Night fell too quickly.
It wasn't like the other nights in the forest—with cicadas, creaking branches, and the soft rustle of leaves.It was a thick night, heavy, as if the air itself were being pressed down on them.
They lit a fire.
But the flame felt too small.Too weak.As if the light itself hesitated to fight against the darkness around them.
Ren sat close to the fire, arms around his knees.
He wasn't trembling.
But he wasn't calm either.
His breathing was uneven—not from physical pain, but from something he didn't know how to name.
Lyra sat beside him, close enough that their shoulders almost touched.
"Are you feeling it again?" she asked quietly.
Ren took his time answering.
Finally:
"Not like before."He stared at his hands."But the silence… has weight."
Lyra frowned.
"Silence?"
Ren nodded.
"When she doesn't call, I feel it."A pause."When she calls… I feel it even more."
Lyra breathed slowly.
"So no matter what happens… it's bad."
Noticing her expression, Ren added quickly:
"It's not bad because it hurts."He touched his chest."It's bad because it feels familiar."
Lyra placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Ren… nothing about her is familiar.""It is."His eyes closed for a moment."Familiar like emptiness.""But you're not empty. You never were."
Ren wanted to believe her.
But the broken echo pulsed faintly inside his chest.
And the silence around them answered.
Borin had been sharpening his axe, but suddenly stopped.
He looked toward the forest.
"Did you hear that?"
Draven, trying to sleep, immediately opened his eyes.
"WHAT? WHAT? WHAT DID I MISS?"
Lyra stood up slowly.
"I didn't hear anything."
Borin stroked his beard.
"Exactly."
Ren raised his head.
Borin continued:
"No insects. No wind."He pointed with his axe."That's not normal."
Draven lifted a shaking hand.
"I vote we leave. Right now. Preferably running."
Nobody laughed.
Not even Ren.
He closed his eyes for a moment, listening.
The silence was heavy.
Thick.
Like it had mass.
And the broken echo inside him… adjusted.
Ren frowned.
Lyra caught it immediately.
"Ren…?"
He opened his eyes.
"She's not calling me right now."
Draven exhaled in relief.
"Thank ALL the gods! That means things are getting better and—"
Ren cut him off.
"She's… watching."
Draven choked on his breath.
Borin stiffened.
"What?"
Ren turned slowly, as if tracking something he couldn't fully perceive.
"She's not calling. Not pulling."He tapped his chest."Just… observing."
Lyra's body went cold.
"Here? Right now?"
Ren nodded.
"Not here."He pointed into the forest."There."
Draven dropped flat on the ground.
"I GIVE UP. TAKE ME HOME."
Borin growled, lifting his axe:
"If that shadow shows up, I cut her in half."
Ren looked at him with unsettling calm.
"She doesn't have a half."
Silence.
Lyra sat beside Ren again.
She pulled his hand into hers.
"Ren… stay with me.""I am.""Then look into my eyes."
Ren did.
And in the firelight, Lyra saw the faint crack in his aura—thin, almost invisible, but definitely there.
She leaned in.
"Are you losing some part of yourself?"
Ren inhaled deeply.
"No."A long, heavy pause."I'm… gaining something."
Lyra bit her bottom lip.
"Something bad?"
Ren hesitated.
Then answered:
"Something that wants to decide that for me."
Borin slammed his axe into the dirt.
"I HATE this damned Broken Path."
Draven lifted his hand again.
"I hate it too. Officially. A lot.""Draven," Borin grumbled, "I'm angry, not asking for a vote."
Ren sighed.
"I don't want any of you to be afraid of me."
Lyra tightened her grip on his hand.
"I'm not afraid of you."She gently touched his chin."I'm afraid of what they're trying to do to you."
Ren gave a sad smile.
"So am I."
The fire crackled.
A spark rose.
And in the darkness of the forest, something answered.
Not with sound.Not with movement.Not with light.
But with a feeling.
Like someone sitting in the shadows, leaning an elbow against a trunk, resting their face on their hand…
…and watching.
Ren looked toward the darkness.
And the silence seemed to breathe.
Lyra touched his arm.
"Ren…""She's sitting," he murmured."Where?""In the dark."He tightened his grip on the staff."Waiting."
Lyra swallowed hard.
"Waiting for what?"
Ren turned to her.
And answered:
"The next step."