The expedition left at dawn.
Not the whole company—just the five of them. Grog, Lira, Aldric, Mirena. And William.
The second prince had insisted. He'd been training for weeks, falling in the mud, missing targets, dropping his sword. He still couldn't hold a proper stance. He still couldn't hit the target more than half the time. But he'd stopped falling. He'd stopped dropping his sword. He'd learned to stand.
"I'm coming," he'd said the night before. His voice was steady. "I've been training for this."
Edward had watched him from across the room. "You've been training to fall."
"Same thing."
Edward had almost smiled. Almost. "Try not to die."
William had grinned. "I'll try."
Now he was here, on a horse too large for him, with a sword too new, with armor that hadn't been tested. He was looking at the hills ahead like they might swallow him.
They probably would.
---
The road east was quiet.
The farms fell away, the villages thinned, the fields gave way to forest. The trees were older here, their branches twisted, their roots grasping at the stone. The light barely reached the ground.
Mirena rode at the front, her map open, her staff glowing faintly. She'd been studying the old texts for weeks, tracing the lines, marking the places where the veil was thin.
"The Watching Hills," she said, pointing ahead. "They've been here longer than the kingdom. Longer than anything we know."
William leaned forward. "What's in them?"
She was quiet for a moment. "We'll find out."
---
They made camp at midday.
The forest was quiet—too quiet. No birds, no animals, no wind. Just the rustle of leaves and the sound of their own breathing.
Lira found a place by the stream. She sat on a rock, her bow across her knees, watching the water move.
"You're quiet," William said, sitting beside her.
"I'm listening."
He looked at the trees, the shadows, the places where the light didn't reach. "What do you hear?"
She was quiet for a moment. "Nothing. That's what's wrong."
He nodded slowly. "The old texts say the hills are a place where the world is thin. Where things come through."
Lira looked at him. "You've been reading."
William shrugged. "I wanted to know what we were walking into."
"And?"
He was quiet for a moment. "I don't know if knowing helps."
---
Grog walked the perimeter.
The trees pressed close, their branches twisted, their roots thick. The ground was soft, damp, the kind of earth that swallowed footprints. He stopped at the edge of the camp, looking into the darkness.
Mirena appeared beside him.
"You feel it," she said.
He nodded. "The same as the Grove. The same as the pass."
She followed his gaze. "The door moved. It could be here. Or it could be somewhere else. But something is here. Something that's been waiting."
He looked at her. "How do we find it?"
She was quiet for a moment. "We look."
---
Aldric found William by the stream.
The prince was sitting on a rock, his hands on his knees, his face pale.
"You're scared," Aldric said.
William looked up. "Terrified."
Aldric sat beside him. "Good."
William blinked. "Good?"
"Being scared means you're paying attention. Means you know it's real." He looked at the trees, the shadows, the darkness that was already gathering. "The ones who aren't scared are the ones who die."
William was quiet for a moment.
"You're not scared."
Aldric didn't answer.
---
They moved deeper into the hills as the light faded.
The path was narrow, overgrown, barely visible. The trees were older now, their trunks thick, their branches twisted into shapes that hurt to look at. The air was cold, still, the kind of cold that seeped into your bones.
Mirena stopped.
"There," she said, pointing.
A clearing opened before them. The trees had pulled back, leaving a circle of bare earth, a circle of stones. The stones were old, covered in moss, arranged in patterns that might have meant something once. At the center, a flat stone lay on the ground, its surface dark, its edges smooth.
Grog stepped forward.
The ground changed under his feet. The air changed. The light changed. He was somewhere else, somewhere older, somewhere that had been waiting.
The stone pulsed.
He knelt beside it. Touched it.
It was warm.
---
Lira was beside him. "What is it?"
He shook his head. "I don't know."
Mirena knelt on the other side, her hands on the stone, her eyes closed. "It's a door. Or it was. Something came through here. Something that shouldn't exist."
William stared at the stone. "Is it still here?"
Mirena opened her eyes. "I don't know."
---
They made camp in the clearing that night.
The fire was small, hidden, the kind of fire that didn't attract attention. The trees pressed close, their branches blocking the sky, their roots reaching toward the stone.
Grog sat apart, watching.
Lira joined him. "You're thinking."
"Always."
She sat beside him. "What?"
He was quiet for a moment. "The stone. The door. It's not here anymore. But something was."
She nodded slowly. "Something came through."
He looked at the darkness. "Something's still here."
---
William couldn't sleep.
He lay on his blanket, staring at the branches above, listening to the silence. The stone was at the edge of the firelight, dark, waiting. He'd been training for weeks. He'd learned to fall, to stand, to hold a sword without dropping it. He'd thought he was ready.
He wasn't ready.
He sat up. Looked at the stone.
Aldric was awake too. "Can't sleep?"
William shook his head. "What happened here? Before we came?"
Aldric was quiet for a moment. "Something came through. Something that shouldn't exist. It's gone now. Or waiting."
William looked at the stone. "Do you think it'll come back?"
Aldric didn't answer.
---
Mirena was at the edge of the clearing, her map spread before her, her notes scattered. She'd been studying the stone for hours, tracing its edges, measuring its angles, comparing it to the drawings in the old texts.
Grog found her there.
"It's a door," she said without looking up. "Or it was. Something came through. The hunters, maybe. Or something like them."
He sat beside her. "Where is it now?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. The stone is cold. The door is closed. But something was here. Something that's been waiting."
He looked at the stone. "Waiting for what?"
She met his eyes. "For someone to open it."
---
Dawn came slowly.
The light crept through the trees, gray and cold, touching the stone, the clearing, the faces of the people who'd been waiting.
Lira was the first up. She'd been awake for hours, watching the darkness, listening to the silence. She walked to the stone, touched it. It was cold now. The warmth was gone.
William joined her. "Is it—"
"Closed. For now."
He looked at the hills, the trees, the shadows that were already retreating. "What do we do now?"
She was quiet for a moment. "We go back. We tell the Duke what we found. We plan."
He nodded slowly. "And then?"
She looked at the stone. "And then we come back."
---
They rode out as the sun rose.
The forest was different now—lighter, warmer, the kind of forest that didn't remember what had happened in the night. The birds were singing, the animals were moving, the world was waking up.
William rode beside Aldric.
"We're coming back," he said. "Aren't we?"
Aldric nodded. "When we're ready."
William looked at the hills behind them. "Do you think we'll ever be ready?"
Aldric was quiet for a moment. "We'll have to be."