For the rest of the evening, I did not say a word while others celebrated finding new people. By now, the caravan had grown to almost sixty wagons. It looked less like a band of traveling merchants or mercenaries and more like a small military unit preparing for war.

Scar told us we had to make preparations, but what truly troubled me was seeing Hera again. She was leaving in the same direction as us. And I was certain the leader had noticed her as well. There was no way he did not recognize the heroine, the blessed sun of the Holy Empire. Yet I did not see her usual lackeys anywhere. That part unsettled me on a personal level.

What happened to them? Did they fall out?

At first, I had thought it would be as easy as slicing butter with a hot knife to track her movements based on my memory. I knew her every step. Every major decision. Every crucial moment in the story. But now, everything felt different. My arrival and involvement had thickened the flow of events, twisting the lines and changing the path she was supposed to walk.

I should have been more careful. I should never have crossed paths with her so early. I was stupid. But…

But life never gives second chances to fix what has already shifted. Now it was time to take the future into my own hands, steady myself, and prepare to face what was coming. I would mend this path in my own way.

The night itself felt strangely silent. Everyone had arrived with hot blood and loud bravado, but even the most reckless understood that fighting Holy Knights, even with numbers on our side, bordered on suicide. The coin still tempted them forward, of course. Greed always drowned out fear when gold glittered brightly enough.

For me, it was different. It was not greed that pushed me. No. I let out a quiet sigh and glanced at the horses behind our wagon, struggling to pull the weight, bound to their path simply because it was their fate to serve whoever held the reins. It is the power that pulls my strings, I told myself.

I needed the Qillin bones if I wanted to survive what waited in the Shadowlands. If I wanted to complete the quest and finally free myself from Lyssandra's shadow one day. If I wanted to stand before her in our next meeting and not tremble like prey before a predator. I had to grow powerful. I had to become stronger than anyone else in this world.

There is no other path for me now.

It took us a week of travel to reach the border. I swear I could smell death itself seeping out of these lands, a cold breath drifting across the dirt. Strangely enough, it calmed me, almost as if this place recognized me and welcomed me back. I leaned out of the wagon to take in the view.

The mountains had dried into brittle husks, stripped of anything that once resembled life. The entire region felt like a silent forest of trapped souls. Wherever I looked, the trees were as dark as midnight, and even the green leaves seemed to carry the deepest possible shade, like they had been drained of hope.

People around us shivered when the aura pressed against their skin, whispers of unease spreading through the caravan, but not me. I watched their reactions quietly, wondering if they would see me differently for standing so calmly in the presence of something that terrified them. Would suspicion grow, or would they simply assume I was stronger than I looked?

Another couple of days later, we finally stopped for good. This was the place where the forest felt at its thickest. The silence pressed against the ears until it felt almost loud, a heavy stillness where not even a bird dared to call. The wind refused to move, as if the entire forest held its breath. The sun could not penetrate the embrace of the enormous leaves overhead, leaving everything dark and cold.

"Listen up, everybody!" Scar's voice echoed through the woods, firm and commanding. "Today, we have gathered here for a purpose, a glorious purpose, to take care of the traitors. The scum who once dared to call themselves Holy Knights. They do not deserve that title."

His tone carried the weight of absolute authority, the voice of a man who made others believe his word was law. If I did not know any better, I might have believed him too.

"Today, we shall be the liberators. Their souls have been corrupted, their eyes turned black. The Holy Empire does not allow its treasures to be stolen." He swept his gaze across the crowd, studying each of us with quiet intensity. "Who will rise with me to intercept them? Who will stand by my side and fight for what is right?"

"We will!" the crowd roared, their voices rolling through the trees. Scar's smile widened, pleased by the response.

"Good. Very good. And remember this. The empire will not forget you. A hefty coin awaits those who survive. For those who do not, we will ensure that your families receive your share. There is no need to worry. Today, we rise, and today, we win!"

The cheers swelled again, almost drowning out the tension clinging to the air.

"Take your positions and prepare for the ambush," Scar continued, his voice dropping into something colder. "They will be passing through shortly. When they do…" His eyes sharpened into two thin knives. "We will slay the scum and take back what belongs to its rightful owner."

He is not talking about the empire. He means his master. The thought settled in my mind like a stone dropped into still water. His tongue had to be his sharpest weapon. With a voice like that, he could twist truth into whatever shape he needed.

If I were truly on his side, he would aim to capture Elira and me next. Those eyes of his lingered on my body far too many times…

I kept my expression calm, but inside, I was already preparing my next move.

The moment Scar finished speaking, people moved with a tense determination. Boots scraped against the soil as everyone scattered into their designated points. Shields were lifted, blades drawn, and spells prepared in hushed silence. The forest swallowed the noise quickly, leaving behind only the faint rustle of bodies settling into position.

Northern Wolf positioned himself at the front line with his four closest men, gripping his weapon as if he were ready to tear the forest in half. Elira rested her hand against a thick root, letting the earth breathe beneath her fingers. I chose a shadowed vantage point between two gnarled trees, high enough to see most of the formation yet hidden enough to act when the time came.

Scar walked among us, inspecting the placements with a slow, satisfied nod. He looked like a man expecting victory to fall neatly into his hands.

The air tightened around us as everyone finished settling. For a moment, even I felt it. The anticipation. The nerves. The impatience. The illusion that we were the hunters waiting to strike.

Minutes passed, then hours, yet the silence only grew heavier. Nothing had happened. Elira kept her hand pressed lightly to the ground, secretly feeling the earth around us, but she had yet to react.

Scar raised his hand, signaling everyone to stay alert. His fingers twitched once, a subtle sign of unease he tried to hide.

The forest felt wrong. Unnaturally still. Even the faint breaths of the wind had vanished, as if the trees feared to disturb whatever crept between them.

Something is off.

My senses stretched into the dark ahead, grasping at anything that might warn us of movement. But nothing came. No footsteps. No snapping branches. No aura bleeding through the woods.

Only silence.

A long, suffocating silence that pressed on the lungs like a vice.

The spellcasters shifted uncomfortably. Shieldbearers tightened their grips. A distant whisper of unease slipped through the formation.

I scanned the treeline again, breathing steadily. My fingers curled slightly, letting a faint chill gather in my palm. If something happened, I would have to react before the others even understood what was going on.

A leaf dropped beside me. Just one. Then another. But they did not fall naturally. They drifted downward as if pushed by something passing through the branches.

I tilted my head, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness overhead. Shapes shifted between the leaves, faint silhouettes barely visible, slipping through the canopy like shadows wrapped in armor.

My heart tightened. Recognition settled over me slowly, cold as frost sliding across bone. They were not late. They were already here, and they had brought company, a chilling kind…

A sudden crack echoed through the forest. One of our recruits dropped from their perch in the tree above, body limp, throat slit so cleanly it barely bled before he hit the ground.

Gasps erupted through the woods. Weapons shot upward, shields rattled, and fear spread through the ranks like wildfire.

Scar spun around sharply, the color draining from his face. This was not the ambush he had planned. This was something entirely different.

The Holy Knights were here. And we were the prey.

The forest that had seemed silent moments ago now felt alive, shifting with unseen movement. Eyes watched us from between the branches. Quiet, deliberate footsteps circled the clearing. Breathless whispers brushed against the bark, close enough to feel on the skin.

We were completely surrounded…

So this is how it begins.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.