Sienna shifted her entire focus on Aldric, his body limp and frighteningly still beneath the tattered cloak she'd wrapped around him.
Her hands trembled as she pressed her fingers to his wrist, searching for his pulse.
It was too faint.
Her stomach clenched.
"Aldric," she whispered, shaking him gently. "Come on. You have to wake up."
A weak groan. Barely there. His head lolled to the side, his skin cold under her touch.
She exhaled sharply, her breath unsteady.
This wasn't good. He was getting worse.
Her head snapped toward the door.
Kael should have been back by now.
Her pulse quickened as she strained her ears, but the night was eerily silent. No wind rustling the trees, no distant hoot of an owl, just an oppressive and suffocating quiet.
Her fingers tightened around the hilt of her dagger.
Something was out there. Watching.
A cold shiver traced down her spine as she turned toward the open doorway. The forest beyond was drenched in shadows, the moonlight barely piercing through the dense canopy.
But then someething moved.
Her breath hitched.
At first, she thought it was just the wind shifting the branches. But no, this was different. This was solid. A shape standing just beyond the tree line, barely visible in the darkness.
Watching.
Her heart pounded against her ribs.
"Kael?" she called softly, barely above a whisper.
Nothing.
The figure didn't move. Didn't react.
Just stood there.
Her grip on the dagger tightened until her knuckles turned white.
She could feel it.
A presence, thick and heavy, pressing into her skull. It wasn't speaking but she felt it curling around the edges of her mind.
Testing. Probing.
Like it was trying to remember her.
Her breath came in short, shallow gasps.
No.
She staggered back, nearly tripping over Aldric. Panic clawed at her throat, every instinct screaming at her to shut the door, to run, to do something.
And then.
It smiled.
She didn't see a mouth. Didn't see a face.
But she felt it.
A slow, curling amusement slipping through her mind, like cold fingers trailing against the inside of her skull.
Her stomach twisted.
"What do you want?" she forced out, her voice barely steady.
Silence.
And then.
Pressure.
Not a voice. Not a word. Just a weight pressing against her consciousness, curling around her thoughts like something ancient.
Her breath shuddered out of her lungs.
She wanted to run. Wanted to not be here.
But she couldn't move.
Because deep down, she already knew it wouldn't let her.
And then, It was gone.
It just disappeared.
One blink, and the shadow had melted into the trees, swallowed by the night.
But it wasn't really gone.
Because she could still feel it watching.
Sienna forced herself to move, even though her legs felt shaky. She turned back to Aldric, pressing her palm to his chest, desperate for the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
Still there. Still weak.
She swallowed hard.
"You're okay," she whispered, more to herself than to him. "You're going to be okay."
Aldric didn't answer.
She glanced toward the door again, dread creeping up her spine.
Where the hell was Kael?
He should have been back by now. He was quick and careful, he wouldn't have just disappeared.
Her jaw clenched.
She had two choices.
Stay here, hoping Kael returned and praying Aldric didn't slip further away.
Or go out there.
Into the dark.
Into the unknown.
Neither option felt safe but she couldn't just sit here and do nothing.
Sienna pushed herself to her feet, shaking off the lingering chill crawling up her spine.
"Alright," she muttered under her breath. "Alright."
She grabbed the dagger from Aldric's belt.
Just in case.
Then she stepped outside.
The night air hit her like a punch sharp, cold, wrong.
It smelled different now. Damp earth, woodsmoke… and something metallic.
Something like blood.
Her stomach clenched.
The trees loomed ahead, their branches stretching like skeletal fingers toward the sky. She took a cautious step forward, her boots pressing into the damp earth.
"Kael?" she called, her voice barely a whisper.
Silence.
Then a rustle.
Too close.
She spun, dagger raised..
And a figure burst from the trees.
Sienna barely had time to react before she was stumbling back, her heart slamming against her ribs.
"Damn it, Sienna, put that thing down before you stab me."
Kael.
Relief flooded through her, leaving her dizzy.
"What the hell took you so long?" she hissed, lowering the blade.
Kael exhaled sharply, his breath uneven. His shirt was torn, dirt smeared across his face. He looked… shaken.
"I ran into some complications," he muttered.
Her stomach dropped. "Complications?"
His jaw tightened. "I wasn't alone out there."
A chill crawled up her spine.
She swallowed hard. "You saw it too."
Kael's gaze flickered to her, dark and serious. "It?"
She hesitated. "I don't know what it was. But it was watching me. And it..."
She forced herself to take a breath. "It spoke to me."
Kael's entire body went still.
"Spoke to you how?"
Sienna shook her head. "Not with words. It was in my head."
A muscle in Kael's jaw twitched. "That's not normal, Sienna."
She let out a humorless laugh. "Yeah. No kidding."
A long silence stretched between them.
Kael ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. "We need to move."
Sienna frowned. "Move where? Aldric can't travel."
Kael hesitated. "Then we reinforce this place. Barricade the doors. Block the windows. If that thing wanted to kill us, it would've already."
She hated that he was right.
But it didn't make her feel any better.
Because deep down, she already knew—
Whatever was out there…
It wasn't done with them yet.