Jack didn't hesitate.
"Form up!"
His shield slammed forward, boots digging into the ground as he planted himself between the movement and the rest of the team.
Joseph vanished to the left, his body lowering as he slipped into the grass, daggers ready.
Anna raised a hand, light gathering faintly around her fingers.
Martha stepped back—
Just half a step.
Enough to put Kael slightly ahead of her.
"Stay sharp," she said quietly.
Then the grass exploded.
Something lunged out—low, fast, wrong.
Kael barely registered the shape before it was already on Jack.
A blur of shifting color and snapping limbs.
Jack's shield caught it with a heavy impact that echoed through the clearing.
"Contact!"
Another shape tore free from the grass.
Then another.
Kael's breath caught.
Three—no, four—
"They're circling!" he snapped.
Joseph cursed somewhere to the left as one of the creatures peeled off toward him.
"Yeah, I noticed!"
One of them broke formation.
Not toward Jack.
Toward—
Kael.
Of course.
It came low, body flickering between visibility and distortion, like it couldn't decide what it wanted to be.
Too fast.
Kael moved on instinct.
Barely.
He twisted to the side as the creature lunged, feeling something sharp tear across his side instead of straight through him.
Pain flared—hot, immediate.
He stumbled, nearly losing his footing.
Too slow.
The creature landed, skidding slightly before turning back toward him.
Up close—
It was worse.
Its body didn't hold a single shape for long. Muscles shifted under semi-translucent skin, colors bleeding into each other in uneven patches as it struggled to maintain its camouflage.
Its head tilted.
Studying him.
Then it lunged again.
Kael raised his blade—
Too late.
The impact knocked him back, his arm jolting as metal met something harder than it should've been.
His grip slipped.
The blade nearly left his hand.
I can't—
A blur crossed his vision.
Joseph.
One of the creatures jerked sideways, a dagger buried deep into its side as Joseph moved through it in a clean, practiced motion.
"Stay alive, yeah?" Joseph said, not even looking at him as he twisted the blade free.
The creature shrieked—high, distorted—before collapsing into the grass.
But there wasn't time to process it.
Another one was already moving.
Jack grunted as one slammed into his shield again, the force pushing him back a step.
"Watch the flanks!" he barked.
"I am watching them!" Joseph shot back, already moving again.
Anna's voice cut through the chaos.
"Hold still!"
Light surged—
Then snapped outward.
One of the creatures convulsed mid-lunge, its body locking up before dropping hard into the grass.
Kael's breathing came fast now.
Too fast.
His side burned.
His grip tightened around his blade.
Focus.
The grass.
The movement.
Not where they were—
Where they were going to be.
The movement wasn't random.
It only looked that way.
Each shift in the grass—
Each feint—
Each pause—
It lined up.
Patterns overlapping.
Converging.
Kael's eyes sharpened.
"There!" he snapped, pointing. "Right side—two—no, one's breaking off—!"
Jack shifted immediately, shield swinging just in time to intercept another lunging shape.
The impact rang out.
Joseph adjusted mid-stride, changing direction without hesitation.
One creature tried to slip past—
Kael stepped into its path.
Not because he wanted to.
Because there wasn't anyone else.
It lunged.
He moved.
Late.
Always late.
The blade in his hand came up—
Not clean.
Not practiced.
Desperate.
It caught the creature across its side—not deep, not lethal—but enough to throw it off balance.
It crashed into him anyway.
The force knocked the air from his lungs as they both hit the ground.
Its weight pressed down on him, shifting, unstable.
Too many limbs.
Too close.
Its head snapped forward—
Kael shoved his arm up, jamming the blade between them.
Its jaws slammed shut inches from his face.
Hot breath.
Rotting.
His arm trembled.
It was stronger.
Of course it was stronger.
Move.
His hand slipped.
The blade shifted—
The creature pushed down harder.
Something in his shoulder screamed.
Move.
His other hand found the ground.
Nothing there.
Stone.
Grass.
Nothing useful—
Wait—
A broken branch.
Sharp enough.
Maybe.
He grabbed it, fingers slipping slightly as he drove it upward—
Not clean.
Not precise.
But enough.
The jagged wood punched into the creature's side.
It shrieked.
Its body spasmed—
That was enough.
Kael twisted, shoving it off just enough to roll free.
He scrambled back, dragging in air that didn't feel like enough.
The creature thrashed once—
Then stilled.
Kael stared at it.
Chest heaving.
Hands shaking.
It stilled.
Just like that.
Kael didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
The weight of it still pressed against his chest—
Even after it stopped.
He'd—
Killed it.
Not clean.
Not controlled.
But not luck, either.
His grip tightened slightly.
He'd seen the opening.
Taken it.
Barely.
But enough.
"Try not to die, yeah?" Joseph's voice cut in again, closer this time.
Kael looked up.
Joseph was watching him now.
Not laughing.
Not mocking.
Assessing.
A beat.
Then—
Joseph smirked.
"Would be inconvenient."
And just like that, he was gone again, slipping back into the fight.
Jack drove forward with a shout, forcing the last of the creatures back.
Anna's magic flared again—
Then silence.
The grass settled.
Slowly.
Unevenly.
Kael stayed where he was for a second longer, breath still uneven.
His side burned.
His arm ached.
Everything felt—
Off.
But he was alive.
For now.
Jack exhaled sharply, lowering his shield.
"…Not completely useless," he muttered.
Martha stepped closer.
Too quickly.
"You okay?" she asked.
Her eyes scanned him—not panicked.
Not relieved.
Checking.
Kael nodded once.
"Yeah."
A pause.
Then—
"Thanks for the call earlier," she added.
Soft.
Almost sincere.
Kael looked at her.
