Behind them, the shadows moved silently. No claws scraped the stone this time—only a low, wet breathing that kept the same pace with their steps.
Their hurried march broke into a flat sprint. Ruvio reached the heavy steel roll-gate first, heaving the frame upward so Leo and Myrah could scramble through. Faren cleared the threshold right behind them.
"Go!" Faren rasped, his voice cracking from the mist.
The children scrambled blindly into the open air. Faren turned to follow, but a desperate scream pierced the darkness behind him.
"Wait! Wait! Don't leave me! Please!"
Twenty paces back, a man dragged a useless leg through the dirt. It was one of the scouts from the deep shaft. His helmet was gone, wounds tore across his chest, and soot caked his bloody face. He had spent the last stretch of the tunnel stumbling after Ruvio's light, terrified of whatever moved in the rafters.
His weapon was long gone.
He only wanted to get outside.
Faren raised his dagger as the limping soldier hurled himself into the daylight. The man lost his balance, crashing onto his hands and knees. His trembling fingers dug into the wet mud as he sobbed for breath.
"Close it! Close it!" he shrieked, his eyes wide and unseeing.
"It's right behind us! The ceiling—the eyes—" The man threw a terrified glance back at the threshold, raving and shouting incoherently, "It got them. They were screaming! It stared right at me—"
Faren didn't wait for more. He grabbed the bottom of the roll-up gate and slammed it down. The metal crashed into the stone grooves with a heavy bang, and he threw his entire weight against the locking bar.
Something struck the other side. The frame shuddered violently. Leo and Myrah screamed, covering their ears, but Faren held the lock firmly in place as a second impact rumbled through the iron.
Then, the tunnel went dead. The gate held.
Breathing hard, Faren stepped away and turned toward the cloudy ridge.
Set back from the gate, Dara stood with her dagger drawn. Barik was beside her, axe raised and shoulders locked. Near the edge of the rocks, Jag crouched at the head of the pack, a deep growl rolling from her throat.
The ridge was choked with vapor spewing from a steam relief pipe. The thick mist blinded them, turning the approaching shapes into unrecognisable silhouettes.
Eris stood rigid nearby. He had pushed his deep-seeing eyes too far; thin lines of blood seeped from the corners of his eyelids, blurring his vision.
"Lower your weapons," Ruvio called out, stepping into the mist. His deep voice cut through the panic. "It's us."
Barik lowered his heavy axe, letting the head thud against the wet gravel as he exhaled a breath he seemed to have held since the Black Forest. Dara sheathed her blade, though her gaze remained fixed on the shivering soldier that had just come out.
Leo and Myrah ran past Faren, sprinting straight to their sister.
"Ate Kaylah!"
Only then did the rest of the group notice her. Kaylah was slumped against the wooden wheel, unconscious, her body finally yielding to exhaustion. Eris was at her side when the children's cry cut through the air, his hands trembling as he reached for her shoulder.
Ruvio rushed over, pulling a small steel flask from his robes. He uncapped it, letting a few drops of the invigorating tonic trickle down her throat.
Kaylah stirred, strength slowly seeping back into her limbs, but her teeth clicked together in uncontrollable tremors. She kept one hand pressed firmly against the nape of her neck, trying to smother the intense heat radiating beneath her skin.
"It burned," she whispered.
Dara knelt beside her, gently supporting her shoulders. As Kaylah's hand slipped away, the high collar of her tunic parted.
Dara froze. At Kaylah's nape, a light-green mark glowed against her skin.
You have the mark, Dara thought, the realization screaming in her chest. She kept her face blank.
Ruvio saw it too. His eyes flared with recognition, but he quickly masked his expression into a cool calm, saying nothing.
As the tonic took full effect, the haze lifted from Kaylah's vision. "What is it?" she asked, her hand darting back to her neck. "Is there a wound? It feels hot."
"No," Dara replied quietly, adjusting the collar to hide the skin. "Just a rash. Nothing to worry about."
Kaylah didn't look convinced, but her attention turned to the two children clinging to her arms. "Why are you here? It's dangerous."
