The ruin fell behind them without resistance.
Stone gave way to earth. Broken walls to trees. The air changed first, moving again after the stillness inside. Leaves shifted overhead, branches creaked softly, and the forest filled the space the ruin had held. Sound returned in layers.
No one slowed.
The Avians adjusted their formation as they crossed the edge. The leader moved to the front without signaling it. One of the wounded followed behind her, keeping distance but staying close enough to support. The second took the rear, his attention fixed on the path they had left behind.
Aric and Brenok remained between them.
Not placed there by words.
But held there all the same.
Above, the scout moved ahead. A dark shape passing between branches, appearing and disappearing without pattern. His movement didn't disturb the air long enough to track. By the time the eye caught him, he was already somewhere else.
They moved north.
The pace settled quickly. Not fast. Not slow. It didn't change.
Aric matched it without thinking. Brenok did the same.
No one spoke.
The forest shifted around them as they moved. The ground dipped and rose without warning. Roots crossed their path at uneven angles. Low branches forced them to change direction mid-step, but no one broke rhythm.
The Avians moved through it cleanly.
Aric watched.
Adjusted.
A root cut across the ground ahead, thick and raised. The leader stepped over it without looking down, her stride unbroken. Aric followed, his step landing clean across the same line.
Behind him, Brenok stepped over it with more force, the impact pressing into the soil before he pushed forward again.
No one reacted.
They continued.
Above, the scout passed again.
Lower this time.
A short glide between branches, wings catching air for only a moment before folding again. Then he was gone.
The leader changed direction.
Not sharply.
But enough.
Aric saw it.
Not in the ground.
In the line she chose between the trees.
Brenok saw it too. His path shifted before the change became obvious.
They followed without speaking.
The forest thickened ahead.
Branches lowered, forcing them into tighter movement. The space between trees narrowed. The leader moved through first, lifting a hand only to push a branch aside before passing through without slowing.
Aric followed close behind. The branch brushed across his shoulder, catching briefly before snapping back into place.
Brenok came after. The branch struck his arm harder, the sound sharper before it fell away.
Behind them, movement slowed.
The wounded Avian pushed through with more effort, his injured wing held tight against his side. He turned slightly to avoid catching it, his steps controlled but heavier.
They didn't hide it.
They didn't need to.
They kept moving.
The ground changed.
Aric felt it first.
His step sank deeper than expected, the soil giving under his weight. Not enough to stop him, but enough to draw attention.
He slowed.
The leader stopped.
The group halted with her.
She crouched, one hand brushing across the ground. Her fingers moved in a steady line, not searching, but following.
Aric stepped closer.
Now he saw it.
Not tracks.
Not clearly.
But disruption.
Leaves turned the wrong way. Soil broken where it should have held. Pressure where nothing natural should have pressed.
Brenok moved to the opposite side, lowering himself to see it from another angle.
He didn't speak immediately.
Then—
"More than one."
"Seven," the leader said.
Immediate.
No pause.
Brenok looked again, longer this time.
Then nodded.
Above them, the scout dropped.
Fast.
Controlled.
He landed along a branch just ahead, gripping it without sound before shifting his weight forward.
"Kael," the leader said.
She didn't look up.
"Left side."
The scout moved instantly, vanishing between the trees.
The leader stood.
"The rear—hold distance."
Her gaze shifted once.
"Toh."
The Avian at the back adjusted his position, widening the gap while keeping his weapon ready.
The other moved forward.
Closer to Aric and Brenok.
"Reth, stay with them."
Reth stepped up beside them. Not close enough to stand with them, but near enough to react.
Aric glanced at him briefly.
Reth didn't return it.
The leader moved again.
Then—
"Elira."
She didn't turn when she said it. Didn't slow. The name was given as she walked.
Aric understood.
He nodded once.
"Aric."
Brenok followed.
"Brenok."
No more was said.
The trail spread wider ahead.
Less defined.
Harder to read.
Elira followed it anyway.
The ground shifted again.
Clean.
Too clean.
The marks vanished.
Aric slowed.
Stopped.
Looked.
Nothing.
No broken soil. No disturbed leaves. No signs of passage.
Elira didn't stop.
She crossed it without hesitation. Two steps forward, then angled right.
The trail returned.
Brenok followed her line immediately.
Aric joined a moment later.
"Why there," Aric said.
"They lifted," Elira answered.
"They didn't all step."
"No."
That stayed.
Above, Kael moved again.
Lower.
Slower.
Watching ahead.
The trail sharpened.
A branch hung broken at shoulder height, twisted rather than snapped clean. The fibers were stretched, not cut.
Brenok stopped.
His hand pressed against it.
He tested the tension.
Then released.
"Recent."
Elira didn't answer.
She had already moved past.
Aric followed.
The ground dipped.
The soil softened further, holding deeper impressions. Not clear tracks, but repeated pressure.
Brenok spoke again.
"Two heavier."
Elira slowed.
"Carrying."
"Or dragging."
She crouched again, her hand pressing deeper into the ground this time.
Then she stood.
"Carrying."
Certain.
Above them, Kael returned.
A short sound.
Sharp.
Directed.
Elira's head tilted slightly.
Then forward again.
"They slowed."
"Here."
The forest ahead changed.
Not in shape.
In use.
Branches bent.
Ground pressed flat.
A space where movement had gathered and stayed.
They had rested here.
Not long.
But enough.
Elira stepped forward.
Slower now.
Each step placed with care.
Aric followed.
Closer than before.
His eyes moved constantly, tracking the same lines the Avians read without pause.
Brenok moved with him.
Their positions shifted.
Not separate lines anymore.
Not quite together.
But closer.
The formation tightened.
No command given.
None needed.
The trail narrowed again.
More direct.
"They know they're close," Brenok said.
Elira didn't answer.
She raised her hand.
The group stopped.
Immediate.
Above—
Kael stilled.
No movement.
No circling.
Watching.
Fixed.
That was different.
Aric felt it.
So did Brenok.
Elira spoke.
"From here—no mistakes."
Her gaze moved across them.
Stopping on Aric.
Then Brenok.
"You move when we move."
Aric nodded.
Brenok didn't speak.
But he didn't look away.
Ahead—
the forest thinned.
Not open.
But broken.
Enough to see through.
Elira stepped forward.
Slow.
Controlled.
Aric followed.
Brenok beside him.
They reached the edge.
Elira stopped.
Didn't step through.
She looked.
Then—
"They stopped here."
A pause.
"Rested."
Her gaze sharpened.
"Still close."
No one moved.
No one spoke.
The air held.
Waiting.