It wasn't just the two behind him.
The realisation settled with unpleasant clarity as his perception stretched outward. Presences brushed the edges of his awareness—more than two. Moving fast, but not directly. Sliding wide instead, cutting off angles rather than closing the distance.
Silent and synchronised, they honed their formation with practice precision, like hounds responding to a signal only they could hear.
He had seconds—maybe less—before the trap closed completely, There was no clean way out anymore.
His mind moved rapidly, Calculations piled up in his mind, overlapping faster than he could sort them. He did not know who they were. He did not know which faction had sent them, or whether this was a coordinated effort or a convergence of interests that had chosen the same moment.
