all.
They kept moving.
Another mile passed. The forest thickened; the canopy blocked most of the fading sunlight. Reidar spotted a clearing ahead and angled toward it. There, he saw something.
"There's someone," he told Lena and Jake when they reached the treeline. "Do you think it's from the camp?"
"Maybe."
The three went forward.
They moved into the clearing. It was a small meadow maybe fifty yards wide, with one huge oak tree standing right in the middle. The grass was trampled down in spots, showing someone had been here not long ago.
He walked to the center, stopping under the oak's sprawling branches.
