The fires of the shattered camp burned low behind them.
Smoke curled into the dark sky, swallowed by the endless trees of the Wolfswood.
Corvyn did not look back.
He walked ahead of his men, his thoughts heavier than his blade.
Two camps destroyed.
Five remained.
But something felt… wrong.
Ser Halric caught up beside him.
"You're quiet," the knight said.
Corvyn did not slow.
"They're letting us do this."
Halric frowned.
"Letting us?"
Corvyn nodded.
"They're not reacting fast enough."
He glanced toward the dark forest around them.
"We've struck twice. Clean. Fast."
His grip tightened slightly on Nightfeather.
"And yet no reinforcements. No pursuit."
Halric's expression shifted.
"That is… strange."
One of the older scouts spoke from behind.
"My lord… perhaps they don't know."
Corvyn shook his head.
"They know."
He stopped walking.
The men halted behind him.
"They always know."
The wind moved through the trees with a low whisper.
Cold.
Uneasy.
Halric stepped closer.
"Then say it."
Corvyn turned to face him.
"They want us to keep going."
Silence followed.
Heavy and sharp.
Halric exhaled slowly.
"A trap."
Corvyn nodded once.
"Yes."
One of the younger men shifted nervously.
"My lord… should we fall back to Ravenhold?"
Corvyn looked at him.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then—
"No."
Halric raised an eyebrow.
"No?"
Corvyn's voice hardened.
"If we retreat now, they tighten their hold."
He stepped forward again.
"We break the net completely."
Halric studied him carefully.
"You're walking into it knowingly."
Corvyn met his gaze.
"Yes."
A faint smile touched Halric's face.
"Good."
The knight rolled his shoulders.
"I was getting bored."
A few of the men let out quiet breaths—half tension, half grim resolve.
Corvyn turned his gaze toward the deeper forest.
Darker than before.
Colder than before.
Somewhere out there…
The Boltons were waiting.
He could feel it.
Like eyes in the dark.
Like a blade pressed lightly against his throat.
A raven's cry echoed above.
Sharp.
Warning.
Corvyn looked up.
The black shape circled once, then vanished into the trees ahead.
Guiding him.
Or leading him.
Corvyn exhaled slowly.
"A lord protects his lands," he said quietly.
Halric glanced at him.
"And?"
Corvyn's voice was steady.
"Even if it costs him everything."
The men fell silent again.
No one argued.
No one questioned.
They followed.
As they always would.
Corvyn Ravaryn stepped forward into the darkness of the Wolfswood.
Toward the trap waiting ahead.
Toward the war that was no longer hidden.