Chapter 307: The Other Side

For the first time since the expedition had entered the deeper western forest, Kael could see every person they needed to save and still could not reach them.

Sera stood on the western side of the ravine with her bow in one hand and Milo seated several paces behind her, his back against a broken section of retaining wall. Kel remained near the collapsed bridge, staring down at the missing eastern span as though concentration alone might convince the stone to return. Between them and the rest of the expedition, the ravine cut through the slope in a dark fifty-foot wound, its river far below reduced to a violent ribbon of white water between black rocks.

The damaged bridge still groaned occasionally as pieces loosened and fell.

Kael hated the sound.

Every crack made him expect the remaining western section to go with it.

Galahad clearly felt the same way.

"Move back from the bridge," he called across.

Sera raised her head.

"We know."

"Then do it."

She looked toward Kel.

Kel had not moved.

Rask stepped to the edge on the eastern side.

"Kel."

That got his attention.

Kel looked up.

Rask pointed toward the retaining wall behind him. "Twenty paces back."

Kel stared at the destroyed span.

"There’s still half a bridge."

"There is half a problem. Move."

Kel gave him a look.

Even across the ravine, Kael could see the argument forming.

Rask added, "If you fall, I am not climbing down there."

Kel finally backed away.

Milo lifted one hand weakly.

"He would."

Rask looked across.

"No."

"You absolutely would."

"No."

Kel smiled faintly.

"That means yes."

Rask shook his head.

The exchange was small.

Still, Kael noticed the effect.

People breathed again.

Not much.

Enough.

Behind Kael, the healers continued working on Tovin.

That kept the relief from becoming comfort.

The brief mana destabilization during the crossing had left him worse than before, even though Kael had managed to support his circulation. His face had lost more color, and the healer had placed folded cloth beneath his neck to keep his airway clear while the second healer checked the wound under his shoulder again.

Lysa sat close.

Too close for her injured ankle.

Nobody tried moving her.

Derren had stopped complaining entirely.

That worried Kael more than when he complained.

He watched Tovin from his own litter with his jaw tight.

Kael crouched beside the healer.

"How is he?"

She did not look up.

"Alive."

"That has become your favorite answer."

"It keeps being the most important one."

Fair.

Kael focused.

The System opened.

[Detailed Living Target Analysis]

Tovin Marr

Physical condition: critical

Circulatory stability: fragile

Foreign residue activity: elevated but declining from recent surge

Mana-channel stress: severe

Immediate failure indicators: reduced

Kael exhaled.

Not better.

Less immediately worse.

He would take it.

"He’s settling."

The healer looked toward him.

"How sure?"

"Enough to say the surge is coming down."

"Good."

She adjusted a bandage.

"Then stop staring at him like you can frighten him healthy."

Kael almost laughed.

Derren did.

Weakly.

The healer looked toward him.

"You."

Derren immediately looked away.

That was the closest the expedition had come to normal behavior in several hours.

Kael stood and looked uphill.

Iris had disappeared less than five minutes earlier.

It already felt longer.

The old cable line Mara remembered supposedly crossed the ravine farther north, where timber crews had once moved supplies between two sections of the service road. If it still existed, Sera, Milo, and Kel might be able to rejoin them without retracing the entire western route.

If it did not—

Kael stopped himself there.

No point solving a problem that had not happened yet.

Mara stood near him, studying the upper slope.

"You look like you’re trying to see through trees."

"I’m waiting."

"You’re bad at it."

Kael looked at her.

"You’ve known me less than a day."

"Long enough."

Milo shouted from across the ravine.

"She is correct!"

Kael stared.

"How does he keep hearing us?"

Sera answered.

"He isn’t resting."

Milo leaned his head against the stone.

"I am recovering socially."

Galahad shouted back, "Recover quietly."

"Oppressive."

Sera shook her head.

Then reached automatically toward her quiver.

Kael noticed.

She counted.

Not visually.

Her fingers moved over the arrow shafts one by one.

One.

Two.

Three.

She stopped.

Recounted.

