The weather turned faster than any of us expected.
One moment the afternoon sky was wide and pale, the next it was smothered under rolling walls of charcoal-grey clouds. The wind hit first, sharp and restless, sending the treetops into frantic motion. By the time we realized the change, the air was thick with the smell of rain and ozone.
We had been sweeping the southern ridge, tracing faint tracks that angled toward the old aqueduct's far end. Fresh claw marks—three-toed, heavy, dug deep into the mud. They were only an hour old at most.
"This isn't just passing through," Vell murmured, crouching to examine them. "It's hunting."
I scanned the treeline, every instinct telling me we were being pulled toward something. "And it's not alone."
The wind picked up again, carrying with it a single, distant sound—a cry so sharp and strange it cut through the rustle of branches like glass through silk. It wasn't the Monster. This was higher, more piercing… birdlike, but not any bird I knew.
Danya's gaze shifted toward the sound. "The Beast?"
"Maybe." My answer felt thin even to me.
We pressed on, the sky dimming to a premature twilight. Rain began in sparse drops, then thickened into sheets, hammering down hard enough to blur the world into smears of motion. The forest floor turned slick, each step sucking at our boots.
The storm stole our sense of direction. We adjusted our formation, keeping close. But as the wind roared, shapes began to flicker through the curtain of rain—shapes that didn't belong.
Through a break in the downpour, I caught sight of figures moving parallel to us on the next rise.
Squad One.
Liora's patrol route shouldn't have intersected theirs, not here. Yet there they were—six dark shapes between the trees, moving fast, closing the gap whether they intended to or not.
Even from this distance, I could pick out Tessa's sharp frame at the front, her posture taut, head turning toward us as if she'd felt the same pull. For a breath, our eyes locked across the storm's chaos.
Danya muttered under her breath. "Perfect. Just what we needed."
We didn't break formation, but the space between us and Squad One shrank with every step. The ridge funneled into a narrow strip of land bordered by steep drops, forcing both squads onto the same path.
Lightning split the sky, burning the world white for a heartbeat.
And in that heartbeat, I saw it. Far beyond the ridge, two separate disturbances in the storm: a massive shadow moving low to the ground, fast and lurching, tearing through undergrowth in raw bursts of power; and higher up, a sleek, dark shape cutting through the air before vanishing into the clouds. The Beast and the Monster… converging.
The thunder came late, deep and bone-shaking.
We had no choice but to keep moving forward.
Somewhere far behind, a second sound threaded through the storm: hoofbeats. Not a mount—too steady, too purposeful. A rider on foot. When the shadow emerged from the mist, it was Halvren.
He didn't call out to us. He didn't slow.
His cloak was plastered to his shoulders by the rain, his hair swept back, eyes locked on the direction of the Monster's trail. There was no visible weapon in his hands, but his presence alone cut through the storm's weight like a blade.
I felt his gaze sweep over both squads, assessing, calculating. But his face gave away nothing. If he was surprised to see us converging here, he didn't show it.
He passed between the two squads without a word. The storm swallowed him again just as quickly.
"Why's he here?" Brayden asked quietly, almost to himself.
Vell's jaw tightened. "Not for us."
We pushed through the narrowing ridge, the air electric with more than just the storm. Tessa was less than twenty paces away now, her squad matching our pace stride for stride. She glanced at me again—this time with open suspicion.
"You're off your assigned route, Liora," she called over the rain.
"Storm shifted the markers," I answered evenly. "Unless you think we came out here just to enjoy the weather."
Her expression was unreadable, but her gaze flicked toward the trail ahead. "We've got fresh signs on the Monster. You?"
I hesitated just long enough to see the way she noticed. "…Signs of the Beast."
Tessa's brow furrowed. "Then they're headed to the same place."
Lightning again—brighter, closer. This time the sound that followed wasn't just thunder. Somewhere ahead, something massive roared, a deep, warping sound that made the storm itself seem to flinch.
It was answered by another cry, sharp and alien, slicing through the rain from above.
They were close.
And we were caught directly in their path.
We reached the mouth of a ravine where the ridge broke. The ground here was littered with broken branches and churned mud, as if something huge had passed through minutes ago. Rain pooled in the gouges left behind.
Both squads halted. No one spoke.
In the silence, the storm seemed to grow heavier, pressing down on us. Somewhere out there, beyond the walls of rain and mist, the Beast and the Monster were moving—circling, testing, waiting.
Danya shifted her grip on her spear. "Orders?"
I looked down the ravine, the shadows moving just beyond sight. "We hold. The storm's hiding more than just them."
Tessa's voice came from my right. "If they come through here, we'll have no choice."
Lightning again. For a second, I thought I saw Halvren at the far end of the ravine, his figure just visible before the rain swallowed him. He was facing toward the deeper forest… toward the Monster. Alone.
The thunder rolled again, long and low.
Something was coming.