While Roku and Solara fought their way south through the night, Kel and Luno were following a much quieter trail.
Kel had decided sometime that morning that Captain Harven's map was trying to kill him.
He unfolded it again and turned it sideways.
Luno groaned. "No."
Kel looked over. "What?"
"Put it away."
"We need it."
"We needed it three wrong turns ago."
"We didn't take three wrong turns."
"You're right. One of them was more of a confused circle."
Kel stared at him.
Luno pointed at the map. "I'm starting to think Harven gave that to you specifically because he knew this would happen."
A small voice came from beneath Luno's hat.
"He's still bad with maps."
Luno snorted.
Kel looked at him. "What?"
"Nothing."
"You laughed."
"I remembered something."
"What?"
"How bad you are with maps."
Kel folded it. "Walk by yourself."
"We're going the same direction."
"Then walk farther away."
Luno smiled and followed.
The joking helped. Neither wanted to admit that.
Harven had circled four settlements south of Durnfield. On paper, the mission sounded simple: investigate the reports, figure out whether they were connected, and come home.
Harven had made the last part very clear.
If they encountered anything beyond what they could handle, they weren't supposed to be heroes. They were supposed to leave, report what they'd found and let someone stronger deal with it.
Everyone comes home.
Kel had heard that sentence enough during training that he could practically hear Harven saying it now.
The first settlement appeared beyond the ridge.
Luno looked at him. "You actually found it."
"Shut up."
The settlement looked normal.
That bothered Kel more than he expected.
Farmers worked beyond the outer houses. Children chased each other around an old wagon. Two men argued beside a well while a woman shouted at both of them to stop blocking everyone else.
Nothing looked dangerous.
Nothing looked strange.
Kel and Luno entered wearing their Durnfield Guard markings. An older woman approached almost immediately.
"You two from Captain Harven?"
Kel nodded. "He sent us about the reports."
"Finally."
That word wiped the smile from Luno's face.
Kel noticed. "What happened?"
"Animals disappearing."
"Livestock?" Luno asked.
"Mostly."
Luno frowned. "Mostly?"
The woman looked toward the western fields. "One of our farmhands saw people beyond the irrigation line two nights ago."
"People doing what?" Kel asked.
"Walking."
Kel waited.
The woman didn't continue.
"That's it?"
"He said they weren't walking right."
Luno and Kel exchanged a glance.
"What does that mean?" Luno asked.
"He couldn't explain it. Said one dragged its foot. Another kept stopping and staring at nothing."
"Did they chase him?"
"No."
"Talk to him?"
"No."
"What happened?"
"He ran."
Luno nodded. "Smart man."
Kel ignored him. "Tracks?"
"Southwest."
That matched the direction of the next settlement.
They spent another twenty minutes asking questions, but nobody else had seen the strangers clearly. Several animals were missing. There was no blood and no remains.
They were simply gone.
While Kel spoke to a farmer, a few children gathered around Luno.
One pointed toward the jar attached to his bag. "What's in there?"
Luno lifted it proudly. "Highly trained professionals."
Kel heard him from several feet away and closed his eyes.
The boy stared through the glass. "They're bugs."
"Highly trained bug professionals."
A girl leaned closer. "What do they do?"
"Important things."
"Like what?"
Luno considered it. "Mostly ignore me."
Kel laughed.
Luno looked over. "You worry about the investigation."
One beetle crawled onto Luno's finger.
His smile slowly faded.
The insect stopped.
Its antennae shifted.
Then something touched the edge of Luno's awareness.
Not words.
Not an image.
More like a feeling.
Uneasy.
Southwest.
Luno looked toward the horizon.
Kel walked over. "What?"
"The bugs don't like that direction."
Kel glanced at the jar. "They tell you that?"
"Not exactly."
Luno was still learning how to explain it. He couldn't command every insect around him, and he couldn't simply see through their eyes. The connection came through as impressions—movement, disturbance, fear.
Dyrain had been teaching him to stop trying to force the connection and listen to what was already there.
Right now, something was bothering them.
Kel looked southwest. "That's where we're going."
"I figured you'd say that."
They left.
The second settlement felt wrong before they even entered it.
No voices.
No animals.
No smoke from cooking fires.
Kel slowed.
"Luno."
"I know."
They entered together.
A cart stood abandoned in the road. A bucket sat beside the well. One house had its door open, and food remained on a table inside.
Kel touched it.
Cold.
Luno checked another building before returning.
