Night swallowed the last of the forest as they burst through the tree line.
Branches snapped behind them.
Wind tore past Draven's ears as he moved—mana wrapped tightly around his body, every step light, controlled, dangerous.
The trees thinned.
And then—
The border came into view.
Stone walls rose from the earth like a scar carved across the land. Beyond them, the remnants of battle stretched wide—churned soil, broken siege towers, shattered weapons, blackened craters where spells had collided. The March Stars had passed through here.
But the border still stood.
Torches burned along the wall.
Silhouettes of armored soldiers patrolled above.
Aldric shot upward into the night sky, mana flaring faintly around him as he hovered.
He scanned once.
Twice.
Then clicked his tongue.
"Soldiers all along the wall," he muttered. "Multiple patrol rotations. No gaps. No blind corners."
They didn't slow.
Draven didn't even look up.
They kept moving.
Aldric's lips curved slowly.
"Well," he said lightly as he descended, "guess we don't have time to sneak in quietly."
On the wall above—
A soldier paused mid-step.
"…What was that?"
His eyes narrowed toward the darkness below.
He leaned slightly over the stone edge.
A shape.
Movement—
Before he could speak—
A presence appeared in front of him.
Aldric.
Close.
Too close.
A hand clamped over the soldier's mouth.
The man's eyes widened in pure terror.
A grin met him in the dark.
"Shh."
CRACK.
Bone collapsed inward.
The skull caved in with a sickening crunch as blood sprayed across the stone.
The warning never came.
The maid appeared behind the second guard tower like a crimson phantom. Blood twisted through the air—thin, precise threads—before snapping inward.
Two soldiers stiffened.
Their throats collapsed without a sound.
Lyriana landed lightly atop the battlements, her mana flaring silver for the briefest second. A thin blade of condensed force sliced across three necks in a single motion.
Clean.
Efficient.
Draven rose from below.
Mana cloaked him—thin but tightly bound to his skin.
He stepped once against the vertical wall.
The stone cracked under the pressure.
He vanished—
And reappeared above.
Landing gently.
No wasted motion.
His boots touched the battlement without sound.
Below them, alarms began to blare.
Too late.
Archers turned.
Spears lifted.
Draven didn't slow.
He walked forward.
Each step deliberate.
The mana around his body sharpened his senses—the heartbeat of soldiers, the shifting of armor, the tension of bowstrings being drawn.
A spear lunged toward him.
He sidestepped mid-thrust.
His leg twisted—
Snapped.
The soldier's body followed the unnatural motion before being hurled off the wall.
Screams echoed below.
The cat on his head crouched low, claws gripping his hair as wind rushed past.
Elenya laughed softly at the motion.
Lucifer simply watched.
Aldric reappeared beside Draven, wiping blood from his jawline.
"Well," he said lightly, glancing down at the chaos spreading along the wall, "so much for quiet."
More soldiers poured from the stairwell tower.
Draven's eyes narrowed.
The mana within him folded once more.
Pain surged.
He did not flinch.
"Move forward," he said calmly.
The maid stepped ahead first.
Blood mist began to rise from fallen corpses like red vapor answering her call.
Lyriana followed, clearing the path with ruthless precision.
Draven walked through the center.
Unhurried.
Every soldier who reached him was crushed, thrown, or broken with minimal motion.
He wasn't using magic.
Only reinforcement.
Only raw enhancement.
But it was enough.
Within minutes—
The section of wall they occupied fell silent.
Bodies lay scattered.
Torches flickered over red-stained stone.
Beyond the wall—
The open land of the neighboring kingdom stretched into darkness.
Draven stepped to the edge and looked out.
No hesitation.
He jumped.
Landing on the other side.
The others followed.
Behind them, alarm bells finally rang across the border fortress.
But by the time reinforcements flooded the battlements—
They were already gone.
Moving like shadows across foreign land.
---
The plains beyond the border were vast and dim beneath the dying light of dusk.
Wind rolled through tall grass in slow, endless waves.
Draven did not slow.
The moment his boots touched foreign soil, he pushed forward—mana tightening around his body like a second skin. The pain remained. Constant. Gnawing. But stable.
Behind them—
The bells from the border fortress rang violently now.
Flares shot into the sky.
Too late.
Aldric descended from above, landing beside him mid-stride.
"They'll send riders," he said casually. "Maybe aerial patrols too. We weren't exactly subtle."
Draven didn't respond.
Elenya tugged at his hair again, trying to reach the cat perched on his head.
Lucifer watched the open land in silence.
The cat's eyes glowed faintly in the dark.
The maid and Lyriana landed smoothly behind them.
"The nearest human settlement is thirty miles east," the maid said calmly. "A trade town. Lightly fortified."
Draven's gaze remained forward.
"Are there masters?"
"Unlikely," she replied. "Border towns rarely house high-ranking individuals. But after tonight, that may change."
Aldric smirked.
"Well, we did just slaughter a section of their wall."
Draven finally spoke.
"They're slow."
Aldric glanced at him.
"They weren't expecting monsters to walk out carrying babies."
Draven ignored the remark.
His senses extended outward through the thin veil of mana.
He could feel it now—
The world.
Faint threads of energy drifting through the air.
The subtle pulse of life in distant animals.
The weight of the earth beneath his feet.
Crude.
Unrefined.
But clearer than before.
The pain sharpened it.
They ran.
Not frantically.
Not blindly.
Controlled speed.
Measured pace.
Every few miles, Draven would slightly release a strand of folded mana, reinforcing his limbs before folding it back inward.
A dangerous rhythm.
Aldric noticed.
"You're leaking more than before."
"I know."
"If that collapses—"
"It won't."
The answer came instantly.
Flat.
Certain.
Night fully descended.
Stars blanketed the sky.
Hours passed.
Finally—
Draven slowed.
Ahead, in the distance—
Faint lights flickered.
Lanterns.
Chimney smoke barely visible against the dark.
The trade town.
He stopped on a small rise overlooking it.
The others gathered behind him.
The cat shifted on his head, tail swaying lazily.
Elenya yawned softly.
Lucifer blinked, red eyes reflecting distant lights.
Aldric folded his arms.
"So," he said lightly, "what's the plan? Walk in through the front gate? Or keep moving?"
The maid's eyes scanned the town carefully.
"There will be detection arrays at the gates," she said. "Basic ones. Enough to detect high concentrations of mana."
Lyriana's gaze shifted to Draven.
"With your condition… you might trigger them."
Draven stared at the town in silence.
Then—
A faint smirk touched his lips.
"Then we won't use the gate."
Wind moved through the grass around them.
The bells at the distant border wall still rang faintly behind them.
Draven adjusted his hold on his siblings.
"Stay close," he said calmly.
And stepped forward into the darkness toward the town.