Kael had seen her check arrows before.

Often.

He had always assumed it was simple discipline.

Now, knowing what they had discussed outside the story made him more attentive to how it looked on the page, but he kept himself inside Kael’s perspective.

Kael had no reason yet to think it was anything more than habit.

Still, Sera’s face changed slightly when she finished.

She had fewer than before.

Obviously.

But the reaction seemed sharper than simple accounting.

Milo noticed too.

"How many?"

Sera looked toward him.

"Enough."

"That is not a number."

She stared.

Milo smiled faintly.

"I’ve heard that somewhere."

Sera looked away.

"Twenty."

Milo’s expression shifted.

"Good."

"You don’t even know what I started with."

"No."

"Then why good?"

"Because you said twenty instead of enough."

Sera looked at him.

For a moment she seemed irritated.

Then almost amused.

"Rest."

"Yes, commander."

"You are the reason nobody lets you lead anything."

Milo settled farther against the wall.

"That and paperwork."

Kel laughed quietly.

Sera looked toward him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Everyone in this group says that too much."

Kel looked toward Rask across the ravine.

"Learned it from him."

Rask folded his arms.

"I can still hear you."

"Unfortunately."

That earned an actual laugh from Mara.

Rask looked toward her.

She did not apologize.

Galahad gave them another few seconds before returning to the practical problem.

"Kel."

Kel straightened slightly.

"You know the cable line?"

"Used it once."

Rask immediately frowned.

"When?"

Kel looked toward him.

"You weren’t there."

"That was not the question."

"Six years ago."

Mara stared across the ravine.

"With who?"

Kel hesitated.

Then smiled.

"Your father."

Mara stopped moving.

The clearing seemed to shrink around that answer.

Kael looked toward her.

Mara’s expression had gone still.

Not grief exactly.

Something older.

More controlled.

"You worked with him?"

Kel nodded.

"Couple times."

Mara looked away toward the northern slope.

"You never told me."

Kel shrugged.

"Never came up."

"That is a terrible reason."

"It’s the true one."

She looked back at him.

"How was he?"

Kel thought.

"Loud."

Rask snorted.

Mara’s eyes narrowed.

Kel continued, "Mean about knots. Meaner about wet timber. Said half the crews up here were trying to kill themselves with bad rope and the other half were too stupid to know it."

Mara’s mouth moved.

Barely.

"That sounds like him."

Kel smiled.

"He made me redo a cargo bind four times."

"Only four?"

Kel looked offended.

"Three of them were good."

"No."

"You weren’t there."

"I grew up around him."

"That does make you an authority on criticism."

Mara laughed once.

Then looked down.

Kael did not interrupt.

Neither did Galahad.

The moment had not been planned.

That made it better.

A piece of Mara’s father existed now through someone else’s memory.

Not explanation.

Memory.

Sera looked toward Kel.

"He know the cable line well?"

Kel nodded.

"Better than most."

Mara’s expression shifted again.

"You said you used it once."

"I did."

"With him?"

"Yes."

"How bad was it then?"

Kel looked uphill.

"Bad enough he complained the entire way."

Milo raised one finger.

"Promising."

Kel continued, "But it held."

"Six years ago," Sera said.

"Yes."

She looked toward Milo.

He smiled.

"We’re both thinking it."

"Don’t."

"Fine."

Kael looked uphill again.

Still no Iris.

The System scanned.

[Directional Scan]

Humanoid signature detected north-northeast

Single

Approaching

"She’s coming."

Galahad immediately stood.

Rask did too.

Iris emerged through the trees perhaps a minute later.

She was breathing harder than Kael expected.

That meant she had run the return.

Galahad read her face before she spoke.

"Exists?"

"Yes."

Everyone relaxed.

Then Iris continued.

"Not simple."

Of course.

Milo closed his eyes.

"I am beginning to resent Scout."

Iris ignored him.

"The cable crossing is still there. Two anchor towers. One on each side. Main hauling line intact."

Mara’s eyebrows rose.

"Intact?"

