"We should document this location. If the princess's presence is genuinely influencing the Hevenmyst Forest's growth patterns, then the Herbal Sanctuary will want detailed records, particularly if this becomes a recurring pattern during Princess Zai, future visits." Elder Nixie said, already retrieving a small notebook from her satchel.
"Future visits? Sis are you planning on entering this forest's a regular thing?" Heriot asked, glancing toward Zaiveil with a faint, considering look.
"If the elders and Father will allow it, then I'd surely like to visit here again, so i can understand what else this forest might reveal, about my charm and about myself." Zaiveil said.
"Then we'd better keep a detailed record lf this place, if every time you found a flower, you're probably making a rewritten version of Creigmeia's alchemy books. Then ae really need someone to be keeping track of everything" Zyrcus said, moving to stand beside Elder Nixie as she began sketching a rough map of the clearing's location.
"Fourth Brother, I'm not doing it on purpose, encountering this things is all an accident" Zaiveil protested, but her words carried more warmth than defensiveness.
"Alright, but I don't think that makes you any less remarkable." Zyrcus agreed with his voice softening.
The group lingered a while longer at the clearing, Zyver carefully preserving both the Moonpetal Bloom and the Starveil Lily in separate protective wrappings while Elder Nixie finished her notes, marking the location with a small, discreet charm-etched stone that would allow the Sanctuary's charmers to find it again later.
As the afternoon light began its slow shift toward gold, Herox finally called for them to begin circling back toward the outer boundary, mindful of their promise to return before nightfall.
Zaiveil fell into step beside him, the glowing lily now carefully secured within her own satchel, its faint warmth a quiet, steady presence against her side.
"This was a good day," she said, surprising herself slightly with how easily the words came.
"It was," Herox agreed, glancing sideways at her with something rare and unguarded in his expression.
"I actually was more nervous about this expedition than what i express, but watching you today, I think I underestimated how much this forest has to offer tyou or how much you have to offer it, in return." Herox said truthfully.
Zaiveil considered his words as they walked, the forest settling into the deepening gold of late afternoon around them, the quiet hum beneath her ribs still present, still patient, still waiting.
Whatever Havenmyst Forest held at its heart, she found herself, for the first time since crossing the cosmos to reach this world, genuinely eager to discover it, to discover everything.
The light had begun its slow shift towards a deep gold when Herox called the group to a brief halt near a fallen, moss-covered log, checking their bearings against the map once more before continuing the loop back toward the outer boundary.
"We're quiet lucky this time, we haven't encounter anything dangerous at all. If we keep this pace, we'll reach the proper resting place before night." he said, tracing a finger along the marked path.
"Good, because my feets are now complaining how tired they are," Zyver said, dropping onto the log with an exaggerated groan, careful not to jostle the satchel holding his preserved specimens.
"Your feet walked considerably less than the rest of us, given how often you stopped to examine every leaf within arm's reach," Heriot pointed out.
"Alchemy dedication requires sacrifice, Third Brother."
Zaiveil made a small smile after seeing the familiar back-and-forth between her brothers. The forest around them had settled into a quieter rhythm as the afternoon aged, the birdsong sparser, the shadows beneath the canopy stretching longer and thicker between the trees.
It was that quiet, that subtle shift in the air, that made her go still.
"Wait." Zaiveil alertly said
"Something's here," she added, her voice was low.
The easy chatter died instantly. Herox's hand dropped to the map still in his grip, folding it away in one smooth motion as his gaze swept the treeline. Heriot's blade cleared its sheath with a soft hiss of steel, and Elder Nixie moved closer to the group's center, her own hands already glowing faintly with the beginnings of a defensive charm.
"Where?" Herox asked quietly.
Zaiveil's eyes tracked the underbrush ahead, old instincts sharpening every sense at once, the rustle of leaves too deliberate to be wind, the faint, heavy tread of something large moving with unnatural patience.
"In the northwest, Big Brother. It's circling us and it's s been tracking us for a while, I think."
"You think?" Zyver whispered, edging closer to Zyrcus.
"I only just noticed the pattern," Zaiveil said, "It's too careful for us to notice earlier."
A low growl rumbled from the shadows ahead, and the underbrush parted as the creature finally revealed itself, stepping into a patch of fading sunlight with unhurried, predatory confidence. It resembled a great cat, easily the size of a horse, its fur a mottled grey-green that blended almost seamlessly into the forest's shifting light, twin ridges of bony plating running along its spine like natural armor. Its eyes glowed a pale, sickly yellow, fixed unerringly on the group.
"Bristled Ridgeback," Elder Nixie said, her voice tight with recognition.
"A mid-level beast, it's territorial and considerably faster than what it looks like. We should retreat slowly, without turning our backs."
"Agreed," Herox said immediately, already angling his stance to shield Zaiveil.
"Retreat now!"
The Ridgeback's growl deepened, its muscles coiling visibly beneath its mottled hide, and Zaiveil felt something settle over her, not fear, but a familiar, focused clarity she hadn't felt since her days as Phantom, it was sharpened now by something new.
"Wait," she said.
Every head turned toward her.
"Zai, this isn't the time to admire that beast," Heriot said through gritted teeth, not taking his eyes off the beast.
"I want to fight it."
"..."
Silence filled the surroundings for what they heard from Zaiveil, the silence was broken only by the low, rumbling growl from the Ridgeback's throat.