The lady slept through the night, twitching, murmuring things Kael couldn't understand. When morning broke, the forest outside was quiet—unnaturally quiet. Even the birds were gone.
Kael sat beside the forge, sharpening his blade, when the lady finally stirred.
"Where am I?" She croaked.
"Safe. For now," Kael said. "Name?"
The lady took a moment, breathing in the fresh air like it was a blessing. "Riven," she said finally. "I was part of a scouting group. Years ago. We were looking for magic-rich ground. The mine was sealed back then, but… something called to us. Only I made it inside. Only I made it out."
Kael raised a brow. "Why didn't you leave sooner?"
Riven gave a hollow laugh. "Because I built something. Deep in the tunnels. A hidden base—tools, supplies, enchanted gear, scrolls. It kept me alive… barely. I studied the mine, the runes, the things down there."
She leaned forward, eyes serious. "If we want to get past the guardian, we'll need what I left behind."
Kael paced the room, thinking. "The creature outside knows I've been trying to get back in. It's smart. Too smart. We can't just rush it."
"No," Riven said. "We don't attack. We don't even distract it."
"We sneak."
She grabbed a scrap of charcoal and began sketching on a wooden plank: a rough layout of the mine's surface entrance and a narrow path through the forest Kael had never noticed.
"There's a collapsed shaft a mile out, under the roots of an old dead tree. I used it to escape. It still drops into the upper tunnels, just past the first guardian's patrol zone. If we can get down there, I can guide us to my base."
Kael studied the map, then nodded slowly.
"All right," he said. "We gear up, scout the shaft, and go in under cover of night. We move quiet. No light. No sound. Just shadow and steel."
Riven gave a grim smile. "Good. Because whatever's waiting below… it hasn't forgotten me."