"Visually."

"That sounds less good."

"It is."

Galahad stepped closer.

"Can people cross?"

"Yes."

"Walking?"

"No."

Milo opened his eyes.

"I dislike where this is going."

Iris pulled something from her belt.

An old iron wheel.

Small.

Grooved.

Mara recognized it immediately.

"Cable trolley."

"Found three at the western tower. One usable."

Kel shouted across.

"There should be more in the storage box!"

Iris looked toward him.

"Box is gone."

Kel swore.

Rask asked, "How does one trolley help three people?"

Iris looked toward Milo.

He looked back.

"No."

No one had asked him yet.

Milo pointed at her.

"I recognize that face."

Iris almost smiled.

"You can cross one at a time."

Milo frowned.

"That was much less magical than I expected."

Sera stepped closer to him.

"How far?"

Iris answered.

"About seventy feet."

Milo looked down toward the ravine.

"Wonderful."

The cable line crossed farther north than the bridge, but the ravine widened there.

Galahad looked toward Iris.

"Condition?"

"Main line has surface rust. Western anchor looks solid. Eastern anchor is harder to judge from the far side, but it’s still under tension."

Kael looked toward Mara.

"Was it built for people?"

"No."

Milo sighed.

Mara continued, "Cargo."

"That does not improve my feelings."

Kel called across.

"It carried my father."

Mara looked at him.

Kel added, "And me."

Milo considered.

"How heavy was he?"

Mara laughed despite herself.

Kel shouted, "Lighter than you!"

Milo looked offended.

Sera stared at him.

"You asked."

"I expected reassurance."

"You have met Kel."

"I barely know Kel."

Kel called, "Enough to insult you!"

That was true.

Galahad looked toward Kael.

"Can you inspect the line from here?"

"No."

"From the eastern tower?"

"Probably."

"Then we move our side north."

Good.

They would not leave Tovin sitting beside a broken bridge while solving another crossing problem farther away.

Galahad reorganized the group.

No rush.

The healers secured Tovin first.

Derren complained when his litter was lifted.

Good.

Kael liked complaints again.

Lysa accepted Mara’s help without argument this time, though every third step reminded her that her ankle was not ready for pride.

Rask’s people moved naturally around the wounded.

Kael noticed something else.

Nobody had formally decided who commanded Rask’s fighters during the movement.

Yet when Galahad gave instructions concerning the wounded, they followed them.

Rask did not interfere.

Small things.

The road north became narrower.

The ravine remained on their left, visible between trees.

Across it, Sera, Milo, and Kel moved parallel to them along the western edge.

It created an odd kind of conversation.

People shouted across the gap whenever the forest opened enough.

Milo used the opportunity immediately.

"KAEL!"

Kael looked across.

"What?"

"IF I DIE ON THE CABLE, TELL WALTER I WAS RIGHT."

Kael frowned.

"ABOUT WHAT?"

Milo paused.

"That is a good question."

Sera shoved him forward.

Kael laughed.

Darius, walking beside Tovin’s litter, shook his head.

"You encourage him."

"I don’t."

"You answer."

"That’s different."

"No."

Kael looked toward him.

"Galahad answers too."

Galahad, ahead of them, said, "Do not involve me."

Mara laughed.

The climb took twelve minutes.

No attack.

No collapse.

That did not make it empty.

Kel spent part of the walk shouting old details about the cable system to Mara, who corrected half of them from memory.

"They used a brake lever on the east tower!"

"No. That was replaced."

"When?"

"Before you used it."

"Then your father lied to me."

"He did that."

Kel laughed.

"How do you know?"

"Because I knew him."

There was warmth in Mara’s voice now.

Pain too.

But not only pain.

Kael stored that.

When they finally reached the eastern tower, the structure looked like the skeleton of an old siege machine.

Two heavy timber posts had been driven into a stone foundation near the ravine edge, reinforced with rusted iron collars. A thick cable stretched from the upper crossbeam toward the western tower, disappearing briefly behind trees before reaching the opposite side.

