They made camp at sunset.
A low hill, sheltered from the wind, with a stream at its base and trees enough for cover. The escort spread out—guards posted, fires built, the familiar routine of soldiers who'd spent their lives on the road.
Grog sat apart, watching.
His back was against a tree, his sword across his knees, his eyes on the darkness beyond the firelight. The road had been quiet—too quiet. Fields and forests and villages that passed without incident. The kind of quiet that made soldiers nervous.
Lira appeared beside him.
"You're brooding."
"I'm watching."
"Same thing." She sat on a fallen log, her bow across her lap. "We've been on the road for a day. Nothing's happened."
"That's what worries me."
She looked at him. "You think something's going to happen?"
He thought about the old timeline. About the ambushes, the attacks, the things that waited on roads like this for soldiers who'd let their guard down.
"I think we should be careful."
She nodded slowly.
"We always are."
---
Aldric sat by the fire.
Marta's bread was almost gone—he'd shared it with the soldiers, with the guards, with anyone who wanted a piece. Now he sat with an empty plate, watching the flames.
Mirena joined him.
"You're thinking," she said.
"I'm always thinking."
She sat beside him. "About what?"
He was quiet for a moment.
"About the Duke. About what he'll ask. About what we'll say."
Mirena nodded slowly.
"We tell him what he wants to hear. That's what Voren said."
"And if he asks about the door? About the hunters? About the things that came through?"
She was quiet for a long moment.
"We tell him the truth. Some of it. Not all."
Aldric looked at her.
"You think he'll believe us?"
She met his eyes.
"I think he'll believe what's useful."
---
Voren walked the perimeter.
The guards knew their business—he'd trained most of them himself. But old habits were hard to break. He checked the sentries, the fires, the places where the darkness pressed close.
He found Renshaw at the edge of camp.
The Viscount was sitting on a fallen log, staring at the hills to the east. He looked up when Voren approached.
"Can't sleep?"
"Never could. Before a meeting like this." Voren sat beside him. "You?"
Renshaw shook his head.
"I've been thinking about the Duke. About what he wants."
Voren waited.
"He wants heroes," Renshaw said. "People he can show off. People who make him look good." He paused. "He doesn't want the truth."
"The truth about what?"
"The truth about what we faced. About the things that came through the door. About the things that might still be coming." Renshaw looked at the sky. "He doesn't want to know that the world is larger than he thought. That there are things he can't control."
Voren was quiet for a moment.
"Then we don't tell him."
Renshaw almost smiled.
"That's what I'm afraid of."
---
The second day was warmer.
Spring was coming—the snow was gone from the lower hills, the fields were greening, the farmers were in their fields. The road wound through villages and past farms, ordinary people living ordinary lives.
Grog rode beside Lira.
"You're quiet," she said.
"I'm watching."
She looked at the fields, the farms, the people who stopped to watch them pass.
"What do you see?"
He considered the question.
"People who don't know what's coming."
She was quiet for a moment.
"Do you think they ever will?"
He thought about the old timeline. About the way the war had spread, the way it had touched everything, the way no one had been left untouched.
"I hope not."
---
Aldric rode ahead.
He'd wanted to see the road, the villages, the places he'd only read about. The histories had described them—small towns, farmsteads, the kind of places that armies marched through and forgot.
He stopped at a village well.
A woman was drawing water. She looked up when he approached, saw the sword at his hip, the armor beneath his cloak.
"You're a soldier," she said.
He nodded.
"From the border?"
"Yes."
She studied him for a moment.
"My son is at the border. He's a soldier too." She paused. "Have you seen him? He's with the eastern companies. A scout. His name is Tomas."
Aldric shook his head.
"I'm sorry. I haven't."
She nodded slowly. Drew her water.
"Tell him his mother is well," she said. "If you see him."
He promised he would.
---
Mirena found him at the edge of the village.
"You stopped," she said.
"A woman. Her son is at the border."
She looked at the village. The houses, the fields, the people going about their day.
"This is what we're fighting for," she said.
He looked at her.
"What?"
She gestured at the village.
"This. The ordinary things. The people who don't know what's coming."
He thought about that. About the battle, the hunters, the things he'd seen. About the woman who'd asked him to find her son.
"Yes," he said. "It is."
---
They made camp that night in a valley.
The hills rose on either side, dark against the sky, the stream running cold and clear. The soldiers moved through their routine—fires built, guards posted, the familiar rhythm of men who'd spent their lives on the road.
Grog found a place apart.
He sat on a rock, his sword across his knees, watching the stars come out. Lira joined him after a while.
"You're thinking," she said.
"Always."
She sat beside him.
"What about?"
He was quiet for a moment.
"About the old timeline. About the things I should have done differently."
She looked at him.
"You did what you could."
"I could have done more."
She shook her head.
"You carried it alone. For years. You came back. You warned us. You fought when you should have been dead." She met his eyes. "You did enough."
He looked at the stars.
"I hope so."
---
The third day, the hills grew steeper.
The road climbed toward a pass, the villages fell away, the farms became fewer. The air was colder, the wind sharper, the world more like the borderlands they'd left behind.
Lira rode at the front.
She'd taken point, scouting ahead, watching for anything that didn't belong. Her bow was ready, her eyes were sharp, her instincts were the same as they'd always been.
She found the tracks at midday.
Large. Heavy. Recent.
She knelt beside them, her hand touching the frozen ground.
Grog appeared beside her.
"What is it?"
She looked at the tracks. At the direction they came from. At the way they led toward the pass.
"Something came through here," she said. "Something big."