Finally, the time came.
The group turned toward the gate. There were no long goodbyes or grand gestures. Just the heavy creak of the hinges as the large wooden doors swung open.
One by one, the strike team walked through, Rhuvia at the front, Vessa beside her, Maya giving Lys and Selene one last steady look before she followed behind them on each of their horses. The Fiora hunters and veteran adventurers fell in behind them without a word, too. Each of them had their own horse. Where they all found this many horses overnight looked like an exciting mystery for Lys, enough that he wanted to research it, as he saw all of them pass the gate entrance.
He stood just inside the gate and watched them go. The sound of the horses' hooves on the road faded gradually. Then the gate closed again with a solid, heavy thud that echoed through the quiet morning air.
For a moment, everything felt still. Lys remained on the inside of the closed gate with Selene beside him. Pell and John stood nearby. A few of the Fiora hunters had already returned to their posts along the wall. The treeline of Gaiya Forest rose dark and quiet over the top of the wall in the grey morning light. It looked heavier than usual, like it was holding secrets none of them wanted to face.
Lys let out a slow breath. The responsibility he had just accepted pressed down on him, but so did something else, a quiet determination. This village was his home now. These people were counting on him. Elara, Mira, Sara, Selene, and everyone else inside these walls depended on him to keep them safe.
Selene touched his arm lightly. "You ready for this?"
Lys nodded, his eyes still on the forest. "I have to be. Don't I!"
Pell stepped closer, his voice low but practical. "We should check the rotations first. Then go over the supply counts with Miss Vivian."
John added quietly, "Yeah, I will go check on the people at the shelter."
Lys straightened his shoulders. "Alright, guys. Let's get started. While they do their jobs outside, let's do our part right."
Hearing his orders, everyone scattered toward their assigned work, leaving behind only Lys and Selene.
The pale light on the horizon grew a little stronger as the village slowly began to wake behind them. The strike team was gone, and the long wait had begun.
***
Ten minutes outside the village walls had passed, and the strike team moved in a clean, practiced formation. The morning light had grown stronger, turning the open fields into soft shades of grey and pale gold. Hooves beat steadily against the dirt path. No one needed to be told to stay quiet or keep their eyes sharp. These were experienced people who had traveled much more dangerous roads than this many times before.
Though everyone was silent like they were used to a situation as tense as this, everyone had a face that clearly said the mission they were going on inside the forest was unlike anything they had ever done in their whole lives.
Vessa rode near the front, her horse moving at a steady pace beside Rhuvia's. She adjusted her grip on the reins and glanced back once at the group behind them. Maya rode a few lengths back, her posture straight despite the fresh bandages. Why she refused Priest John's healing was still a mystery to Vessa.
Her gaze turned to the Fiora hunters and veteran adventurers, who followed in tight clusters, weapons ready and eyes scanning the tree line ahead.
"I feel better about leaving the village now than I did last night," Vessa said, her voice low enough that only Rhuvia would hear clearly. "Putting Lys in charge settled something in me. He won't run if things get dangerous. That much I'm sure of."
Rhuvia kept her eyes forward. She didn't answer right away. The wind moved through the tall grass beside the path, carrying the distant scent of pine and damp earth from the forest. When she finally spoke, her tone was careful, not dismissive.
"I'm not saying he's the wrong choice," Rhuvia replied. "I agreed with you on him too. I see the potential in that boy, too. But potential and real capacity aren't always the same thing, Vessa. What's coming out of that dungeon won't care about how much he wants to protect people or how hard he's trying."
She paused, letting her words settle. Behind them, one of the veteran adventurers shifted slightly in her saddle but stayed silent. The whole group of women seemed to lean in just a little, listening to Rhuvia talk without making it obvious.
Rhuvia continued, her voice steady. "If we fail to close that gate before the day is out, the next wave that hits those walls won't grade him on effort. It won't care that he's still learning or that he has a family inside. It will come, and it will break through every defence we left behind, if we're not fast enough to close the dungeon gate today. That's the reality we're carrying with us."
Vessa nodded slowly. She didn't argue. She knew Rhuvia wasn't trying to undermine Lys. The guild master was simply laying out the truth in the way only someone who had seen higher-tier threats could. Still, hearing it spoken so plainly made the morning air feel heavier.
No one spoke, but the weight of her words settled over the riders like another layer of heavy cloak. Maya's jaw tightened visibly. One of the Fiora hunters gripped her spear a little harder. Even the horses seemed to sense the shift, their steps growing more deliberate.
After Rhuvia's indirect warning to them, all of them seemed like they finally were getting their determination to rebuild once again, knowing it might fall short of whatever they were riding into inside the Gaiya forest.