Midday. The Column Halted.
Mirena sat on a fallen log, surrounded by soldiers who weren't supposed to be there.
Word had spread fast—the mage was back. Alone. Looking like she'd seen something terrible. Soldiers gathered at a distance, pretending to eat or rest or mend equipment, but all watching. All waiting.
Aldric sat closest.
Lira stood behind him, arms crossed, face unreadable.
Mirena hadn't spoken since walking out of the trees. Just sat there, staring at nothing, collecting herself.
Finally, she looked up.
"The village," she said quietly. "The one Grog was trying to reach. We found it."
Aldric waited.
"Burned. Everyone dead." Her voice was flat. "We were too late."
Lira's jaw tightened.
"How many?"
"Doesn't matter. They're gone." Mirena paused. "But that's not the worst part."
Aldric felt something cold settle in his chest.
"There were tracks. Vargr, mostly. But one set was different. Human boots. Leading away from the village at a walk. Like whoever wore them had watched and then simply... left."
Lira leaned forward. "One of the hunters?"
"I think so. But the tracks—" Mirena's voice faltered. "They stopped at the tree line. Just stopped. Like the person vanished."
Silence.
Aldric thought about red eyes. About figures that moved like shadows. About the thing in the Grove that had been waiting centuries.
"They're not just watching anymore," Lira said slowly. "They're acting."
Mirena nodded.
---
She told them the rest.
The boundary markers. The ancient carvings. The way the forest changed—the silence, the watching, the wrongness of it all.
Grog's determination to keep going. To reach the next village, and the next, and the next.
And then the dream.
"I was in the Grove," Mirena said. "The thing was there. It spoke to me."
Aldric's blood went cold.
"What did it say?"
"That it was letting me go. Letting me come back." She met his eyes. "It wants us afraid. Desperate. Ready."
"Ready for what?"
"The moment. Your choice." Her voice was barely a whisper. "It's planning for it. Everything—the Vargr, the hunters, the villages—it's all leading to that."
Aldric sat very still.
He'd known this. Of course he'd known. Grog had told him years ago. But hearing it from Mirena—someone who'd been there, seen it, spoken to it—made it real in a way it hadn't been before.
"We need Grog," Lira said. "He'd know what to do."
Mirena shook her head. "He's still out there. Going village to village. Doing what he can." She paused. "I couldn't stay. Had to warn you."
Aldric looked at her.
"You left him alone."
"I left him because he wanted me to." Her voice was steady. "Because the column needed to know what's coming. Because you needed to be ready."
Aldric opened his mouth to argue.
A voice cut through the trees.
"You're all going to be insufferable about this, aren't you?"
Lira.
Walking out of the forest like she'd just been for a walk.
Aldric stared.
"You were gone," he said stupidly.
"I was scouting." She brushed past him, heading for Mirena. "Heard voices. Recognized yours. Came to investigate." She stopped in front of the mage. "You look terrible."
Mirena almost smiled. "Thanks."
"What happened out there?"
Mirena told her. Again. Quicker this time, the details sharp and terrible.
Lira listened without interrupting.
When she finished, Lira was quiet for a long moment.
Then: "Grog's alone."
"Yes."
"And he's walking into more villages. More danger."
"Yes."
Lira's jaw tightened. But she didn't argue. Didn't offer to go after him. Just stood there, processing.
Finally: "He knew what he was doing. He's Grog. He'll survive."
Aldric looked at her. "You really believe that?"
"I have to." She met his eyes. "We all have to."
---
The column moved again at sunset.
Not far—just enough to reach better ground before full dark. Soldiers marched in silence, the news spreading through ranks like fire. Something was out there. Something worse than Vargr.
Aldric walked beside Lira.
Mirena had gone to report to Voren—formal report, the kind that would change everything. They'd probably push faster now. Harder. Toward whatever waited.
"She's different," Aldric said quietly.
Lira glanced at him. "Mirena?"
"Yeah. Since coming back. Something's changed."
Lira considered this. "She saw something. Felt something. That changes people."
"You think she's okay?"
"No." Lira's voice was honest. "But she's here. That's what matters."
Aldric nodded slowly.
They walked on.
---
Camp that night was different.
Quieter. Tenser. Soldiers spoke in murmurs or not at all. Fires burned smaller. Watches doubled.
Mirena sat alone at the edge, staring into darkness.
Aldric approached. Sat beside her.
"You don't have to babysit me," she said.
"Not babysitting. Just sitting."
She glanced at him. Said nothing.
They sat together for a long time.
Finally, Mirena spoke.
"He told me something. Grog. Before I left." Her voice was quiet. "Said you were going to be a great hero. Better than last time."
Aldric's chest tightened.
"Did he?"
"Yes. And I believe him."
Aldric didn't know what to say.
So he just sat there, beside her, in the darkness.
---
Later, Lira found them.
She'd been scouting—again—and looked tired in ways that went beyond physical.
"Vargr are closer," she said, dropping beside them. "Another day, maybe two. They've stopped moving. Made camp."
Aldric frowned. "Why?"
"Don't know. But it's not good." She looked at Mirena. "Any ideas?"
Mirena was quiet for a moment.
"They're waiting," she said finally. "For something. Someone."
The words hung in the air.
Aldric thought about the hunters. The red eyes. The thing in the Grove.
They were all waiting.
For him.
---
That night, he dreamed again.
Not of home this time.
Of Grog.
Standing in a village square, alone. Surrounding him, shadows. Red eyes. The hunters.
Grog held his axe. Didn't run. Didn't call for help.
Just stood there, facing them, waiting.
"Grog—"
He turned. Looked directly at Aldric.
"Don't come for me," he said. "Do what you need to do there. I'll handle this."
"But—"
"Trust me."
The dream faded.
Aldric woke in darkness, heart pounding.
Somewhere in the forest, his friend was alone.
And there was nothing he could do about it.