"We were worried," Myrah whimpered, wiping her face with her sleeve. "We saw you limping in the dark—" She cut herself off, catching the slip, but Kaylah understood.
"I'm okay now." Kaylah patted their heads, wiping the tears from their cheeks. "Eris is with me."
Her siblings nodded, visibly comforted, but Eris's expression remained dark. Even with his vision clouded by blood, he could feel the lingering ache in Kaylah's posture through their bond. He knew the Orb was to blame.
After settling beside her sister, Myrah noticed the clinging tendrils on his boots. She tugged frantically at his sleeve. "Kuya Eris, what are those things on your feet? They're writhing, with hair-like roots, squeezing your boots. They look alive."
"Hair-like roots?" Eris muttered. As Myrah's description sank in, a chilling realization formed in his mind—the Black Brier.
Bending down blindly, he traced the vines with his fingers. The moment his skin met the fibrous texture, he felt the faint throb beneath the surface. It was exactly as she described—and it was spreading.
He whispered a low, resonant syllable, carefully peeling several of the tendrils loose and laying them along the rocky path the scouts had used to reach the gate—a hidden marker and a snare. The remaining strands he plucked free and tucked into his pouch.
"Elder Ruvio," Barik called out, his voice cutting through the strained silence. "How did you find us? What happened in that tunnel? What—"
Ruvio glanced back at the iron gate, then to Faren.
"That passage was an old service conduit," Faren said, his voice tight. "We cleared the main path on our first sweep and barred the side tunnels. That steel gate should have been fully closed." He let out a harsh sigh. "I don't know why it was ajar. Something tried to follow us out. Ruvio kept it back, but whatever is in there... it could still be waiting behind the grate."
Nearby, the traumatized scout crawled toward his squad. He doubled over, coughing until blood splattered the mud. The other two scouts shrank against the cliff face, staring in disbelief.
"Jonn," Tomvalt whispered. "You made it."
The man on the ground barely nodded, huddling close to his companions, too broken to speak.
Ruvio approached Eris, who still crouched beside Kaylah. "You've been pushing your borrowed vision too hard, boy," he said softly.
Eris grimaced, pressing his palms against his temples. "Grandpa, how did you know? The Serpent's Sight only opened recently."
Ruvio hummed softly, a thoughtful smile touching his lips. "Serpent's Sight... Serpent's Eyes... yes. A fitting name for it, boy."
"We know you have some control over your blood now, too." He gave a grim nod of approval. "Luna knew since the incident at the Great Oak... and the black gate. She told us you'd be here."
Ruvio knelt by the cliff edge and plucked several pale-blue flowers. He crushed a handful between his fingers, releasing an aromatic scent, and tucked the rest into his pouch.
"Keep these over your eyes," Ruvio instructed, pressing the crushed petals across Eris's blood-stained eyelids. "The sap will draw out the fever, but you cannot use your vision while they work. You're blind until the inflammation settles."
Kaylah watched Eris, helpless concern in her eyes. She tore a strip of cloth from her tunic and tied it around his head, holding the crushed petals firmly over his closed eyes. Chill soon spread across Eris's forehead, dulling the pain that tore through his eyes. Relief came, but with a price. He was completely blind and vulnerable.
Ruvio watched her finish the bandage with a sigh.
Faren looked past Barik to the blood-streaked Order scouts held at bay by the wolves. "What's the situation here? Who are they?"
Barik stepped back from the captives, his gaze hard as he turned to Faren.
"Iron Order scouts," Barik said, his voice low.
"They found a path to this gate. Ten of them originally. Four were guarding the entrance while six went inside. But when they heard screaming, all four guards followed them in.
"He gestured with his chin toward John, who was shivering on the gravel. "Aside from these two, he's the only one who made it back."
Faren pointed at the survivor. "You said the beast stood right before you. It didn't attack?"
John rocked back and forth, unable to piece together what he had witnessed. "No... it was five paces away... it just stared at me."
"What do you mean, it stared at you?" Barik pressed, stepping closer.
John crawled backward against the stone, hugging his knees and shaking. Faren and Ruvio exchanged a glance, leaving the question alone.
