Shaking stopped, yet the quiet afterwards was far from reassuring.
They paused on the old trail and waited for any noise. Nothing moved. They heard no birds, felt no wind, and there was no longer the constant sound of the river they had just crossed. Overhead, the sky was dull grey—not indicating a storm, but instead a thin blanket laid over the sunshine.
Serakha pulled her pack in and clutched it harder. "That did not sound like the mountain," she said quietly. "That came from below."
He forced his hand into the earth and rested a moment on the cold ground. His eyes closed silently for just a moment.
He said the ground sheltered some sort of activity. "Not close… but it's moving."
Lucian looked ahead. The way ahead separated into three, much as Renak's map had shown would occur. Three paths were dividing the road, with each heading off toward a different part of the forest. Only the path into the south that disappeared furthest offered no light at all.
