Chapter 99: A Familiar Wall

A cry cut through the ambient noise.

High and sharp. Terror in it. A woman’s voice, coming from somewhere off the path.

The group froze for a heartbeat. Then bodies moved, training overriding confusion. Students summoned their weapons. Villagers raised whatever tools they carried. Everyone converging on the sound’s source.

The forest pressed close on both sides. Undergrowth grabbed at ankles, slowing progress. Someone stumbled, caught themselves. The cry had cut off, leaving only the thunder of footsteps and labored breathing to fill the space it had occupied.

Then the trees opened.

And what came into view wasn’t a creature at all.

Two men stood perhaps fifteen steps ahead. The mercenaries from the morning – leather reinforced