"Nobody."
Kel moved toward the road. "Here."
Tracks covered the dirt.
Dozens.
Maybe more.
Boots moved south.
Kel crouched. "Looks like the villagers left together."
Luno pointed beside them. "What are those?"
Bare footprints crossed the others. Some looked normal. Others dragged through the dirt, while one set had strange gaps between the steps.
Kel followed them with his eyes.
"They came into town."
"And?"
Kel pointed south. "Some left that way."
Luno opened his jar.
The insects immediately became restless. Several crawled toward the southern side.
Luno turned the jar.
They adjusted.
He turned again.
Same thing.
Kel watched.
"Okay."
Luno looked at him. "Say it."
"No."
"Say my bug professionals are useful."
"I'm never saying that."
"You'll learn."
Luno closed his eyes and stopped trying to reach for the insects. Instead, he listened.
Tiny movements surrounded him.
Life beneath the dirt.
Something crawling inside a wall.
Wings farther away.
Then he felt it.
Disturbance.
South.
A lot of it.
Luno opened his eyes. "Something passed through here."
"Recently?"
"I don't know."
"How many?"
"I don't know."
Kel stared at him.
Luno spread his hands. "I'm learning."
Kel stood. "Still useful."
Luno smiled. "I'll take it."
They searched the rest of the settlement.
No bodies.
No obvious signs of a fight.
People had simply abandoned everything.
Behind the final house, Kel noticed blackened earth.
He crouched beside it. An old fire had burned there. The center was dead, but some of the ground remained warm.
Kel reached toward it.
His hand stopped.
Something felt strange.
Not painful.
The opposite.
The closer his hand moved toward the warmth, the better his arm felt.
Kel frowned and lowered his palm.
Heat gathered against his skin.
Then slowly disappeared.
Kel jerked his hand back.
"What the..."
Luno turned. "What?"
Kel stared at his palm.
Warmth moved beneath his skin.
Not burning.
Not hurting.
Just moving.
"What happened?" Luno asked.
"Nothing."
"That was definitely something."
Kel touched the ground again.
Cooler.
His eyes narrowed.
Luno came closer. "What did you do?"
"I don't know."
"You touched it."
"Thank you. Very helpful."
Kel flexed his fingers.
The warmth remained inside his arm.
Luno stared at him. "You're weird."
"You're carrying bugs in a jar."
"They're professionals."
Kel stood. "Come on."
Luno followed.
Kel didn't mention that the warmth stayed with him long after they left.
They smelled the third settlement before they saw it.
Smoke.
Kel stopped joking.
So did Luno.
They ran.
The western edge of the settlement had burned. Several buildings were damaged, villagers carried water through the streets, and others treated wounded people along the road.
Kel grabbed the nearest person. "What happened?"
"Help first!"
The man pointed toward a collapsed house.
"Someone's inside!"
Kel ran.
A beam blocked the doorway, and two villagers were already struggling to lift it.
Kel grabbed the wood.
Internal Qi moved through his body.
Legs.
Back.
Shoulders.
"Together!"
They lifted.
The beam rose.
Luno dropped low. "I see somebody!"
He crawled through and returned seconds later, pulling a woman behind him.
Kel held the beam until they were clear.
"Anybody else?"
"No!"
Another shout came from across the road.
They moved.
For the next several minutes, the investigation didn't matter.
People did.
Kel helped move debris while Luno used his insects to check narrow spaces and find movement where people couldn't easily reach.
Then Kel passed a burning house.
His body changed.
He stopped.
Heat rolled across him.
That strange feeling returned.
Stronger.
His skin tingled.
His breathing deepened.
For some reason, standing beside the fire felt good.
Too good.
Kel took a step toward it.
The heat seemed to gather around him and sink through his skin. His arms became warm, followed by his chest.
Kel stared at his hands.
"What..."
He took another step.
The air around him seemed slightly cooler.
Not the flames themselves.
The heat surrounding them.
It was disappearing into him.
"Kel!"
He turned.
A burning piece of timber crashed down.
Kel jumped backward.
Luno grabbed his shirt and pulled him farther away.
"What are you doing?"
"I don't know."
"You were walking toward the fire."
"I wasn't."
"You absolutely were."
Kel looked down at his arms.
They felt hot.
But comfortable.
Luno touched his wrist and immediately pulled his hand back.
"You're burning up."
Kel touched his own skin. "I feel fine."
"You're not fine."
