They didn't venture too far, making sure to stay within a mile of the camp's perimeter. The dense canopy filtered the afternoon sun, casting long, shifting shadows over the forest floor.
Aleksander moved through the brush with absolute, silent precision. He had left his advanced hybrid battleaxe strapped to his back, opting instead to carry one of the crude, rusted spears he had taken from the slaughtered Grounder exiles.
Bellamy trailed slightly behind, trying his best to match Aleksander's completely noiseless footsteps.
Ahead of them, grazing peacefully in a small patch of sunlight, was a large buck.
Aleksander didn't hesitate. He didn't even fully break his stride. He simply shifted his weight, raised the rusted spear, and launched it. The weapon tore through the air with a terrifying, unnatural velocity, crossing the clearing in a fraction of a second. It struck the deer perfectly behind the shoulder, piercing its heart and dropping the animal instantly to the moss without so much as a final cry.
Bellamy stopped in his tracks, staring at the downed buck, then looked down at the distance Aleksander had just thrown a heavy, unbalanced weapon. It was physically impossible for a normal teenager.
Bellamy looked at Aleksander, his brow furrowed in genuine disbelief. "Are you even human?"
Aleksander just offered a slow, mysterious smile, his dark eyes flashing with an ancient, unspoken amusement. He didn't answer.
Instead, Aleksander walked over, effortlessly hoisted the heavy buck over his shoulders, and retrieved the spear. On their trek back toward the camp, Aleksander's heightened senses allowed them to snare two large rabbits, adding to their already impressive haul.
"The camp is going to eat like kings tonight," Bellamy remarked, a rare, genuine grin breaking through his usual tension as he carried the rabbits.
But the victory was abruptly shattered.
A deep, reverberating OOWOOOO echoed through the forest. It was a massive, haunting horn blast that seemed to shake the very leaves on the trees.
Aleksander stopped instantly, his head snapping toward the east. The forest around them suddenly exploded into frantic motion. Hundreds of birds burst from the canopy, screeching in alarm as they fled blindly toward the west. Small animals abandoned their burrows, sprinting past Aleksander and Bellamy in sheer terror.
Then, Aleksander felt it. A sharp, chemical burning sensation in the air that made his Fey instincts scream in warning.
He looked through the trees and saw it—a massive, churning bank of sickly yellow fog. It moved unnaturally fast, rolling through the forest like a localized tornado, devouring everything in its path. As the yellow mist touched the ferns, the leaves instantly blackened and shriveled, a terrifying hissing sound echoing through the woods.
Acid.
"Run," Aleksander ordered, his voice cracking like a whip. "Bellamy, follow me now!"
Bellamy took one look at the towering wall of yellow death eating the forest and didn't ask a single question. He bolted.
Despite carrying the massive buck over his shoulders, Aleksander sprinted through the dense brush with blinding speed, leading Bellamy away from the camp and directly toward a rocky ridge he had mapped with his mind earlier. The hissing, burning roar of the fog was right on their heels, the air growing thick and corrosive.
"Alex!" Bellamy choked out, his lungs burning as the edge of the fog began to catch up to them.
"Keep moving!" Aleksander yelled back.
His Dark Fey senses probed the earth beneath his boots, finding the hollow pocket he was looking for. Up ahead, partially concealed by a thick tangle of dead vines, was a jagged fissure in the rock face.
"In there!" Aleksander commanded.
Bellamy dove through the dead vines, tumbling hard onto the damp, rocky floor of the cavern. Aleksander slipped in right behind him, effortlessly dragging the massive buck inside.
Aleksander didn't wait to see if the cavern was deep enough to protect them. He spun around to face the entrance. His dark eyes flared for a fraction of a second, he was casting a localized barrier across the opening of the cave.
There was no shimmering light, no glowing barrier, and no visible energy. To the naked eye, the entrance was completely open.
A second later, the yellow fog slammed against the rock face outside. It swirled violently, the highly corrosive mist hissing and popping as it instantly dissolved the dead vines hanging over the entrance. But right at the threshold of the cave, the fog abruptly stopped. It churned and rolled aggressively against empty air, peeling back from the opening as if it were hitting a solid pane of invisible glass.
Bellamy scrambled backward on his hands and knees, coughing as the acrid smell of burnt foliage reached them. He stared in absolute disbelief. The wall of deadly yellow mist was just inches away, but it wasn't entering the cave. It just swirled uselessly at the mouth.
Bellamy swallowed hard, his heart hammering against his ribs. He looked up at Aleksander, who was standing casually near the entrance, entirely unbothered by the toxic hurricane raging just a foot from his face.
"Why..." Bellamy panted, pointing a trembling finger at the threshold. "Why isn't it coming inside? The wind is blowing right at us."
Aleksander turned from the fog, his expression perfectly calm. He slipped his hands into his pockets, seamlessly constructing a lie that was simple, logical, and easy to believe.
"It's a draft," Aleksander stated smoothly, gesturing toward the pitch-black depths of the cavern behind them. "This cave isn't a dead end. There's a tunnel system further back, and it's pushing a steady stream of warm air out through this opening."
Bellamy blinked, trying to process the information through the adrenaline.
"The acid fog is incredibly dense and heavy," Aleksander continued, keeping it simple.
"The air blowing out of this cave is acting like a giant, invisible fan. It's physically pushing the fog away, keeping it from drifting inside."
Bellamy let out a long, ragged exhale, slumping back against the cold stone wall. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Having spent his life scrubbing the vents and working maintenance on the Ark, the concept made perfect sense to him.
"Positive pressure," Bellamy muttered, nodding slowly as his breathing leveled out. "Like an airlock."
"Exactly," Aleksander agreed, his tone clinical and authoritative.
Bellamy looked from the swirling yellow death outside to the Alpha Station prodigy standing in the dark. The science tracked, but the fact that Aleksander had noticed it while running for his life was insane.
"You just... felt a breeze and knew this cave would act like a shield?" Bellamy asked, his voice rough.
"I don't leave things to chance, Bellamy," Aleksander replied quietly. He walked over to where he had dropped the buck and the rabbits, casually inspecting the meat to ensure no acid had tainted it. "I noticed the outbound draft the moment we ran past the ridge. It was the only logical shelter."
Bellamy just shook his head, a mix of sheer disbelief and profound relief washing over him. Whether it was luck, impossible observation skills, or just sheer Alpha Station genius, Aleksander had just saved both of their lives again.
"Well," Bellamy muttered, gesturing to the dead buck in the dark. "Looks like we're going to be stuck in here for a while. Let's hope that draft keeps blowing."
"It will hold," Aleksander promised softly, his dark eyes flashing toward the invisible magical barrier that was entirely impenetrable. "Get comfortable. We wait out the storm."