Moss sat hunched on the edge of his cot, head buried in his hands. The tent felt smaller than it should have, air thick with the scent of dust and old canvas. A dull ache pulsed behind his eyes, echoes of the vision still clinging like grit under his skin.
Lyra crouched beside him, pressing a tin cup of water into his hands. "You're sure you're alright? You weren't responding when we tried to wake you."
He nodded weakly, though his pulse still thundered. "I'm fine… I think. I just, saw something."
Dole stood near the tent flap, arms crossed. "You're saying that like it wasn't just a dream."
"It didn't feel like one." Moss lifted his gaze. "There were people, Wardens, maybe. Standing before something enormous. A giant of stone, half buried, rising out of the earth. They weren't afraid. They were praying to it. Worshiping it."
Dole frowned, his expression caught somewhere between concern and disbelief. "You're saying you saw the thing that attacked the convoys? In your sleep?"
"I don't know what it was," Moss admitted. "But I recognized the land around it. The slopes, the ridge lines, it's west of the quarry. I could find it."
Lyra bit her lip, hesitating. "That's Warden territory, Moss. The scouts said no one's come back from there."
"I know," he said quietly. "But if what I saw is real, then that thing, the one they're calling the Titan, it's not just some mindless beast. The Wardens are connected to it somehow."
Dole let out a slow breath, eyes narrowing. "And your grand plan is to walk out there and ask it yourself?"
"I just want to see it," Moss said. "To know if what I saw means something."
Lyra gave him a long, worried look. "Do you hear yourself? You sound like one of those zealots in Rosa's camp."
He smiled faintly. "Maybe. But I can't ignore this. Every time I sleep lately, I feel it, like the ground's humming in my chest."
Silence hung between them, broken only by the creak of canvas in the wind.
Finally, Dole muttered, "You're insane." Then, after a pause, "And I'm coming with you."
Lyra sighed. "Both of you are insane."
"Good thing you're the healer," Dole said. "We'll probably need you."
Despite herself, Lyra smirked. "Fine. But if we die, I'm blaming both of you."
Moss stood, slinging his pack over his shoulder. "Then we'll need Cid too. If we find anything strange in the terrain, he'll make sense of it."
They found him outside his tent, elbow, deep in a half, assembled engine. The man squinted up through a puff of steam and smoke. "Judging by the looks on your faces, you're either about to volunteer for something stupid, or you already did."
"Somewhere between both," Dole said. "We're heading west. Moss thinks he knows where that thing came from."
Cid's brow furrowed. "West? That's rough country. The ground's unstable, half of it's caves and shale. You're sure about this?"
Moss nodded. "I need to see it."
Cid sighed, wiping his hands on a rag. "You're determined. Alright then. But if the mountain wakes up again, I'm turning back. I'm too old to be outrunning gods."
They'd just finished packing their supplies when a sharp, commanding voice cut across the yard.
"Going somewhere?"
Kain strode toward them, his long shadow cutting through the morning light. His armor gleamed even under the grime of travel, and his spear rested casually against his shoulder.
Dole stiffened, half, turning. "Routine scouting assignment," he said smoothly. "Checking the western ridge for safe routes. Figured it's better we do it before sending any civvies that way."
Kain's gaze lingered on Moss. "Scouting, hm? You four?" His tone made it sound like a challenge.
Moss met his eyes. "We can handle it."
For a moment, silence stretched. Then Kain smirked and spun his spear in one effortless motion before resting it back on his shoulder. "Good. Then I'll come with you. If there's danger out there, I'll see it firsthand."
Dole's lips tightened. "Didn't take you for the volunteering type."
Kain's expression didn't change. "I don't delegate when I can act. A dragoon doesn't hide behind walls."
Moss didn't argue. The truth was, Kain's skill could make the difference between life and death if the thing from his dream was real.
"Fine," Moss said at last. "We leave within the hour."
Kain nodded once and turned away, his spear glinting as he walked toward the stables.
Lyra exhaled. "Well. That just made this twice as dangerous."
"Or twice as survivable," Cid muttered. "Depending on how you look at it."
As they made their final preparations, the wind rolled through camp, carrying the faint scent of iron and stone. Somewhere far to the west, the ground seemed to sigh, a deep, hollow sound like the breath of something vast beneath the earth.