The forest swallowed their footsteps, branches whipping past as the three hunters tore through the snow-coated underbrush. The cold bit into their lungs, every breath sharp and burning. But none of them slowed down—not with the sound of wendigos stampeding through the woods ahead of them.
Not with Kael out there alone.
Rin spat into the snow as he ran, muttering curses under his breath. "I swear—if that idiot bites it before we get there, I'm killing him myself."
Taro's face was pale, sweat streaking down despite the freezing air. The girl he'd rescued earlier was tied securely to his back, her limp arms bouncing lightly with each step. Her breathing was shallow but steady.
He whispered something—soft, almost rhythmic. Not to them. Not even to himself.
A prayer. The childish kind kids recited at orphanages when the nights felt too long.
"Stay awake… stay alive… shadows stay outside…"
He repeated it over and over like a protective charm.
Lira moved ahead of both of them, silent and focused. She didn't look back. She didn't have to. Her mind was already racing through angles, distances, threats, and probabilities.
She had the most stamina left. She hadn't fought nearly as much as Rin or Taro tonight.
She had the best chance of reaching Kael first.
And that scared her more than she'd ever admit.
The forest felt wrong now. Not just dangerous—wrong. The moonlight cut through the branches in harsh, sharp beams that made every tree look like ribs jutting out of a frozen corpse. Snow fell in thin, quiet sheets, but the silence underneath was worse.
The only sound came from the direction they were running toward—
the thunder of many legs, all racing in the same direction.
Wendigos.
A whole horde.
Something had provoked them. Drawn them. Summoned them.
Lira clenched her jaw and pushed harder.
---
Rin vaulted over a fallen log, landing hard and grimacing as pain shot through his ribs. He'd taken a beating earlier. His breath came ragged, and sweat froze against his temples. But he didn't stop.
"Damn it," he said. "Damn it, damn it—Kael better not be doing something stupid."
"He's… he's always doing something stupid," Taro answered softly.
But the tone wasn't mocking. It was scared.
Rin shot him a sideways look. "You good?"
Taro shook his head without slowing. "No. But I'm running."
He kept tugging the girl higher on his back so her head wouldn't loll painfully with each step. Her skin had turned a frightening shade of pale-blue. If they didn't get her to warmth soon, she wouldn't last long.
Rin frowned at the girl. "Why the hell did you carry her through all this?"
Taro didn't respond right away. Then—
"She was alone."
Rin scoffed. "Now doesn't seem like the right time and situation for her to be in."
"But I found her," Taro muttered. "She was… awake. She looked at me. Like I was only one that could save her."
His voice cracked. Not much—but enough.
Rin didn't say anything else.
Lira's voice finally cut through the dark in a sharp whisper. "Speed up."
Rin narrowed his eyes. "Why? What do you see?"
"Not what—what I don't see." She pointed ahead. "The wendigos. Even a horde makes noise. Cracks branches. Echoes. But… silence now."
Rin's face hardened. "Which means?"
"They stopped."
Lira's expression tightened. "Something made them stop."
"And turn," Taro murmured, breath trembling.
"Toward Kael," Lira said.
She didn't add the obvious:
Or toward us.
The forest around them seemed to exhale, trees shifting with the wind. A faint, unnatural glow flickered above the canopy—blue, dim, wrong. Like moonlight reflected off blood.
Rin swore. "Great. Perfect. Love it."
---
The trees grew denser ahead—thick roots twisting up, branches low and heavy with snow. Taro slowed instinctively. "We can't squeeze through this. We'll lose time."
Lira grabbed a fist-sized stone from the ground, weighed it, then scraped it across the nearest trunk.
A faint shimmer of greenish residue glowed in the grooves.
She didn't smile. But something in her stance sharpened.
"This cluster grows near the ravine," she said. "If we cut right and cross the slope, we can reach Kael faster."
Rin blinked. "You sure?"
"Absolutely. The wendigos will take the main path—they're moving in a straight line. If we slip under them…"
"We get ahead," Rin finished, grin sharp. "Finally. Something smart."
Lira shot him a look. "Try not to sound so surprised."
Taro took a breath. "Can we make it before they loop back?"
"Only if we move now," Lira said.
She didn't wait for agreement.
She sprinted toward the right, boots crunching through the frost. Rin and Taro followed immediately.
The trees whipped past, shadows slipping between roots. Snow fell in clumps from branches shaken by the wind—or something heavier.
Taro stumbled, nearly losing his balance with the girl on his back.
Rin grabbed his arm. "I got you. Don't drop her."
Taro nodded once, shaky.
They pushed forward.
As they slid down a slope, snow cascading around them, the woods abruptly dipped into a quiet clearing. The silence was suffocating—thick and oppressive. Taro felt it first.