"I'm not burned."
"That's somehow worse."
Kel looked back toward the flames.
For one uncomfortable second, part of him wanted to move closer again.
A villager shouted for help.
Kel forced himself to turn away.
"Later."
Luno looked between him and the fire. "We are definitely talking about this."
"Later."
They went back to work.
Once the fires were under control, the settlement elder finally gave them answers.
Not good ones.
"People attacked before sunrise," he said.
Kel crouched beside him. "Raiders?"
"Some looked like raiders."
"Some?"
The elder's expression changed. "The others looked like people."
Luno frowned. "Looked like?"
"They didn't act like people."
Kel remembered the tracks. "How?"
"No fear. No pain. We hit them and they kept coming."
"Did they speak?"
"Not the ones I saw."
The elder rubbed his injured arm.
"The eyes were the worst."
Kel leaned closer. "What about them?"
"Nothing behind them."
Luno didn't joke.
The elder continued. "The armed ones used those things to keep us busy while they searched."
"Searched for what?" Kel asked.
"People."
Kel's expression hardened. "What people?"
"Anyone unusual. Children showing Qi too early. People with abilities nobody recognized. Strange families. Bloodlines. Anyone different."
Kel felt something uncomfortable settle in his stomach.
Luno looked at him.
Neither said anything.
"Did they take anyone?" Kel asked.
The elder hesitated. "Two."
Kel's jaw tightened. "Which direction?"
"South."
Of course.
Once they were away from the elder, Luno spoke quietly.
"Harven said investigate."
"I know."
"He also said leave if it's too much."
"I know."
Luno looked at him. "You keep saying that."
Kel frowned. "You've been hanging around Solara?"
Luno blinked. "What?"
"Nothing."
Kel walked on.
Luno stared after him. "That didn't even make sense!"
For a moment, it almost felt normal again.
Almost.
The road south stopped feeling normal before sunset.
No travelers came north.
That was the first thing Kel noticed.
This was a trade road. Somebody should have passed them. A wagon, merchant, guard—anything.
Nobody did.
Then Luno's insects changed.
Not a few.
All of them.
They crowded toward the southern side of the jar.
Luno stopped.
Kel noticed immediately. "What?"
Luno didn't answer.
He touched the glass.
The insects were frantic. They weren't attacking each other. They seemed like they were trying to move away from something.
Luno closed his eyes.
He reached farther this time.
Not forcing.
Listening.
The world around him opened in tiny pieces. Insects moved through the grass, beneath stones and inside dead trees.
Everywhere ahead, he felt the same thing.
Disturbance.
Movement.
Fear.
Luno opened his eyes. "Kel."
"What?"
"I don't like this."
That was enough to make Kel nervous.
Luno joked when he was scared.
If he wasn't joking, something was wrong.
"How bad?"
"I don't know."
Kel looked toward the next ridge.
The fourth settlement was beyond it.
Harven's instructions came back immediately.
If they sensed the level of Qi he'd demonstrated—or anything stronger—they were supposed to leave.
No questions.
Everyone comes home.
Kel breathed slowly. "We check from the ridge."
Luno looked at him. "That's it?"
"That's it."
"No sneaking into town?"
"No."
"No heroic stupidity?"
Kel frowned. "Why did you look at me when you said that?"
A small voice came from beneath Luno's hat.
"Because it's you."
Luno bit his lip.
Kel narrowed his eyes. "Did Spark say something?"
"No."
"You're smiling."
"I'm nervous."
"That's your nervous face?"
"I have layers."
Kel shook his head.
They continued more slowly.
The sun disappeared as they approached the ridge, and the Badlands darkened around them. Every sound suddenly seemed louder. Their footsteps. Wind moving through the grass. Something crawling beneath the sand.
Kel found himself looking behind them more often.
Nothing was there.
Still, he kept checking.
Luno noticed. "You good?"
"Yeah."
"You don't look good."
"You?"
"No."
Kel nodded. "Then we're both good."
"That's not how that works."
They reached the ridge.
Kel lowered himself before reaching the top.
Luno followed.
Neither stood high enough to silhouette themselves against the night sky.
The fourth settlement lay below.
Something was wrong.
Torchlight moved through the streets.
Too much of it.
Armed figures stood along the roads. Others moved between buildings, checking doors and windows.
Kel started counting.
He stopped when the number stopped mattering.
Luno whispered, "That's a lot of people."
Kel didn't answer.
He could feel Qi below.