"The valley is a fortress now," Dara muttered, looking down from the ridge. "At least four companies. We can't get past them. Our only way back to Haven is through the tunnel you just came out of."
Faren and Ruvio shared a grim look. Trapped between an army locking down the valley and predators lurking in the tunnel, they were out of options.
Eris took a ragged breath, adjusting to the darkness behind his bandage. He murmured, and Jag immediately moved to his side. He reached out, fingers sinking into her thick fur.
Watch the army's movements, he commanded through their bond.
The alpha gave a low chuff, bounding into the brush with two of her packmates. They disappeared into the fog.
Barik and Dara followed, crouching near the high rocks to survey the plain below. Through Dara's binoculars, the enemy forces were a dark smear in the valley, but their movement was undeniable.
"They're moving," Dara muttered. "A reconnaissance squad is assembling near the base of the hill. Five horsemen, moving fast. They're heading this way."
Barik cursed under his breath. "Their captains are smart. They'll be on us within minutes."
"No, they won't," Dara countered, scanning the terrain. "Horses can't climb this ridge—there are too many jagged drop-offs. But they'll make it up here on foot, no doubt about it."
Before they could slide back down, a sudden hiss of oncoming shafts sliced through the thin mountain air.
"Get down!" Barik roared from the crest.
An iron-tipped bolt whistled past Dara's cheek, splintering against the rock behind her. A second shaft slammed into the dirt between Barik's boots, throwing up a spray of sharp rock.
"The movement was a decoy—they spotted us long ago," Dara hissed, her knuckles white around her bow. "A squad is climbing the ridge!"
"Fall back!" Barik ducked behind a rocky outcropping as a rain of black-feathered arrows rattled against the stone.
They scrambled down the loose rock face, hitting the flat ground just as the sudden rain of arrows threw the camp into panic.
In the chaos, Josh saw his chance. His hand slipped into his blood-stained tunic and yanked out a small brass tube. He struck the flint at its base, sending a flare screeching skyward through the heavy fog.
"Fools!" he cackled. "They're here!"
Emboldened by his own signal, he broke away from the wolves and ran to the hill toward the approaching soldiers.
"Barik, don't follow!" Dara shouted, aiming her bow. "The hill is a kill zone!"
She was forced to drop flat as another volley peppered the slope. They could only watch as the scout leader crested the rise, waving his hands frantically at the advancing silhouettes in the mist.
"Up here—"
His shouts were cut short by the sound of arrows hitting their mark. Half a dozen iron bolts pierced his chest, lifting him off his feet before his body fell down the loose scree.
The two remaining captives shrank back in horror, their spirits completely broken as they watched their own army execute Josh.
Ruvio and Faren shouted orders, guiding the panicked children, the pack animals, and the heavy supply wagon back toward the Service Conduit.
Eris pressed his palms against his throbbing temples, his heightened hearing tracking the crunch of heavy boots on shale. "Armored footmen nearing the top!"
Barik braced his stance, his broad axe scraping against his shield. "Vanguard tactics. Dara, with me at the choke point!"
"They won't get past us," Dara said, her voice dropping into a deadly calm as they sprinted up the rise to hold the pass.
Her first arrow pierced the narrow eye-slit of the lead soldier's helm. He died on the spot, shield clattering against the rock. When another filled the gap, she loosed two more in rapid succession—one catching a soldier in the exposed leather of his throat, the second pinning another's boot to the dirt.
Out of arrows, Dara dropped her bow and drew her twin curved daggers without hesitation.
She leaped off a low boulder, landing directly on the shield boss of the nearest soldier. Driving her right blade downward into his shoulder seam, she kicked off his chest as he fell. She spun inside the guard of a second infantryman, slicing through his hamstrings. Sliding beneath a third soldier's shield, her left blade deflected his downward stroke while her right drove upward through the soft leather of his armpit. He choked, tumbling backward down the slope.
A soldier lunged with a short spear, but Barik caught the shaft beneath his arm, yanked the man forward, and caved in his chestplate with the heavy pommel of his axe. He swung the broad blade in a brutal sweep, the weight shearing through iron greaves and shattering the vanguard's front line.
