Every knight in the formation locked in place mid-step.
The forest seemed to stop breathing with them. Rain pattered against armor and leaves—each drop suddenly deafening.
Thane's gauntlet tightened around his blade.
Metal groaned under the pressure.
Slowly, his helmet turned—scanning the canopy.
Lyriana didn't move.
Her heartbeat stayed steady.
Her hands remained firm.
Her aura stayed suppressed to a thin, barely-there whisper.
Only her eyes shifted—down—
to the tiny bundle against her chest.
Elenya blinked up at her, red eyes bright as garnets, cheeks flushed from being pressed far too firmly against Lyriana's melons for far too long. Her little mouth opened again—
A soft sound.
Not a cry this time.
A complaining chirp.
A sound that very clearly meant:
"You were crushing me the whole time."
Lyriana exhaled quietly through her nose.
> "…I may have overdone that. Sorry, Elenya."
She lifted the baby an inch away from her body, adjusting Elenya's tiny head and letting her breathe properly. Elenya hiccupped once, glaring up at her with watery red eyes.
Lyriana whispered—almost offended that the universe chose this exact moment:
> "…didn't do it on purpose. But now it's okay."
Her voice was a ghost against the rain.
Elenya didn't look offended.
She simply stretched her tiny hands toward Lyriana's chin, fingers curling, reaching—
as if she were trying to grab her face.
Lucifer slept on, blissfully unaware, his little cheek squished peacefully into Lyriana's ribs.
Another soft, questioning babble.
Lyriana felt her shoulders sag an imperceptible inch.
> "Not now, Elenya…"
But below—
Thane had already turned.
His head snapped upward like a predator catching a heartbeat.
Mana surged through his armor in a sharp, metallic thrum that vibrated the branch beneath Lyriana's boots.
The knights reacted instantly.
Shields rose.
Swords pointed.
Formation tightened.
Then Thane's voice—
low, grim, resonant as rolling iron:
> "Above us."
The forest didn't merely shift.
It ignited.
Holy mana burst from Thane's body in a violent ripple, a shockwave that dislodged leaves and blasted rain outward in a shimmering halo. His boots carved deep impressions into the earth as he launched himself forward—straight toward Lyriana's tree.
Lyriana's eyes narrowed.
No fear.
Only calculation.
She drew the children close with practiced grace—one arm securing Lucifer, the other guiding Elenya back against her chest with a gentleness that contrasted starkly with the violence about to erupt.
> "Hold on."
Her voice was steady.
Calm.
Below, Thane's sword swung upward, humming with concentrated holy power—
a beam of blue-white light gathering along its edge.
The first knight shouted, "THERE—UP IN—"
But he never finished.
Because Thane didn't wait for confirmation.
He had already seen enough.
He drove his massive shield into the base of the tree with a bellowing war-cry.
Mana detonated outward in a shockwave that split the trunk like a thunderclap, uprooting the entire tree.
The canopy jolted violently.
Elenya let out another startled chirp.
Lyriana shifted her stance, feet gripping the branch, knees bending to absorb the tremor—
every movement balanced, precise, effortless.
Another crack tore through the wood.
Knights raised shields.
Thane stepped back, sword blazing.
Lyriana's eyes sharpened like twin blades.
> "…And here I was hoping for quiet."
Bark split with a choking screech.
The entire trunk shuddered beneath Lyriana's boots, the shockwave rippling through branch and leaf like a heartbeat made of thunder.
Elenya flinched—a tiny squeak, hands squeezing Lyriana's collar.
Lucifer didn't wake.
He merely burrowed deeper into her arm, small mouth pressing against her chest in sleepy protest.
Lyriana exhaled once, steady as falling rain.
Then the tree dropped.
Not fell—
collapsed.
Thane's mana tore its foundation apart a second time, splintering its core. The base crumpled inward with a sound like breaking bones. Roots snapped. Earth exploded upward in wet clumps.
Knights dove aside, shields raised to block falling debris.
Thane didn't move.
He just watched—head tilted up, visor reflecting the falling trunk as if its destruction were a foregone conclusion.
He expected her to fall with it.
He expected gravity to do his work.
Lyriana let the branch give way beneath her—
but she didn't fall.
Her foot landed on a breaking limb.
It snapped.
Momentum hurled her sideways.
She spun with it, one arm curling protectively around Lucifer, the other steadying Elenya's swaddled form.
Her aura flickered—
a dull, muted pulse—
silent, controlled, almost nonexistent.
Rain streaked past her ears in silver lines.
And then—
she vanished.
Not teleportation.
Not magic.
Just perfect movement.
She slid through the collapsing foliage like red smoke, catching a higher branch with a single hand and swinging upward—climbing into the falling canopy instead of away from it.
The tree crashed downward beneath her—
but Lyriana rode its death like a wave.
Her boots touched a still-living branch on the next tree over.
She didn't pause.
She pivoted.
Crouched low.
Pressed the children to her chest.
Her breath remained a whisper.
Below, Thane's sword finished its arc just as the trunk slammed into the ground, sending a geyser of dirt and splinters roaring outward.
Knights staggered.
Some raised barriers.
Others dove behind shields.
Thane didn't look at the debris.
He lifted his head.
Right to where she perched in the canopy above.
His voice cut through the forest like a blade through silk:
> "Found you."
Lyriana's jaw tightened.
Elenya, offended by the sudden acrobatics, puffed her cheeks and made a sound between a hiccup and an indignant coo.
Lyriana glanced down at her.
"…I said hold on, not complain," she whispered.
Elenya responded by grabbing a strand of her hair.
Lyriana's eye twitched.
"Okay. Yes. I deserved that."
A soft breath left her lips—
half annoyance, half affection.
> "Can't fight them. It's too dangerous…
the only safe option right now—"
Then—
Thane moved.
He didn't leap.
He didn't sprint.
He surged.
A single step cracked the earth, propelling his massive form upward in a blur of holy light. His shield angled. His sword ignited. He shot toward her like a battering ram fired from a ballista.
Lyriana's pupils contracted.
No time for stealth now.
No time for quiet escape.
Her grip tightened around the children.
Her feet pressed into the branch.
Her voice dropped to a murmur meant only for the tiny ears pressed against her body—
> "We're running now."
And—
she jumped.