[Day 15 — Iron Pass — 8:00 AM]
The Iron Pass smelled different from the Shadow Forest.
The Forest smelled of accumulated magic — dense, almost sweet. The Pass smelled of mineral. Of wet rock and oxidized metal and something harder to name. As if the terrain itself had a character that the nose processed before the eyes.
Kira caught it as soon as they set foot in the corridor.
Her ears rotated forward and stayed there.
"It's in the central sector," she said quietly. "About kilometer four."
"The Bull?" asked Alex.
"The Bull." Kira looked at the rock corridor narrowing ahead. "Not moving. Fixed territory." Her amber eyes active, [Predator's Sense] at the minimum needed to conserve energy. "It will detect us before we reach it."
"How much before?"
"Kilometer three, maybe. Depends on whether its sense of smell is as good as the trail it left on the trees."
Alex looked at the gouges in the corridor's rock walls.
