They walked in silence.
The kind that didn't just hold back words, but watched them.
The path the warriors took twisted through trees that shouldn't have been able to grow that close. Under branches that bowed without touching. Over stones that shifted slightly the moment you stepped off cente
Lyra kept a hand near her blade anyway. Not because she planned to use it, she wasn't that stupid, but because it gave her fingers something to do. Something familiar.
Kaal walked beside her, steadier now but quiet. Still pale.
And Thalin?
He looked like he was enjoying himself.
Taking in every detail. Memorizing. His fingers twitched like they wanted to take notes.
Lyra didn't like it. She didn't like anything about this place.
They passed a set of stone arches, half-buried in moss and soft earth. Faint etchings still clung to the surface, spirals, always spirals. The symbols here didn't hum like the ones near the ward, but they whispered in a way Lyra couldn't quite hear.
Kaal slowed once.
Just once.
Lyra glanced at him. "What is it?"
He shook his head. "Nothing."
Liar.
The path widened into something like a courtyard, flat stone ringed by tall, carved pillars, each one etched with runes and wrapped in bark-thin threads of silver wire. The structures that rose around them weren't buildings, not exactly, more like hollowed trees and shaped stone blended into one.
It was a sanctum.
And everyone was watching them.
Figures in layers of cloth and bark stood in the higher alcoves, watching through carved masks. Others passed between the pillars, silent and swift, never breaking their pace to stare, but staring anyway.
Lyra counted exits from the clearing. But she knew it would probably lead no where or into a trap.
But she still counted.
Then counted again.
Their escorts stopped at the center.
The red-cloaked woman from before stepped forward. Her mask was off now, tucked under one arm. Her face was sharp. Not cruel.
She looked at them the way someone looks at a riddle they didn't ask to solve.
"You crossed our boundary," she said to no one in particular.
"We didn't mean to," Kaal offered quietly.
The woman tilted her head. "Intent doesn't change the fact."
Lyra crossed her arms. "You going to throw us back out?"
"Should we?"
"I'm not sure you could."
That got a reaction, just the barest twitch of a smile at the woman's mouth. "You're bold."
"I'm tired," Lyra said. "It looks the same."
She didn't smile back.
Instead, the woman turned to Thalin. "You. Scholar?"
"I prefer researcher," Thalin said.
She ignored that. "You may ask questions. Later."
Then she looked at Kaal.
And for a moment, just a breath, something in her expression faltered.
Something that seemed like...
Then it was gone.
"You three will rest," she said.
"We're not prisoners?" Kaal asked.
She glanced at Lyra. "Would we have to bind you to hold you here?"
Lyra smirked. "Probably not. But it'd be fun to watch you try."
The woman didn't take the bait.
She turned away and gestured toward a smaller passage flanked by two masked guards. "You'll stay there. Until the Chief decides."
Lyra's smirk faded. "Chief?"
But the woman was already walking.
The masked figures gestured silently.
Always silent.
They were led to a round room carved directly into the rock, simple, but not crude. Warmth drifted through the stone from somewhere unseen. A single silver thread ran along the wall like a boundary line, uninterrupted.
The masked guards left them.
Thalin sat on the ground immediately and began sketching a symbol from memory.
Kaal sat on a stone bench, rubbing his temples.
Lyra didn't sit.
She stood near the exit, arms crossed, one boot tapping against the floor.
After a long silence, Kaal asked, "You think we're safe here?"
Lyra shrugged. "Safe adjacent."
"You didn't fight them."
"Didn't see the point."
"You usually see points in everything."
She didn't respond.
Because she didn't know the answer.
They weren't safe.
Not really.
But they weren't in danger either.
And somewhere beyond these stone walls, Lyra could feel it...