The city gates loomed ahead as the group returned from the wolf extermination. The trio dragged their feet, exhausted from the prolonged fight, but Shadow's steps remained measured, his gaze flicking between rooftops and alley mouths as if expecting another presence to appear.
Lena broke the silence first. "That wasn't normal." Her voice was low, firm. "Beasts don't fight like that, not even horned wolves."
"They were trained," Shadow replied, tone flat. "Controlled."
Ryn frowned. "Controlled? By what? Magic?"
"Maybe," Shadow said, not elaborating. He wasn't ready to reveal what he'd seen on the treetops. If he mentioned the cloaked figure, the trio would worry—and worse, they might get involved.
He couldn't let that happen.
—
Later that night, the streets buzzed with the usual mix of adventurers, merchants, and drunks. Shadow wandered separately from the trio, preferring silence over chatter.
Then he felt it again—that prickle at the back of his neck.
His pace didn't change, but his senses sharpened. He turned into a market square still open with late-night vendors. At first glance, it was normal: people haggling, children darting between stalls, guards keeping a loose watch.
But then his eyes caught it.
In the crowd, one person stood unnaturally still. Hood pulled low, posture too controlled, like a predator disguised among sheep. The moment Shadow's gaze brushed against them, the figure tilted their head—deliberate, mocking—before melting into the throng without a sound.
Shadow clenched his fists. He wanted to give chase, but the crowd was too dense, too dangerous.
The gauntlets' voice stirred in his mind, faint but certain. Same presence. Same eyes.
—
At the guild the next day, the trio gathered to turn in the quest. The atmosphere was light—Ryn joked with the clerk, Sera complained about aching arms, and Lena scolded them both for being careless during the fight.
But when Shadow arrived, Lena's eyes sharpened. "You felt it too, didn't you?"
Shadow paused. "…What?"
"That fight yesterday. Those wolves weren't just beasts. Someone set that up."
Sera crossed her arms. "You don't think it was… people, right? Who'd even bother with something like that?"
Shadow didn't answer. His eyes drifted to the guild's bustling crowd. Adventurers came and went, laughing, shouting, bargaining for quests.
And in the corner of the room, he thought he saw a hooded silhouette slip through the door, leaving behind only the faintest trace of killing intent.
The watcher was no longer keeping to the shadows of the forest.
They were here, in the city.
Watching him.