Something in his chest tightened again.
Not pain.
Something else.
"Yeah," he said again.
Behind her—
Jack and Joseph exchanged a glance.
Quick.
Subtle.
But there.
And just for a moment—
Kael had the strange, fleeting sense that something had shifted.
Not in the dungeon.
Not in the fight.
In them.
The grass settled.
But the silence didn't feel the same.
It wasn't empty anymore.
It was… waiting.
Jack rolled his shoulder once, adjusting the grip on his shield as he glanced around the clearing.
"Four," he said. "That's it?"
"Five," Joseph corrected from somewhere to the left, flicking blood from one of his daggers. "You missed one."
Jack clicked his tongue.
"Doesn't change much."
Anna stepped forward, crouching briefly near one of the corpses. Her fingers hovered just above it, not touching.
"Low-tier," she said. "But coordinated."
Her gaze lifted slightly, scanning the surrounding grass.
"They don't usually hunt in groups this early in a floor."
Joseph straightened.
"Meaning?"
Anna stood.
"Meaning something pushed them together."
A beat.
Jack exhaled through his nose.
"Or you're overthinking it."
He turned slightly, already looking deeper into the forest.
"We move."
Kael frowned.
"That was too organized," he said. "They didn't just rush us—they split. One went for me immediately."
Joseph glanced back at him.
"Yeah," he said lightly. "Funny how that works."
Kael didn't miss the tone.
Or the look that came with it.
Something about it—
Didn't sit right.
Martha stepped in before it could linger.
"They probably went for the weakest target," Martha said.
Too quickly.
Too clean.
Like she already had the answer ready.
Her hand brushed lightly against his arm.
"Don't take it personally."
Kael nodded slowly.
"Right."
Weakest.
Of course.
That made sense.
Didn't it?
Jack didn't wait for further discussion.
"Formation," he said, already moving forward.
Joseph slipped ahead again.
Anna followed.
Martha lingered just long enough to fall into step beside Kael.
"Still with me?" she asked.
Kael glanced at her.
"…Yeah."
"Good."
She smiled again.
Small.
Easy.
But it faded quicker this time.
They moved deeper.
The grass thinned gradually, giving way to uneven ground and thick roots that twisted through the earth like something alive beneath the surface.
The trees grew closer together.
The light dimmer.
Kael's focus sharpened again.
Appraisal flickered on instinct.
The world shifted—
Patterns.
Movement.
Nothing immediate.
But—
Something felt off.
Not like before.
Not danger.
Positioning.
He slowed slightly.
Watching.
Joseph was further ahead than before.
Jack wasn't adjusting to keep the formation tight.
Anna had drifted slightly to the right.
And Martha—
Still beside him.
But not quite.
Half a step behind now.
Not close enough to shield.
Not far enough to leave.
Just—
There.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Hey," he said quietly.
Martha looked at him.
"Yeah?"
"…Why are we pushing this deep?"
A small pause.
Barely noticeable.
Then—
"Because the outer area's already cleared," she said. "We need something worth the run."
Her tone didn't change.
But something in it—
Didn't land the same.
Kael glanced ahead.
Jack hadn't turned around once.
Joseph hadn't slowed.
Anna hadn't said anything.
Too smooth.
Too—
Planned.
His grip tightened slightly around his blade.
"…We don't usually go this far on a first pass," he said.
Martha's gaze held his for a moment longer this time.
Then she sighed.
"Kael."
Soft.
Almost disappointed.
"You're overthinking it."
A beat.
Then she stepped slightly ahead of him.
"Come on," she added. "We're burning time."
Kael hesitated.
Just for a second.
His eyes flicked between the others.
The spacing.
The silence.
The way none of them were really talking anymore.
Something in his chest tightened.
Say something.
Stop.
This isn't right—
"Kael."
Martha's voice again.
He looked at her.
She was watching him now.
Not smiling.
Not annoyed.
Just—
Waiting.
"…Yeah," he said.
And stepped forward.
The moment passed.
Just like that.
They moved again.
Further in.
The terrain shifted once more—roots giving way to broken stone, the ground dipping slightly into a shallow, uneven basin surrounded by dense trees and tall grass.
Jack slowed.
Finally.
"Hold."
The word cut clean through the quiet.
Joseph reappeared from the brush.
Anna stopped.
Martha turned slightly.
Kael took one more step forward—
Then stopped.
Something cold slid down his spine.
The space.
Too enclosed.
Too quiet.
Too—
"Kael," Martha said.
He looked at her.
She pointed slightly to the left.
"There," she said. "Can you check that side? Just in case."
Her tone was light again.
Casual.
Routine.
Like she'd asked him to do this a hundred times before.
Which she had.
Kael didn't move.
Not immediately.
His gaze stayed on the grass.
Dense.
Still.
Too still.
His grip tightened.
"…Why me?" he asked.
Martha blinked.
Just once.
Then smiled faintly.
"Because you're the only one who can see what's hiding in there," she said.
A beat.
Then, softer—
"Right?"
Kael held her gaze.
Something in his chest pressed tighter.
That feeling again.
Wrong.
Off.
Say no.
The thought came fast.
Sharp.
Clear.
Say no.
Behind her, Jack shifted his weight.
Impatient.
Joseph didn't look at him this time.
Anna was watching.
Not the grass.
Him.
The silence stretched.
Waiting.
Expecting.
Like the decision had already been made.
Kael's eyes flicked between them.
The spacing.
The distance.
The way no one moved.
No one spoke.
No one interrupted.
Understanding hit—
Not all at once.
But enough.
Not an accident.
Not positioning.
Not chance.
A setup.
His grip tightened around the blade.
"…Yeah," he said.
And stepped forward.