The western tower stood perhaps seventy feet away.

Lower.

Which meant anyone crossing from west to east would travel slightly uphill.

Of course.

Milo saw it.

"No."

Sera looked toward him.

"You’re becoming repetitive."

"It is uphill."

"Barely."

"That cable disagrees."

Kel had already reached the western tower.

He found the trolley Iris had left.

Sera examined the cable.

Milo looked at the ravine.

Then looked away.

Kael stared.

"You’re afraid of heights."

Milo looked across at him.

"No."

Sera turned slowly.

Milo added, "I respect gravity."

Kel burst out laughing.

Sera stared at Milo.

"You flew a litter over broken ground."

"That was different."

"How?"

"I was not attached to a piece of ancient metal above a ravine."

Kael smiled.

Milo pointed toward him across the gap.

"Do not."

Darius looked toward Kael.

"You enjoy this too much."

"Yes."

That earned a faint smile from Darius.

Then Galahad brought them back.

"Kael."

Kael stepped toward the eastern anchor.

The System began immediately.

[Structural Analysis]

Eastern cable tower

Primary timber posts: aged but functional

Iron collars: moderate corrosion

Stone foundation: stable

Main cable tension: high

Fracture indicators: none detected in visible eastern section

Estimated reliability under individual adult load: favorable

Kael focused farther along the cable.

The System could only analyze what it could resolve.

[Main hauling cable]

Material integrity: moderate

Localized surface corrosion

No major strand separation detected within scan range

"Looks usable for one person at a time."

Galahad looked toward him.

"Can it take Milo?"

Kael stared at him.

Milo shouted across.

"I HEARD THAT."

Kael almost laughed.

"Probably."

"Probably?" Milo shouted.

Mara called back.

"You want honest or comforting?"

Milo pointed toward her.

"Comforting!"

Kel secured the trolley.

The mechanism was simple.

A grooved iron wheel sat over the main cable. Beneath it hung two reinforced loops that had once held cargo slings.

Sera looked at it.

"I’ll go first."

Milo immediately said, "Yes."

She turned.

"You were supposed to object."

"I support leadership."

Sera studied the trolley.

Kel attached a leather harness through both loops.

Mara shouted instructions across.

"Double wrap the waist!"

Kel did.

"Chest too!"

Sera frowned.

"I can strap myself."

Kel looked toward her.

"Then do it."

She did.

Efficient.

No wasted motion.

Kael noticed she had transferred her quiver around to the front where the arrows would not catch the cable.

Again she counted them.

One hand.

Automatic.

Milo saw.

His expression changed slightly.

He did not joke this time.

That interested Kael more than if he had.

Sera secured her bow across her back.

Then looked down the ravine.

Only once.

Kel clipped the trolley onto the main cable.

Galahad called across.

"Test it first."

Kel hung his weight from the lower loop.

The cable dipped.

Held.

Kael’s System tracked the tension change.

[Load response: acceptable]

"Good."

Sera stepped into the harness.

Milo came closer.

"Wait."

She looked toward him.

He checked the chest strap.

Sera raised an eyebrow.

"You don’t trust Kel?"

"I don’t trust six-year-old rope systems."

"The straps are ours."

"I distrust broadly."

He tightened one knot.

Sera looked down at his hand.

The bandage.

"You’re bleeding again."

"Not relevant."

"You just yelled at me for counting arrows."

"I did not yell."

"You asked."

Milo finished the knot.

Then his voice changed.

"Twenty?"

Sera looked at him.

A long pause.

"Nineteen."

Kael almost missed that.

She had not fired.

Had she lost one?

Maybe damaged.

Maybe counted wrong earlier.

Sera’s face tightened.

Milo noticed.

"You good?"

"Yes."

Too fast.

Milo studied her.

Then, surprisingly, let it go.

"See you across."

Sera nodded.

Kel released the brake.

The trolley rolled.

Slow at first.

Then faster.

Sera moved out over the ravine.

Everyone watched.

Kael expected her to look down.

She did not.

She looked ahead.

