No one moved.
The cave remained in front of them, dark and still, the three wolves at its entrance watching without shifting. The air between both sides felt tight—like something stretched too far, waiting to snap.
The formation held, weapons ready, every movement restrained.
Waiting.
The wind barely touched this place. Even the leaves above seemed unwilling to move, as if sound itself had weight here.
Keth was the first to break the silence.
"We just stand here?"
Varok didn't look at him.
"We need to think."
Keth exhaled, shifting his weight slightly. He didn't push further—not yet.
Sira stepped forward half a pace, her eyes scanning the ground again, then the cave entrance, then the shadows beyond it. Her focus didn't waver.
"Tracks overlap," she said quietly. "More than before."
"How many?" Aric asked before he could stop himself.
Sira didn't answer immediately. She tilted her head slightly, listening—not just with her ears, but with her whole posture.
"At least…" she paused.
"…thirty."
The number settled over the group, heavy enough that no one needed to repeat it.
Aric felt it immediately.
Thirty.
That wasn't a fight.
That was something you survived—if you were careful.
Dren adjusted his grip on his war hammer, the motion slow and deliberate, the weight of it grounding him.
"Too many," he said.
Reth's voice came from the front, low and controlled.
"They're not leaving."
Aric followed his gaze.
The wolves hadn't moved.
Not even slightly.
Still.
Watching.
"They're holding position," Aric said.
No one reacted at first.
Then—
"They're protecting something," he added. "Not just territory."
Brenok's gaze flicked toward him.
Brief.
Evaluating.
Not dismissing.
Then it returned to the cave.
Keth shifted again, impatience creeping into his stance, his fingers tapping lightly against the hilt of his blade.
"Then we hit them now," he said. "Before more come out."
Dren didn't move.
"Blind?" he asked.
Keth's mouth curved slightly.
"Fast."
"That's how you die," Dren replied.
"They almost took you out earlier," Brenok added, his voice flat.
Keth's eyes narrowed slightly.
"But we killed them."
"That was only three," Brenok said.
A pause.
"Not thirty."
The tension sharpened, sitting between them, waiting for someone to push too far.
"Enough."
Varok's voice cut through it.
Everything stopped.
Immediately.
Even Keth didn't push again.
Varok stepped forward slightly, his gaze fixed on the cave. His presence shifted the air around him—not forcefully, but undeniably.
"We don't follow them," he said.
"We control them."
Sira nodded once.
"We can pull some out."
"Not all at once," Reth added.
"But enough," Dren said.
"How?" Keth asked.
This time—not mocking. Just asking.
Silence settled again.
But it wasn't empty.
It was focused.
Waiting for direction.
Aric's grip tightened slightly around his spear.
"They react fast," he said.
The words came slower this time, more deliberate.
"If we split them… they won't regroup immediately."
No one interrupted him.
"They came in waves before," Aric continued. "Not all at once."
Sira's gaze shifted toward him, analyzing.
"They respond to movement," he added. "Noise. Threat."
A pause.
"If we give them something to react to…"
"We control the engagement," Varok finished.
Aric nodded.
Silence again.
But this time—it held agreement.
Varok looked at him longer than before, measuring.
Then—
a small nod.
"We pull them out," Varok said.
Final.
"Take the entrance."
"Then we go in."
Keth rolled his shoulder slightly, loosening tension.
"Better."
Dren exhaled slowly.
"Still bad."
"Everything is," Reth said.
Sira stepped forward again, pointing briefly toward the left side of the cave.
"The ground dips there," she said. "Less stable."
Reth nodded.
"I'll take the front."
"I know," she replied.
Dren shifted slightly, adjusting his stance.
"I hold the center."
"No surprises," Varok said.
Dren nodded once.
Keth rested his hand on the hilt of his curved blade, fingers tightening slightly.
"I'll cut anything that moves wrong."
"Don't overreach too much," Reth said.
Keth smirked faintly.
"I won't."
Aric stood still.
Listening.
Watching how they moved.
How they thought.
This wasn't random.
It was structured.
Each of them knew their place.
And for the first time—
he had one too.
"You stay with Luma," Varok said, without looking at him.
Aric nodded.
"Understood."
Brenok didn't speak.
But his stance shifted slightly.
Closer to the front.
Closer to where the fight would begin.
Luma stepped toward him.
Just slightly.
Close enough to matter.
"Left side will be tighter," she said quietly.
Brenok glanced toward the cave, then back to her.
"I'll take it."
A pause.
"Don't overextend."
"I won't."
She held his gaze for a moment longer.
Then—
"Don't die," she said.
Brenok's grip tightened on his sword.
"I won't."
Varok's voice cut through again.
"Positions."
The group moved.
Not loud.
But precise.
Every step placed.
Every movement measured and deliberate.
Reth shifted forward, his body lowering slightly as he approached the front.
Sira angled left, her path adjusting to the terrain without hesitation.
Keth drifted right, his movements loose but ready.
Dren planted himself in the center, grounding the formation.
Varok stepped just ahead of them, steady and unshaken.
Brenok moved slightly to his side.
Luma shifted back.
Aric followed.
The cave remained in front of them.
Unchanged.
Waiting.
The wolves at the entrance shifted.
Just slightly.
A twitch of muscle.
A subtle repositioning.
Enough.
They had been seen.
There was no doubt left.
Aric adjusted his grip on the spear.
His breathing slowed.
Controlled.
His focus narrowed, pushing everything else aside.
The forest.
The fear.
The weight of what was inside.
All of it faded into something distant.
Varok lifted his hand.
Held it.
For a moment that stretched just a little too long.
Then lowered it.
They moved.
Step by step.
Into the waiting dark.
No one spoke.
No one hesitated.
The distance closed.
Slowly.
Inevitably.
The wolves tensed.
The air tightened.
The moment stretched—
right to the edge.
They stepped forward.
And the hunt began.