That prickling sensation.
The one that crawls up the spine.
He stopped. "We're being watched."
Rin and Lira froze beside him.
The trees ahead were still. Too still.
Rin slowly drew his blade. "How many?"
Taro swallowed. "One. Maybe two. Maybe more. I… I'm not sure."
"Try to be sure," Rin whispered sharply, scanning the darkness.
Taro shook his head. "They're moving too fast…"
He didn't finish.
A shadow flickered across the treetops.
Then another.
Then a third.
"Lira," Rin muttered, "your call."
Lira's breath puffed into the cold like smoke. "Stay tight. Move fast. If they engage, you two run. I'll handle it."
Taro's eyes widened. "But—"
"Move!"
She pushed ahead, snow crunching under her boots.
They didn't get five steps before something dropped from the branches—fast, silent, pale against the moonlight.
Its claws slashed at Rin's face.
He blocked, metal screeching against bone.
"Son of a—!"
Another wendigo scuttled along a tree trunk above them, limbs twisting like a spider as it positioned for a pounce. Its eyes glowed faintly blue, saliva freezing on its jaws.
Taro clutched the girl tighter and ducked behind a fallen log. "Rin!!"
Rin parried again, boots sliding on the snow.
Lira didn't hesitate. She drew two blades from her coat, stepped forward—
And moved.
The air hissed around her.
A clean, precise slash took the first wendigo across the throat, a line of glowing blue spilling out in a spray. It hissed, head twitching violently, before collapsing into the snow.
The second one lunged.
Lira pivoted, stabbed upward, then twisted her body and used the creature's weight to flip it over her shoulder. It crashed into a pine trunk, cracking it in half.
Before it could recover, Lira stepped in—
One strike.
Then two more.
Its glow faded.
Rin exhaled, wiping blood from his cheek. "You done flexing, or—?"
"Move," Lira cut in, already scanning the treetops for more. "These were stragglers. The rest are focused somewhere else."
"Kael," Taro whispered. Not as a guess. As a certainty.
Lira nodded once and broke into a sprint.
Rin groaned. "Can we talk about how much you love telling us to keep running—?!"
"Run faster and complain later."
---
As they climbed over thick roots and ducked under low branches, Rin finally broke the silence.
"You think Kael's okay?"
Lira didn't look back. "No."
Taro nearly tripped. "Wait—what?"
"I think he's hurt," Lira said plainly. "I think he's exhausted. Cornered. Bleeding. Being hunted."
Rin scoffed bitterly. "You're terrible at comfort."
"I'm not trying to comfort you. I'm telling you why we run."
Taro tightened his grip on the girl. "We're going to save him, right?"
Rin answered before Lira could.
"Of course. He's our idiot leader."
"…Yeah," Taro whispered. "He is."
The girl on his back stirred weakly, fingers twitching.
Taro adjusted her again. "Hold on. Please. Just hold on…"
They reached an area where the canopy cracked open, moonlight spilling down in a wide, empty slope. Ahead, the faint path carved by a rushing horde cut through the snow—long grooves and scattered frost patterns where many feet had sprinted.
Rin slowed, leaning on his knees. "There… that's the trail."
Lira scanned the disturbed snow. "They moved fast. All in one direction."
Taro's voice came small. "We follow it?"
"Yes," Lira said. "But we take the edge. If they come back at us full force, we won't stand a chance."
Rin nodded grimly. "Good call."
They moved along the outskirts of the monstrous trail, following the ripped branches and torn bark.
A distant echo carried through the trees.
A howl.
Low.
Long.
Hungry.
Taro shivered violently. "That's the same howl we heard earlier."
The implication hung heavy.
Kael's all alone.
Taro frowned. "Something's wrong."
Rin nodded. "Yeah. I feel it too…"
Lira slowed to a stop.
The snow ahead was still.
No movement.
No sound.
No breathing but their own.
Then—
A crunch.
Very close.
Rin raised his blade. "Something's coming."
Taro tightened his grip on the girl. "We can't fight many…"
Lira's eyes narrowed.
"No," she whispered.
And in that moment, all three of them felt it.
The air shifted.
The forest tensed.
The shadows recoiled.
From deeper in the trees, the wendigos stopped.
All at once.
A wave of silence rolled outward like a command.
Then, with slow, unnerving synchronization—
Every single one of them turned their heads toward the three hunters.
Their eyes glowed faint blue through the darkness.
Rin inhaled sharply. "Ah. Hell."
Taro trembled. "They… they sensed us."
"No," Lira whispered, stepping back.
They were not looking at the hunters.
They were looking through the hunters.
At prey they suddenly realized was close.
The hunters lurched into defensive stances.