Only ahead.

Halfway across, the cable shuddered.

Sera’s body swung.

The System flashed.

[Cable oscillation increased]

Not failure.

Wind.

A gust moved through the ravine.

Sera grabbed the upper strap.

The trolley kept moving.

Milo shouted.

"DON’T LOOK DOWN!"

Sera shouted back.

"I WASN’T!"

"You were thinking about it!"

"I’M GOING TO SHOOT YOU!"

"WITH WHICH OF THE NINETEEN?"

Sera went completely still for half a second.

Not physically.

Emotionally.

Kael saw it.

So did Milo.

His face changed immediately.

Wrong joke.

He knew.

Sera looked forward again.

"Shut up."

The words were quieter.

The trolley reached the eastern side.

Darius and Galahad caught the harness.

Kael helped unclip her.

Sera stepped onto solid ground.

Milo shouted across.

"Sorry!"

Sera froze.

Everyone nearby heard.

She did not answer immediately.

Then she looked back.

"Cross before I change my mind."

Milo nodded.

No joke.

That was more interesting than either of them pretending nothing happened.

Kael looked toward Sera.

She immediately reached for her quiver.

Counted.

Nineteen.

Her hand remained there after she finished.

Kael did not ask.

Not yet.

Sera noticed him looking.

"What?"

"Nothing."

She narrowed her eyes.

"That phrase is contagious."

Kael smiled.

She did not.

But she did not turn away either.

Kel prepared Milo next.

Milo stared at the harness as if it had personally betrayed him.

"I have one concern."

Kel looked at him.

"You have many."

"One dominant concern."

"What?"

"What if it stops in the middle?"

Mara answered across.

"You pull yourself."

Milo looked at his hands.

One injured.

One exhausted.

"Excellent."

Kael called, "You can use Wind."

Milo looked toward him.

"I am attempting to conserve mana."

"A small amount."

"Listen to the prince encouraging reckless magic."

Darius said, "He is correct."

Milo stared.

"This mission has destroyed hierarchy."

He entered the harness.

Sera watched.

Closely.

Too closely for someone who claimed to find him irritating.

Kael noticed that too.

Milo secured himself.

Kel checked the knots.

Then checked them again.

Milo looked down.

"Did you just check twice?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you’re heavier than Sera."

Milo looked offended.

Sera called from the eastern side.

"Kel."

Kel looked toward her.

"Thank you."

Milo stared.

"You thanked him for insulting me."

"He’s being careful."

"That is not mutually exclusive."

Kel released the brake.

Milo crossed.

He did look down.

Once.

Immediately regretted it.

His entire body stiffened.

Sera saw.

"Eyes here!"

Milo looked toward her.

Interesting.

Not Galahad.

Not Kael.

Sera.

"Keep moving."

"I am attached to a wheel."

"Then keep wheeling."

"That is not how—"

The trolley shuddered.

Milo stopped talking.

Good.

The wind hit again.

Harder.

The cable swayed.

Milo grabbed the strap.

The System showed increased oscillation.

Sera stepped closer to the edge.

"Milo."

He looked at her.

"Do not use Force."

He blinked.

"What?"

"You’re going to try to stabilize yourself."

Kael realized she was right.

Milo’s free hand had already lifted slightly.

Sera continued.

"You don’t need it."

Another gust.

The trolley swung.

Milo’s hand tightened.

"I disagree."

"You’re almost here."

He looked toward the eastern tower.

Twenty feet.

Maybe less.

Sera’s voice stayed steady.

"Save it."

Milo stared at her.

Then lowered his hand.

The trolley rolled.

Wind hit.

He swung.

Did not cast.

Ten feet.

Galahad reached for the harness.

Darius stood beside him.

Milo crossed the final distance and nearly fell when his boots hit stone.

Sera caught his arm.

He looked at her.

"You were right."

Sera stared.

Kael looked toward Darius.

Darius looked back.

Two apologies and an admission in one mission.

Unprecedented.

Sera let go.

"Don’t make it strange."

"Too late."

There.