Together, the two held the narrow path. The wind of Barik's axe ended in the crunch of cleaving steel and bone, while Dara moved like a shadow through the mist. Her blades found gaps in gorgets and joints. When a soldier rushed Barik's blind spot, Dara executed a fluid kick that sprayed gravel into the attacker's eyes before slashing his thigh—allowing Barik's backswing to finish the job and cast the man over the ledge.
Yet the Iron Order was relentless. A second wave pushed forward, followed closely by the roar of galloping hooves ascending the lower trail.
"Cavalry dismounting!" Barik bellowed.
Though forced to the ground by the jagged terrain, these were elite guards clad in heavy plate armor. They moved with lethal coordination, far outmatching the common foot soldiers. Jag's pack and the hounds lunged into the fray, clamping onto iron-clad ankles to drag the knights off balance. The soldiers were hit from every angle—blades from above, fangs from below.
Waves of soldiers continued climbing the hill. When one fell, two more rushed to take his place. Little by little, the defenders were forced back. They met every push head-on, refusing to yield an inch of ground without downing two or three more men with them, leaving the wet gravel littered with the fallen. But the sheer weight of numbers was suffocating—they were losing the choke point.
An Order commander breached the crest and signaled for a war horn to be blown. Its harsh blast echoed across the mountain range, summoning Ful's main advancing army. A full detachment of archers stepped up to line the skyline, longbows drawn to maximum tension.
Immediately, a rain of heavy bolts thumped into the dirt and stone, indifferent to whether they struck friend or foe. The Order was closing its net.
"They've reached the crest!" Dara called out, her voice dangerously close.
Everyone fighting scampered to evade the rain of arrows. Eris heard the frantic pacing of Dara's boots, and the heavy, armored stride of the knights echoed at the edge of the clearing. Barik hid behind a rock.
Down by the Service Conduit, the draft animals surged forward, the wagon lurching toward the entrance. Kayla embraced Myrah and Leo beneath the canvas cover.
Helpless, Eris stood at the rear, facing the onslaught, his hands trembling as the clash of steel closed in around them. The thudding of iron arrow tips rained closer, peppering the stone and wood around him. Dread coiled in his chest. He couldn't just stand here. He had to do something. Anything. But his blindness left him anchored to the spot. His mind was racing. His grandfather was powerful, but his strength wasn't limitless. The elder needed every drop of power for whatever nightmares waited inside the dark tunnel.
Behind him, the heavy iron bars of the conduit groaned and seized. Faren strained, his muscles corded as he pulled the chain to lift the roll-up gate, his boots sliding in the mud as he wrestled against the rusted gears.
Then came the words Eris feared most. "It's jammed!" Faren's voice cracked. "The gate won't lift!"
The words struck Eris numb, fueling the desperate surge in his chest. Beneath his hammering pulse, the Frost-Lace flared, its cold light seeping through his skin. The dormant silver essence clawed up his throat, flooding his veins with a heat that burned like ice. His fingers twitched as the void in his palm began to tear open. The silver current even ignited in his eyes, soaking the blindfold with a wet mixture of blood and silver.
His body was fracturing; blood and raw silver overflowed from his ears, his nose, and the corners of his lips.
Then, the world around him died.
The frantic shouting, the barking of the hounds, and the roar of the incoming flaming arrows vanished into suffocating silence. The intense beat inside his skull shattered his hearing, plunging him into the abyss.
He was trapped in darkness. Yet, he still felt everything.
Through the soles of his boots, a tremor rippled through the rock—Kaylah and the children scrambling toward his side. A shudder in the gravel signaled Jag dropping her massive frame to the stone in submission.
Across their bond, a spike of terror flared as Luna jolted awake, her panic bleeding straight into his mind. Even Ruvio and Faren had stopped trying to open the gate, frozen by the unstable energy radiating from Eris's body.
He couldn't hear the descending volley, but his skin blistered as the white-hot heat of a hundred flaming arrows plunged toward them.
Eris didn't care anymore if the power tore him apart.
Left with no other choice, Eris unleashed everything.
He let go.
***