After escaping the hollow, they ran until their lungs burned, until Aeron’s legs felt like heated iron rods beneath him, until Zenovia’s breathing became so weak and uneven that even her pride could no longer keep her upright.

In the end, Aeron found that they had no choice but to hide.

Besides, it was completely dark out now, apart from the glow of the moon, and Aeron was convinced that as long as they hid well enough, it would not be easy for the demons to find them in the darkness of the great forest.

They found a narrow space beneath the twisted roots of an ancient tree, a place half-covered by moss, hanging vines, and the natural darkness of the Great Forest.

Aeron dragged Zenovia inside first, then covered their tracks as best as he could before slipping in after her. He was not an expert at hiding, not like Zenovia, not like Darin had been, but desperation had a way of sharpening even clumsy hands.

For a long while, neither of them spoke as the demons moved far above them somewhere in the forest. Fortunately, the demons did not seem to come anywhere near them.

However, they were just far enough that Zenovia could hear their claws scraping against the roots above. And that, somehow, made the silence worse.

Zenovia sat with her back against the inner wall of the root hollow, one hand pressed tightly against the wound in her side. Aeron had used a potion earlier, and it had done enough to keep her from bleeding out.

However, the wound was very ugly, and the flesh around it had blackened from the spell that had grazed her, and every so often, her breath would catch violently in her throat, making Aeron look her way worriedly.

"Stop looking at me like that," she muttered.

Aeron blinked. "Like what?"

"Like I’m dying."

"Well, you don’t look so good."

"If it makes you feel any better, I do feel like I’m dying."

"That’s not as reassuring as you think."

"I’m just kidding." Zenovia opened one eye and looked at him. Even pale, sweating, and half-slumped against the roots, she still managed to look beautiful and visibly annoyed. "If I was dying, I would tell you."

Aeron stared at her for a moment and snorted softly.

"No, you wouldn’t."

Her lips twitched faintly.

"No," she admitted. "I wouldn’t."

The faint humour lasted only a moment before it faded again, crushed beneath the weight of everyone they had left behind.

Darin, the two elven scouts, and the three soldiers. They were all dead.

Aeron leaned back against the opposite wall of the hollow and closed his eyes, but the moment he did, he saw Darin again. That bitter smile on his face just before the demons swallowed him whole.

His jaw tightened. Zenovia was quiet for a long time before she spoke.

"People die all the time in war, don’t think too much of it."

Aeron did not open his eyes. "I know."

"Then don’t waste it blaming yourself."

He laughed once, but there was no humour in it. "Is that assassin wisdom?"

"No. It’s basic sense."

"Basic sense feels useless right now."

"Well... That is life."

Aeron finally opened his eyes and looked at her. She was staring toward the narrow gap between the roots, where only a thin slice of moonlight filtered in from outside. Her face was unreadable, but her fingers were clenched tightly against her sleeve.

He suspected that she probably felt it too, that guilt gnawing at the back of his conscience. Or maybe her profession made her heart calloused to it all. Perhaps she thought their lives didn’t matter as much as he thought they did, since this was only a trial.

Or maybe she was just better at hiding it all. He didn’t know.

They spent the night like that. Silent most of the time. Listening and waiting. Recovering just enough to move again. Aeron used what little healing supplies they still had to stabilise Zenovia’s wound further.

That had to be enough.

When morning came, they immediately emerged from their hiding place, with great caution, of course.

Zenovia stepped out of the hollow first, moving slowly, one hand resting against the tree for support. Aeron followed, scanning the surroundings with a weapon already in hand.

Soft mist clung to the roots and undergrowth. Pale sunlight filtered through the massive canopy in thin golden shafts. Birds called somewhere high above, and the damp leaves glittered faintly with dew.

It would have been beautiful if Aeron had not known what waited beneath it. But luckily, there were no demons in sight, and no obvious tracks in the vicinity.

A faint hope touched his chest. Maybe they really had escaped. Maybe the demons had been too focused on whatever they were doing at the portal to chase them.

Maybe...

Zenovia’s voice cut through the thought.

"Let’s move."

Aeron nodded.

They began trudging through the forest.

At first, neither of them said much. Zenovia led the way, though her steps were slower than they should have been, and Aeron stayed close enough to catch her in case she needed his support. The forest around them seemed normal at first, but as the hours passed, unease slowly began to crawl up Aeron’s spine.

The journey was taking too long.

The previous night, it had taken them no more than a few hours to reach the depths of the forest from camp, and they had moved carefully then, stopping often, avoiding patrol routes, checking marks, hiding their presence. Now they were moving with urgency, pushing themselves despite their injuries, taking what should have been the fastest path back.

And yet they were still not there.

By Aeron’s estimate, they had already travelled at least twice the distance they had crossed the previous night.

It was almost as though the forest had grown in size overnight.

Aeron tried not to voice that thought at first. He did not want to sound paranoid. But after another hour of walking past trees that all looked ancient, silent, and faintly judgmental, he finally couldn’t hold it in anymore

"I know," she said.

He frowned. "You don’t even know what I was going to say."

"The path is far too long than it is supposed to be."