Better.

Not fixed.

Alive.

Kel remained.

Rask stepped toward the ravine.

"You know how to cross?"

Kel raised both arms.

"Apparently."

He strapped in.

No drama.

At least, that was what everyone expected.

Then he stopped.

His face changed.

Rask noticed immediately.

"What?"

Kel looked toward the cable.

Then the ravine.

"Nothing."

Rask’s expression hardened.

"Kel."

Kael watched.

This was not Milo’s theatrical fear.

Something real.

Kel looked toward Rask.

"You remember Kessin?"

Rask went still.

Mara did too.

Kael did not know the name.

No one explained immediately.

Rask stepped closer to the edge.

"Yes."

Kel looked down.

"He fell here."

Silence.

There.

A history.

Not a lecture.

Rask’s voice became quieter.

"That was not this line."

"Same ravine."

"That was twelve years ago."

Kel laughed without humor.

"That makes falling better?"

"No."

Mara moved toward the edge.

"Kessin was drunk."

Kel looked at her.

"That was after."

Mara stopped.

Rask closed his eyes briefly.

Kael understood that there was more to the story.

Kel continued.

"He wasn’t drunk when the hook broke."

No one spoke.

Rask’s face changed.

Guilt.

Maybe.

Kel looked toward the harness around his waist.

"He was drunk when they found him."

That sentence landed hard.

Mara whispered, "Kel."

"I hate when people tell it wrong."

Rask looked across the ravine.

"I know."

Kel laughed again.

"No, you don’t."

Rask absorbed that.

Did not defend himself.

That mattered.

Finally, he said, "Then tell it right when you get across."

Kel stared at him.

Rask continued.

"I’ll listen."

A long pause.

Then Kel clipped the trolley.

He crossed.

Slowly.

Nobody joked.

Not even Milo.

Especially not Milo.

Kel kept his eyes on Rask.

The whole way.

When the wind pushed him sideways, he gripped the strap and breathed.

When the cable creaked, his face went pale.

Still he moved.

Rask stepped right to the edge.

"Ten feet."

Kel nodded.

"Five."

Kel reached.

Rask grabbed the harness with both hands.

Darius helped pull him onto stone.

Kel stumbled forward.

Rask caught him.

For a second, neither man said anything.

Then Kel shoved him.

Not hard.

"Don’t tell people he was drunk when he fell."

Rask nodded.

"I won’t."

"You did before."

"I know."

Kel stared at him.

Rask did not look away.

"I was wrong."

Kel’s anger remained.

But something changed.

He nodded once.

Not forgiveness.

Beginning.

Kael looked toward Galahad.

The Guild leader was watching too.

This arc was supposed to be an A-rank investigation.

Somehow it kept becoming people revealing what they carried when there was nowhere left to hide it.

Iris returned from checking the road ahead.

Galahad looked toward her.

"Anything?"

"Human tracks continue east."

"Drakes?"

"Yes."

"Fresh?"

"Same age range as before."

Kael looked toward Tovin.

The healers had kept him stable during the crossing operation.

Good.

The System updated.

[Mission Group Reunited]

Current critical transport cases: 2

Additional limited-mobility survivor: Lysa

Party combat readiness: reduced

Route east: available

Regional geothermal hazard: increasing

No celebration.

Still, reunited mattered.

Galahad looked around at the group.

Then toward the old service road disappearing east.

"Ten minutes."

Milo dropped onto a rock.

"Yes."

Sera immediately sat several feet away.

Milo looked toward her.

"Sera."

She did not look back.

"What?"

"The arrow joke."

Her fingers touched the quiver.

Again.

Milo saw.

"So did Kael."

Kael looked away.

Cowardice.

Sera said, "It was a bad joke."

"Yes."

"That happens constantly."

"Yes."

"You don’t apologize for most of them."

Milo thought.

"Most of them don’t make your face do that."

Sera finally looked at him.

Milo did not smile.

That was rare enough to make the moment heavier.

Sera looked down.

For several seconds, she said nothing.