Several different presences.
Some ordinary.
Some stronger.
Then he felt something else underneath them.
Kel's stomach tightened.
Harven's warning.
It wasn't exactly the same pressure Harven had shown them.
It was worse.
Kel instinctively lowered himself farther behind the ridge.
Luno noticed.
"That bad?"
Kel nodded. "We don't go down."
Luno actually looked relieved. "Thank you."
They watched.
A group of armed fighters entered one building, came out and moved immediately to another.
Another group checked an alley.
Human figures wandered between them.
Even from this distance, something about the way they moved looked wrong.
Luno's insects reacted violently.
"Those are the things from the reports."
"Looks like it."
Kel watched another building get searched.
His brow tightened.
"They're not attacking."
Luno looked again.
Kel was right.
The armed people weren't robbing houses.
They weren't setting the settlement on fire.
They were searching it.
"Looking for the gifted people?" Luno whispered.
"Maybe."
"Then why so many?"
Kel didn't know.
More figures entered from the northern side of the settlement.
Then more.
Luno swallowed. "Kel."
"I see them."
The town was filling.
Kel suddenly felt very exposed on the ridge.
"We should go."
Luno nodded immediately.
Neither moved.
Something had changed.
A pressure rose from somewhere inside the settlement.
Kel felt it first.
His entire body tightened.
Luno's insects erupted inside the jar.
"Kel."
"I know."
The pressure climbed.
One powerful Qi presence.
Then another.
Kel's eyes widened.
Something was fighting down there.
"What the hell is happening?"
Luno stared toward the center of town. "I don't know."
The Qi surged again.
Stronger.
Kel's instincts screamed.
"DOWN!"
He grabbed Luno.
They hit the ground.
The horizon flashed.
BOOM!
The explosion tore through the fourth settlement.
A wall of pressure slammed into the ridge.
Sand and loose stone exploded around them as Kel covered his head. Luno curled around his insect jar and held his hat down with one hand.
The shockwave passed.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Kel's ears rang.
He slowly raised his head.
Fire climbed from somewhere inside the settlement.
Smoke followed.
Luno coughed and looked over the ridge.
"What... was that?"
Kel didn't answer.
He could still feel what remained of the Qi.
Strong.
Far stronger than anything they were supposed to encounter.
Below them, the settlement erupted into chaos. People ran through the streets. Armed fighters shouted to each other. The strange human figures scattered between buildings.
But they weren't running away from the explosion.
Kel narrowed his eyes.
One group entered a building.
Another surrounded an alley.
Several rushed toward where the blast had happened, then immediately spread outward.
Luno crawled closer beside him.
"They're looking for something."
Kel watched another building get surrounded.
"No."
Luno looked at him.
Kel's stomach tightened.
"Somebody."
Neither spoke.
They didn't know who had caused the explosion.
They didn't know who was being hunted.
They didn't know that somewhere among those burning streets, two people they knew were nearly out of Qi.
All Kel knew was what Harven had taught him.
Whatever was happening down there was far beyond their assignment.
Then Luno's insects went wild again.
He grabbed the jar.
Kel looked over. "What?"
Luno closed his eyes.
The impressions hit him all at once.
Fear.
Movement.
Countless tiny lives fleeing the explosion.
But underneath everything was something else.
Something heavy.
Moving through the settlement.
Slow.
Controlled.
Different.
Luno opened his eyes.
His face had lost its color.
"Kel."
"What?"
"There's something down there."
Kel stared at the burning settlement.
"What kind of something?"
Luno swallowed. "I don't know."
Below them, another building was forced open.
Figures entered.
They came back out.
Kept searching.
Kel's stomach tightened.
He wanted to know who they were looking for.
That curiosity was exactly what Harven had warned him about.
He looked at Luno.
"We stay here."
Luno stared at him. "Here?"
"We don't enter."
"Good."
"We don't fight."
"Even better."
"We watch."
Luno sighed. "There it is."
"Just long enough to understand what's happening."
"And then?"
Kel looked toward the road home.
"We report everything."
Luno nodded.
That he could accept.
They lowered themselves behind the ridge and watched.
Below them, the fourth settlement burned while armed fighters searched every street and empty-eyed humans moved between them.
Someone was being hunted.
Kel and Luno didn't know who.
They didn't know why.
They only knew that whatever had started as a strange investigation outside Durnfield had become something much bigger.
And somewhere inside the burning town, the hunt continued.