They didn't stop running until the ridge leveled out into a clearing. By then their lungs burned, their legs shook, and the night pressed down so heavy it felt like drowning in air.
Mara collapsed to her knees, clutching her side. "We… we lost them, right? Tell me we lost them."
Jonas scanned the treeline with his weapon still drawn. Nothing moved. No eyes. No glassy skin. Only darkness. "For now," he muttered.
Liora dropped beside Mara, pulling her close. Her hands trembled, but her voice stayed steady. "They weren't attacking. They were herding us."
Jonas grimaced. "Yeah. Into what?"
No one answered.
Eris stood apart from the others, staring into the woods they had fled. His face was unreadable in the dim glow of Earth's twin moons. "They weren't after us," he said softly. "They were waiting. Guarding."
Mara snapped, her fear sharpening into anger. "Guarding what, Eris? You keep talking like you know more than the rest of us!"
He turned to face them. His eyes were dark, shadowed, yet steady. "I don't know. But they… recognized me. Like I was part of what they serve."
The silence that followed was heavier than the forest itself.
Jonas cursed under his breath and kicked at the dirt. "Fantastic. We bring back souvenirs from Mars, and now Earth's got monsters in the woods."
The fire was gone, but Jonas managed to strike a spark from his emergency pack, building a small flame between them. Its light felt thin, fragile.
None of them slept. They sat close, watching the dark, waiting for the eyes to return. But the forest stayed still, unnaturally still, as though holding them in suspension.
Just before dawn, a faint tremor rippled through the ground beneath them. The fire flickered out on its own, leaving only smoke.
The soil, warm to the touch, pulsed once like a heartbeat.