The border region they entered wasn't marked on any recent maps. It stretched across dozens of kilometers, between two territories that had been abandoned after the last regional conflict. No guild, kingdom, or academy maintained patrols here.
The road was uneven. The ground was cracked, with patches of wild low vegetation. The sky was uniformly overcast with heavy clouds.
Albert stopped suddenly. He closed his eyes and raised his right hand. With a short gesture, he traced a line of light in the air, which expanded into a nearly invisible circle. A faint pulse spread out around them.
A few steps behind, Leon halted and silently observed. He didn't ask anything.
After several seconds, Albert opened his eyes.
— Area's stable. No active magic nearby. No trackers within close range.
— Good. But anything pulling back? Leon asked.
— No. If anyone's tracking us, it's from a distance.
They continued. After about two hours, the terrain became arid. Vegetation had vanished. In the distance, an incomplete structure came into view — short towers, oxidized metal, missing roofs.
Albert stopped again and locked eyes on the building.
— I saw this layout in the archives. It's a former logistics center, abandoned after the new borders were drawn. Doesn't appear in current networks.
Leon moved ahead without hesitation.
— Doesn't look fully abandoned. Door's slightly open.
Kaelya crouched and inspected the ground near the entrance.
— Recent footprints. Not ours. Someone's been here recently.
Albert entered first. No sounds inside. No detectable magic.
The walls were solid, marked with old moisture stains. In the main room, on the far wall, words were painted in dark ink:
> "If you made it this far, then you're not hiding."
Kaelya raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Leon scanned the room's edges with his hand on his weapon.
Albert traced a circle in the air with his index finger. A simple symbol appeared — a translucent sphere with floating characters. After a few seconds of analysis, he said plainly:
— Confirmed. This structure was used by transport guilds. Abandoned sixty-three years ago. Minor recent entry detected, no signs of attack or hostile magic.
Leon stopped near an open compartment and pulled out a cracked insignia.
— Level C. Recon unit. The tag's still active.
Albert touched it with his left hand, closed his eyes for a second, then said:
— Last user was here yesterday. No traps left. Likely observing from distance.
— So what now? Kaelya asked.
— We move on. Nothing to gain here.
Albert drew a rectangular sign in the air. The space vibrated slightly — not teleportation, just a directional mark. They left without saying anything further.
After leaving the structure, the group didn't stop to talk. The next route had already been chosen by Albert — an area between two broken ridgelines, where the field of vision was limited and access was difficult for any organized force.
— Twenty minutes left, Albert said briefly, without slowing down.
Leon checked the sun's position and the terrain structure:
— No aerial coverage. If someone's tracking us, they can't keep a visual lock through here. Good spot to reposition.
Kaelya looked around, focusing on the edges of the terrain.
— Ground's undisturbed. No recent convoys. If there are pursuers, they've fallen behind or switched to passive observation.
Albert didn't answer. He stopped suddenly and closed his eyes. This time, he didn't draw a symbol — he simply raised his left hand, palm facing downward. A faint layer of light spread out over a ten-meter radius.
After a few seconds, he opened his eyes.
— No active presence. Old traces, unfocused. The area's safe for a few hours.
Once they reached the location he'd marked, they settled near a rock formation that offered partial visibility to the east. Leon placed two passive alarm markers — one at ground level and one on high ground.
— If anyone enters this field, we'll know. Even if they try to stay hidden.
Albert sat down on a flat rock, pulled out an inscribed stone, and gripped it in his hand. No glow — but the gesture was enough.
— Local monitoring active. Will trigger automatically if conditions shift.
Kaelya sat down near the edge of the ridge.
— Are we resting… or just waiting?
Albert replied without looking at either of them:
— One hour pause. If nothing moves, we resume travel. If something does, we respond depending on who makes the first move.
Leon sat as well, not relaxed. With his weapon across his lap, he kept scanning the western side.
— No wonder no one claims this zone. No leader wants responsibility for what could happen out here.
Albert didn't respond. Instead, he closed his eyes again for several seconds. He didn't activate anything new, but seemed to be checking the region's dynamic flow. Then he said:
— We're in a silence window. It'll close in a few hours. If someone wanted to monitor us, their ideal moment already passed.
Kaelya didn't ask more. She just looked in the direction he had indicated.
A little over an hour had passed. The area remained silent. No one had approached, and the proximity markers hadn't been triggered.
Albert stood up first. He brushed off his cloak and drew a vertical line in the air with two fingers. The symbol immediately dissolved into a thin strand of light pointing northeast.
— We're moving, he said.
Leon holstered his portable detector and adjusted his weapon harness.
— Terrain in that direction's worse. If we're being watched, they'll have to come in directly.
— That's exactly what I want, Albert replied. The indirect surveillance has gone on long enough.
Kaelya didn't say anything. She pulled up her hood and secured her cloak.
Twenty minutes later, the ground became unstable. Deep cracks, jagged rock formations, and red dust. Leon now led, map in hand.
— This is a geographical dead zone. No magic grid, no tactical relay. Only place where no one can report quickly.
Albert stopped. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, then drew a simple circle in the air. No effect appeared.
— No active presence in soil or air. But passive devices were used here less than a day ago.
— Observers? Kaelya asked.