Then: "I don’t like running low."

Milo nodded.

"I noticed."

"That’s all."

He could have pushed.

He did not.

"All right."

Sera looked at him again.

Something about the lack of pressure seemed to bother her more than questioning would have.

"You’re not asking why?"

"No."

"Why?"

Milo smiled faintly.

"You said that’s all."

Sera stared at him.

Then looked away.

"You’re irritating."

"I have been told."

That was enough.

Not the backstory.

Not the flashback.

Just a crack in the door.

Kael sat nearby and pretended not to have heard.

Darius sat beside him.

Kael looked toward the commander.

"You heard?"

Darius looked ahead.

"I hear many things."

"That wasn’t my question."

Darius glanced toward him.

"You have been around Milo too long."

Kael smiled.

The ten-minute stop passed faster than anyone wanted.

Then the healer stood.

"Tovin can move."

Galahad nodded.

"Then we move."

The old service road continued east beneath the trees.

The tracks Iris had found remained there.

Human boots.

Mature drake claws.

Sometimes overlapping.

Sometimes not.

No proof of cooperation.

No proof of pursuit.

Only evidence that both had used the same road.

The expedition moved carefully.

Sera took her place again near the front.

This time, before stepping away, she pulled one damaged arrow from her quiver.

Kael recognized it from earlier.

The shaft had begun splitting near the fletching.

Sera turned it in her fingers.

Milo noticed.

"You keeping that?"

"Yes."

"It’s damaged."

"I know."

"Why?"

Sera looked at the arrow for several seconds.

Then slid it carefully back into the quiver.

"Because nineteen is better than eighteen."

Milo did not answer.

Kael saw his expression.

He understood there was something behind that sentence.

Not what.

Not yet.

They continued.

Twenty minutes later, the forest became quieter.

Iris noticed first.

She raised a fist.

Everyone stopped.

No birds.

No insects.

Wind still moved through leaves.

Nothing else.

Sera brought her bow up.

Darius’s hand went to his sword.

Milo looked around.

"I preferred the bridge."

Kael’s System opened.

[Environmental Scan]

No large heat signatures within immediate range

Multiple medium biological signatures: dispersed / retreating

Probable wildlife avoidance behavior detected

Kael frowned.

"Animals are leaving."

Galahad looked toward him.

"Direction?"

"Mostly north and east."

"From?"

Kael focused.

The System could not resolve a single source.

[Avoidance origin: southwest / south-southwest probable]

Kael looked toward the Caldera.

Of course.

Then Sera whispered:

"Tracks."

Iris moved forward.

A fresh drake print pressed into the soft road.

Very fresh.

Mara crouched beside it.

"How fresh?"

Iris touched the disturbed soil.

"Minutes."

Everyone tightened.

Galahad looked toward the litters.

Then the road.

"Formation."

No panic.

No running.

The group had learned too much for that.

Darius moved toward the exposed side.

Rask organized his fighters without waiting for instruction.

Mara helped Lysa farther toward the center.

Milo stood beside Derren’s litter.

Sera reached into her quiver.

Her hand stopped.

Count.

Kael saw it.

Nineteen.

Then she drew one arrow.

Her breathing steadied.

Whatever fear lived behind that count, it did not own her yet.

Ahead, somewhere beyond the trees, a branch snapped.

Heavy.

Then another.

The System flashed.

[DIRECTIONAL WARNING]

Large heat signature detected

Classification: probable mature drake

Distance: closing

Galahad drew his sword.

"Remember the wounded."

Darius nodded.

Sera nocked her arrow.

Milo flexed his injured hand.

Rask lifted his blade.

Kael drew his own sword and felt cold gather along the edge.

One drake.

Probably.

After everything else they had survived, that should have felt manageable.

Then the System added another line.

[Second large heat signature detected farther south]

Kael stared.

Milo noticed his face.

"What?"

Kael looked toward the trees.

"One close."

"And?"

"Another behind it."

Milo sighed.

"Of course."

Sera drew the bowstring farther.

This time, she did not count again.