Lyra forced them to leave at dawn.
No official announcement. No drawn weapons. Just quiet footsteps and a direction that felt right.
Until it wasn't.
Lyra stopped first. A few steps ahead of the others, her boot struck something that wasn't there. Not air. Not stone. Just… a seeming wall.
She blinked, stepped back, then forward again. Same thing. Her palm met resistance, smooth, cold, and completely invisible.
Thalin caught up and raised a brow. "That's new."
Kaal reached out too. His fingers brushed the air and halted mid-step.
"Is this the boundary?" he asked.
"Must be," Thalin said, already taking notes.
"But it's not supposed to affect us."
Lyra clenched her jaw. "So we're trapped."
Kaal glanced at her. "No....Maybe there's another path."
She threw a stone. It hit the air and dropped straight down. "Sure. Let's try walking in a circle and see how that ends."
They did for the first few hours, until the sun shone so hard on them.
"I think we should go back."Thalin said as he plopped on the ground.
"To do what?" Lyra quipped. She was starting to get really pissed.
Behind them, quiet footsteps approached.
The Chief.
Flanked by two masked figures, he stopped a few paces from the barrier.
"It recognized you," he said. "And let you in. That was… unexpected."
Lyra turned. "And now?"
"Now it has closed again."
Kaal stepped forward. "Are we prisoners?"
"No," the Chief replied calmly. "But you cannot leave. Not as things are."
Lyra folded her arms. "That sounds like a prisoner to me."
The Chief didn't flinch. "There is a way. Nyri informed me of your conversation with the ancestor . We require your help."
"Of course you do," Lyra muttered "And I suppose we don't get a choice now that we're trapped too."
"If the ritual is completed, if one of ours crosses the threshold, it may open wide enough for you to pass through."
"And if we say no?" Kaal asked.
"Then you stay," the Chief said simply. "Until the boundary sees fit to change its mind. If it ever does."
Lyra exhaled sharply. "So this is a hostage situation with extra steps."
The Chief turned to go. "Think on it. We are not your enemies."
Thalin watched him disappear into the trees, then looked at Lyra. "We need a plan."
"No," she said. "We need a way out."
Later, in the village's inner circle, Nyri found her sitting alone near a quiet stream.
"You're not used to standing still," she said.
Lyra didn't look up. "I'm not used to being boxed in by trees and cryptic forest politics."
Nyri hesitated, then sat beside her, close but not too close.
"I could take you to the boundary. A different spot. Show you how the forest holds us in."
Lyra gave her a sideways glance. "What, and hope the visual aids sway me?"
"No," Nyri said. "Just... so you see it. For yourself. Where we've been stuck. What we've lived with."
Lyra didn't answer right away.
Finally, she stood. "Fine. Lead the way. But I'm not promising sympathy."
"I wasn't expecting any."
They walked in silence.
Which, for once, didn't feel like avoidance.
Just the start of something they didn't know how to name.