The Ashen Vale's mist clung to their skin like a second layer of sweat, dampening sound and sight alike. Kaelen's squad moved hesitantly through the twisted trees, the air sharp with the stench of decay.
Thalen led with too much noise, sword flashing at every rustle of leaves. Mira followed close behind, her blade drawn but trembling. Kaelen trailed them, silent as shadow, his faint serpent weaving through the fog at his heel.
They had slain one wolf already, though it had nearly cost Thalen his arm. Mira's defense had saved him in time, but his sleeve was torn and his pride wounded.
"Next time, don't hang back," Thalen snapped over his shoulder. "If you'd struck faster, that mutt wouldn't have gotten near me."
Kaelen said nothing. He simply adjusted his grip on the talisman at his waist and kept walking.
—
By midday, the Vale bared its teeth again. A pack of four wolves emerged from the mist, eyes glowing like embers. They circled, growls low, claws crunching dead leaves.
"Two each!" Thalen barked, stepping forward with forced bravado. He charged at the nearest wolf, his serpent flaring bright—but uncoordinated. His swing was too wide. Another wolf lunged, nearly tearing his leg before Mira intercepted with a desperate strike.
Kaelen moved calmly. His serpent darted like smoke, fangs striking precisely at a wolf's exposed throat. The beast collapsed silently. He shifted his stance, watching the rhythm of the pack, then intercepted another mid-pounce with a clean thrust.
When the fight ended, two wolves lay dead at Kaelen's feet. The others had been felled by Mira's frantic defense and Thalen's brute strikes, though not without bruises and shallow cuts.
Thalen scowled, chest heaving. "You wait until the last second, then swoop in as if you're some savior. If you'd fought properly from the start—"
Mira interrupted, her voice sharp. "Enough, Thalen. You'd be dead twice over if not for him."
The words hung in the mist. Thalen's jaw tightened, but he said no more.
Kaelen only inclined his head slightly toward Mira, though inwardly he noted her shift. The timid girl had begun to see him differently.
—
That night, they camped in a hollow beneath a crumbling stone outcrop. The mist never lifted, and the cries of distant beasts pressed at the edges of their firelight.
Thalen sharpened his sword with quick, angry strokes. Mira tended to their wounds, her hands steady though her face was pale.
Kaelen sat a little apart, serpent faint in the shadows. Within his Soul Palace, however, the silver serpent coiled tightly, scales gleaming brighter with every essence it devoured. The wolf cores pulsed within him, their feral instincts fusing into his growing arsenal of techniques.
To his companions, he remained the faint serpent boy—useful, perhaps, but unimpressive.
That was how he wanted it.
—
By dawn, Mira watched him more closely, her trust shifting quietly into place. Thalen still spat curses under his breath, but he no longer charged headlong without glancing back to see where Kaelen stood.
The squad was fractured, yes—but necessity had begun to bind the cracks.
The Vale would test that bond soon enough. And Kaelen knew: when it broke, only those who had learned to trust the shadow would endure.