I woke up with the feeling that something was out of place.
It wasn't body pain. It wasn't accumulated fatigue. It was the absence of any distant sound of destruction. In the past few days, even when we managed to rest for a few hours, there was always some noise in the distance. Screams, breaking wood, echoes of combat carried by the wind.
That morning, there was nothing.
I opened my eyes and stayed still for a few seconds, listening. Only the wind passing through the trees.
I sat up slowly. Elara was already awake, silently organizing her bag. Liriel watched the horizon with a focused gaze. Vespera checked her blades with calm movements. Rai'kanna and Lyannis were still sitting, but awake.
No one commented on the silence.
Everyone had already noticed.
We ate something quickly and returned to the road. The sky was cloudy, but clear enough to see far ahead. We stayed alert, as always, expecting to find signs of monsters at any point along the way.
Nothing.
No recent tracks. No strong smell in the air. No marks on the ground.
After nearly an hour, I found something that made me stop. Old footprints, already deformed by wind and dust.
"This is from yesterday," Elara said.
I crouched to observe more closely. "Yes. There's nothing new on top."
Liriel looked around. "They passed through here and nothing returned after that."
We kept walking.
We passed a small village that, days ago, would have been an easy target. People were working on rebuilding fences and roofs. When they saw us, they made gestures of gratitude.
"It's calm today," a man said. "Too calm."
I nodded, and we continued.
The road started to feel too long without interruptions. Time passed, and the only thing that changed was the position of the sun in the sky.
Vespera broke the silence. "This isn't normal."
"He stopped," Lyannis said.
Rai'kanna added, "Or he's already finished what he wanted to do."
I didn't like either option.
In the middle of the afternoon, we encountered a small detachment of kingdom soldiers. They were also patrolling and wore the same confused expression.
"Have you found anything?" I asked.
"Since dawn, nothing," the commander replied. "No monsters. No attacks. No requests for help."
"Yesterday there still were," Elara said.
"There were plenty yesterday," he replied. "Today, it's as if they've disappeared."
We thanked them for the information and moved on.
Each step felt heavier, not from physical effort, but from the sense of walking toward something we still couldn't see.
By late afternoon, we arrived at a partially destroyed forest area. Broken trees, overturned soil, clear signs that a large number of monsters had passed through.
But none were here now.
I stopped in the middle of the path and looked around.
"This is recent," Liriel said.
"But it's been hours," Vespera added.
Elara breathed deeply. "They went somewhere."
"Or were called back," Rai'kanna said.
That possibility echoed in my mind.
Called back.
We followed the trail left by the destruction for a while, but it disappeared at several points, as if the monsters had spread in different directions and then simply vanished.
The wind passed through the trees, making a constant sound, almost irritating in its repetition.
Lyannis scanned all sides, alert. "It feels like they're watching us."
I felt the same.
It wasn't fear. It was the feeling of entering a territory someone had already prepared.
When the sun began to set, we stopped in a small clearing to rest for a few minutes. No one spoke much.
The silence wasn't comfortable.
It was heavy.
"I prefer when they attack," Elara said.
I nodded slowly. "At least we know where to strike."
Liriel kept her gaze fixed on the dark forest ahead. "This feels like waiting."
"He wants us to advance," Vespera said.
"To where?" Rai'kanna asked.
No one answered.
We stayed there for a few minutes, just listening.
Nothing.
No animals. No insects. Not even the usual sounds of the forest.
Only wind.
I stood up first. "Let's continue a little further."
We walked until the sky was completely dark. Even in the darkness, we found nothing but old signs.
When we finally stopped to set up an improvised rest, the feeling was stronger than ever.
I sat leaning against a tree and stared into the darkness.
For days, the entire kingdom had been in constant war. Now, it seemed as if someone had pressed a button and turned everything off at once.
This wasn't relief.
It was preparation.
Elara sat beside me. "You're thinking the same thing I am?"
"He's done using the monsters."
"And now?"
"Now he doesn't need them anymore."
I stayed silent after that.
The wind continued blowing, bringing a light chill from the forest.
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to rest my mind.
But the only thing that came was the growing certainty that the silence of that day wasn't the end.
It was the beginning of something that hadn't yet revealed its face.