Aeron’s grip tightened around his weapon. "So I’m not imagining it."

"No."

"That’s not comforting."

"It was not meant to be."

She paused near a moss-covered stone and crouched with visible difficulty, studying the ground. Aeron saw the way her hand trembled faintly when she touched the soil, but he said nothing. He knew better than to point it out. She would probably stab him out of spite.

"This place is trembling," Zenovia muttered. "But not this much. Not near the marked outer routes."

"So what does that mean?"

Her expression tightened. "Either we got turned around..."

"Or?"

"Or something is interfering with the forest routes."

Aeron looked around.

They were somewhat familiar with the forest’s unnatural habits, but being aware was not the same as being able to adapt to them.

Perhaps the demons had also lost them in a similar fashion while pursuing them yesterday.

The weight of Darin’s and the others’ deaths was much more noticeable in this situation. If Darin had been alive, he might have known the path better. If the scouts had survived, they might have recognised the terrain sooner. If Aeron had been stronger, faster, smarter...

He stopped the thought before it swallowed him.

"Keep moving," Zenovia said quietly. She seemed to have noticed his pondering expression.

Aeron exhaled slowly. "Yeah."

They continued as the sun rose higher and the mist burned away.

The forest grew warmer, but the shadows beneath the trees remained deep and cold. Every few steps, Aeron thought he heard something behind them. The suggestion of many feet moving far away, but whenever he stopped and listened, there was nothing.

’Am I just too tense?’ He thought quietly as he looked behind them with a frown on his face.

Zenovia’s face grew paler as time passed, though her eyes remained sharp. She leaned on him only twice, and both times she quickly forced herself upright again as if offended by her own weakness. Aeron wanted to tell her to stop being stubborn, but the words never came.

Finally, when the sun had long since risen high into the sky, Zenovia stopped walking. Aeron nearly walked past her before noticing. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"What?"

She did not answer immediately.

Her eyes had fixed on a cluster of twisted roots wrapped around a pale stone half-buried in the ground. Beside it was a tree with a split trunk, one half dead and grey, the other alive and thick with green leaves. A thin stream ran nearby, disappearing beneath a curtain of hanging vines.

Zenovia’s breathing changed.

"I know this place," she said.

Aeron’s eyes widened slightly. "You’re sure?"

"Yes."

"This is part of the outer patrol region. We’re close."

Aeron looked ahead, and sure enough, beyond the trees, he could almost make out a few familiar towers in the distance.

His shoulders loosened.

"Finally," he muttered. "I was starting to think this cursed forest had swallowed the camp whole."

Zenovia took one step forward and froze.

Aeron noticed immediately. "What is it?"

Her head tilted slightly as she listened intently. Less than a second later, her face slowly lost all colour.

A shockwave rolled through the forest floor from far behind them. The leaves trembled, and small birds burst from the canopy in a panic.

A second later, the sounds of chittering and scraping reached their ears, accompanied by the sound of the wet, broken rhythm of many feet moving over roots, stone, and earth. Then came distant roars.

Aeron’s blood ran cold.

"Zenovia?"

She swallowed once, her eyes still fixed on the direction behind them.

"We never got away from them."

Aeron’s expression twisted. "What?"

Her voice dropped, grim and heavy. "They let us think we escaped."

The realisation struck him like a physical blow. The lengthened route, the strange silence, and the unusual lack of pursuit.

His grip tightened around his weapon until his knuckles turned pale.

"The whole time..." he said slowly. "The demons were trailing us."

Zenovia nodded faintly.

"And letting us lead them to the base."

Aeron’s face contorted.

"Damn it!"

He turned and slammed his fist into the nearest tree.

Crack!

Bark split beneath his knuckles, and pain shot up his arm, but he barely felt it.

"I should have thought about this!"

Zenovia said nothing because there was nothing to say.

Movement came from ahead. A group of coalition soldiers on watch emerged between the trees, weapons raised at first, only to lower them slightly when they recognised the two.

"Hero Aeron?"

One of the soldiers stepped closer, his brows furrowing when he saw Zenovia’s bloodied side and Aeron’s battered state.

"What happened? Where are the others?"

Aeron opened his mouth.

But before he could answer, the forest behind them groaned, and the sound of trees snapping followed.

The soldiers turned toward the noise, confusion turning quickly into fear.

The distant chittering grew louder. The ground began to tremble, and then, between the trees, they appeared.

Demons.

Not dozens.

Not hundreds.

It looked like thousands.

They flooded into view like a living black tide, crawling over roots, smashing through brush, climbing over fallen trunks and each other with terrifying urgency. Their eyes burned beneath the canopy, and above the horde, faint crimson flashes marked the presence of greater powers moving behind them.

Aeron felt his breath catch.

The soldiers beside him went still.

Zenovia leaned heavily against him, her face pale but her eyes sharp with the terrible clarity of someone who understood exactly how bad things had become.

The demons had not chased them to kill them. They had used them, and now, they had found the camp.

Aeron tightened his hold on Zenovia and forced himself to stand straight as the first alarm horn screamed from the distant watch line.

Things were about to get ugly.