Celize approached Kevin quietly. "Let's go," she murmured. "Que'Tol is still far… we shouldn't stay here."
Kevin cast one more look around the cavern. It was still, almost too still—the kind of quiet that made even breathing feel loud.
"It's already dark," Kevin said. He rubbed the back of his neck. "We could stay here and rest. It's safe enough near the entrance."
Celize's eyes flicked toward the unexplored darkness. Shadows pooled like a yawning mouth, stretching into the unknown.
"No," she whispered, her voice tight. "We didn't explore everything. There might be more down there." She swallowed. "More… or worse."
Kevin didn't press her.
"Alright," he said simply. "We move."
They walked for nearly another hour before finding it—a massive tree towering above the rest, its trunk thick enough that twenty men linked arm-to-arm still wouldn't be able to wrap around it. Lightning or age had hollowed the base into a cavern-like scoop, large enough for the two of them to fit comfortably.
"Looks good," Kevin said.
They ducked inside. The air was dry, bark-scented, safer than open forest and far less suffocating than the real cave.
Kevin stepped out again, gathering fallen branches and logs, stacking them neatly near the hollow's mouth.
He summoned Sallie just to make a fire.
Take that Crappy System. Now I can make a fire at ease, he thought.
After making fire Sallie went back into shadow.
Kevin then settled onto an exposed root, stretching his legs as he pulled skewered meat from his storage ring.
The fire's warmth felt almost sacred after the cold cave.
Celize joined him wordlessly, sitting across from the fire with her knees close together, her sword resting against her leg. She stared at it with a troubled expression, fingers brushing the hilt as if trying to will something into existence.
"You've never wielded a sword before, right?" Kevin said gently, turning a skewer over the fire. "Why carry it now?"
She hesitated. "Because… I want to be useful."
Kevin raised a brow. "You can be useful without swinging metal around."
Celize looked down, her voice quiet.
"All my life, I was trained to be a lady. Nothing else. I studied etiquette, history, commerce… but nothing practical. Nothing to defend myself." She let out a trembling breath. "And now everything's changed. The lady I was before is gone. She died with them, with Captain Brandon, with Sallie, with the caravan."
Her grip tightened on the hilt.
"So I thought… maybe if I carried a sword, I could at least try."
Kevin poked the fire, lowering the flame a bit.
"Celize… knowing things is already a kind of power. That mite queen? If you hadn't warned me about the acid, I might not be here grilling meat right now."
Her head lifted slightly. "…Really?"
"Yes," Kevin said without hesitation. "Knowledge is everything out here. Trust me. I only need you."
Her cheeks flushed at that, but she quickly turned her face away.
"The meat looks done," she said in a small voice.
Kevin checked. "Yeah, it is."
He handed her two skewers. Celize accepted them with a soft "thank you" before nibbling gently on the edge. She didn't speak much after, but her face remained pink—a small victory Kevin accepted with smug satisfaction.
He bit into his own skewer, stealing glances at her.
Just take your time, Kevin, he thought. A little nudge now and then… she'll fall for you eventually.
After their meal, Celize waved the ring on her finger and retrieved a neatly folded blanket from it. She placed it in a corner of the tree hollow and arranged it delicately.
Kevin noticed the ring in her finger and tapped the root beside him.
"That ring… I thought it was from your fiancé?"
Celize paused, then glanced at her empty hand.
"I threw that one away. This one is the storage ring my father gave to me before the trip to Que'tol," she said softly.
"When did you throw it?" Kevin asked.
She didn't answer. Instead, she slipped onto her blanket and turned her back toward him.
"Goodnight, Kevin."
He stared for a moment, puzzled. But he didn't push. He pulled a blanket from his own storage ring, settled on the opposite side of the hollow, and murmured, "Goodnight."
A long moment passed before Celize rolled slightly, eyes barely open. She glanced at Kevin—already asleep, chest rising steadily with each breath.
Her expression softened, lips curving into a faint, wistful smile.
"…Idiot," she whispered.
"I threw it away when I decided… to be with you."
She pulled her blanket closer and finally drifted off.
Morning arrived with a beam of sunlight slipping through the cracked bark, landing straight across Kevin's face. He grunted, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.
"Celize. Wake up."
She stirred, stretching with a small groan before brushing her hair aside. She tidied her blanket and stored it away neatly into her ring.
They set out again, moving westward. The forest slowly thinned until the trees gave way to farmlands—rolling green fields, patches of tilled soil, and a handful of scattered cottages.
"Looks like a village," Celize said, straightening.
But something felt off.
The fields were empty.
Not a single farmer.
No smoke rising from chimneys.
No children running or playing.
Just… silence.
Kevin clicked his tongue. "People should be out working this early."
"Yes…" Celize murmured, brows knitting. "Something's wrong."
They approached the nearest house slowly. The wooden gate creaked with the slightest push, swinging inward with an uneasy groan. Celize raised her hand to knock—
Kevin grabbed her wrist.
"Wait."
He stepped forward, pushing the door open with the tip of his dagger.
The interior was empty. Plates are still on the table. A pot half-filled with water.
A chill ran down Celize's spine.
Kevin exchanged a look with her, then nodded toward the next house.
They checked another. And another. Each one the same—abandoned abruptly, as though everyone simply vanished in the middle of their day.
Celize's voice trembled a little.
"This isn't natural."
Kevin exhaled through his nose, tightening his grip on his dagger.
"No," he agreed. "It isn't."
They stepped into the open again, scanning the silent village.
Sallie materialized at Kevin's side without a word, eyes blank and waiting. Black Rabbit's ears twitched from within Kevin's shadow.
The morning felt colder now, heavier.
Something had happened here.
Something recent.
Something wrong.
Celize swallowed. "What… what do we do?"
Kevin looked down the empty main path of the village, then back at her.
"We find out what took them," he said. "Or who."