— Yes. But not locals. Not guild-linked. Probably independents.
Leon turned back:
— What if they're waiting for us?
— Then they'll have to show themselves. There's nowhere to hide here.
Ten minutes later, they reached a natural platform between two cliffs. The space was wide but exposed. On a rock lay another insignia — broken, but still active.
Albert stepped forward, picked it up without hesitation, and examined it for a few seconds.
— Same group as yesterday. Level C. Not dangerous, but persistent.
Leon scanned the surroundings:
— No sign of anyone still here.
— Exactly. They just wanted us to know they'd been here.
Albert tossed the insignia into a nearby rock fissure.
— No more indirect messages. If they want something, they'll need to show up.
Without further discussion, they descended into the valley. The next zone would be the toughest — but also the most secure, tactically speaking.
The area they had entered was unstable, but without visible obstacles. The rocks were sharp but naturally scattered, and the ground showed signs of old activity. Not recent, but clear enough to indicate it had once been used as a vantage or hiding spot.
Leon was the last to descend and stopped at a slightly elevated point.
— From here, we've got visual coverage to the north. If anyone approaches, we'll see them.
Kaelya inspected the edge of a rock formation. On one surface were markings — charcoal or hastily drawn lines.
— Doesn't look like a glyph. Just a sign. But it's recent.
Albert stepped closer, closed his eyes, and held his palm above the surface. He didn't touch the stone — just analyzed it.
After a few seconds, he said flatly:
— Basic message: "position confirmed." Not from an authority. Likely another recon group.
Leon had already opened a forgotten metal compartment embedded in the rock. Inside: a weakly active signaling stone and a torn piece of parchment.
— They're tracking us. But they're not approaching. Why?
Albert answered directly:
— Because they haven't been authorized. Whoever's observing us is waiting for clearance from a higher entity. They don't have autonomy.
Kaelya looked up:
— And if they get it?
— Then they'll make contact. Directly. No more symbols. No more passive watching.
At that same moment, inside a command post deep underground, two operators were reviewing data from the recently detected signal beacon.
— Group passed through point 47. They didn't destroy the marker, but they didn't activate it either.
— Leader doesn't seem provocative. But he's not ignoring us either. Confirm?
— Confirmed. Neutral behavior. Authoritative, but controlled. He's not hiding. But he's not requesting anything.
Back in the valley, Albert drew a wide line in the air, activating a low-frequency energy layer. The pulse spread southwest. When he closed his palm, he said flatly:
— We're leaving this zone in under an hour. If they don't show up by then, we stop factoring them in.
Leon nodded. Kaelya had already started moving toward the indicated direction.
Albert lingered for a second, looking once more at the rock where the marking had been.
— Either come forward... or stay out.
Then he followed.
The terrain they crossed grew increasingly difficult. The ground was broken in places, with gentle slopes leading into lower areas where visibility dropped. There were no roads, markers, boundary stones, or any sign of civilization.
Leon adjusted his steps to compensate for the uneven ground. Kaelya stayed further back, watching for tracks. Albert led steadily, eyes focused ahead. He wasn't using magic, but he reacted instinctively to each change in the terrain.
— Stop, Albert said briefly.
They halted at the edge of a natural fault, formed long ago by a quake. Not wide, but deep enough to trap a full group if unseen.
Albert closed his eyes, raised his right hand, and activated a visual layer. It wasn't full scan magic—just a tactical projection. The outline of the fault lit up in a blue grid across the ground.
— We'll bypass to the right. That rocky area offers cover and line of sight. If anyone's still watching from a distance, this is the last spot they'll see us clearly.
Leon quickly assessed the alternate path.
— Terrain's rough, but manageable. We'll lose about thirty minutes.
— Better that than being exposed for thirty seconds, Albert replied.
Kaelya had already started up the path without a word. The lack of contact so far wasn't peace. It was delay.
Once they climbed the far side, the ground became firmer. The wind cut from the side, but not strong. The valley behind them was still. No birds. No sound. Just a constant silence.
Albert pulled a small inscribed metal piece from his cloak. He placed it in the air, and the symbol began to vibrate softly. A basic fluctuation detector—simple, but effective.
— If anything activates within a three-kilometer radius, we'll know.
Leon looked over.
— You think they're still following?
— I don't know. But I'm not assuming they've stopped.
Kaelya sat on a flat rock.
— How far to the control zone?
Albert looked toward the ridge ahead.
— Two hours. But we won't go directly. I want to circle the old observation point first. If anyone's there, we'll see them before they see us.
Leon nodded and rested his hand on his weapon again.
— And if they are there?
Albert's answer was short:
— We don't confront. But we don't ignore either.
Kaelya pulled her hood up and remained silent.
At an unknown location, an operator monitored a static projection of the area. Each movement from the group was delayed by nearly forty seconds. The system wasn't working at full efficiency.
— We lost visual. If they continue the lateral route, we won't reacquire them unless they trigger something.
— Don't provoke. Just report.
In the field, Albert stopped again. He looked ahead, then stepped down a stone ledge onto a narrow platform.
— We stop here. Thirty minutes. If nothing triggers, we move into the control valley.
Leon and Kaelya sat without comment. None of them were tired. Just tense.
Between them, Albert closed his eyes for a second and felt the air.
Nothing.
Yet.