Bria kept her distance as she followed, careful where she placed each step, mindful of every sound that might carry ahead of her. The forest closed around her quickly, the light thinning beneath the canopy, the air cooler and touched with the scent of damp earth and fallen leaves.
Kaelan did not slow.
He moved with purpose, his strides steady and sure, as though the forest offered no obstacle to him, no uncertainty. Itstruck her then how different he seemed here—more at ease, more aware—his attention not wandering as others’ might, but fixed, intent.
Bria eased closer, drawn as much by curiosity as by the quiet pull she could not ignore.
He slowed at last. Not by much, but enough that she noticed. Then he stopped.
Bria stilled at once, remaining where she was, watching as he lowered himself slightly, one hand brushing the ground as though reading something there that she could not see from where she stood.
Her gaze followed the movement, searching.
There was nothing obvious. No broken branch, no disturbance she could easily mark. And yet he studied the ground as though it spoke to him.
Bria took another careful step forward. Then another.
He did not turn. Did not so much as shift in acknowledgment of her presence.
Still, she continued, drawn closer, unable to ignore the need to see what he saw… or to understand what he sought.
He rose slowly.
For a moment, she thought he would move on without a word.
Instead, without turning, he spoke. “It would be safer if you remained closer.”
The quiet authority in his voice halted her where she stood more surely than if he had faced her outright.
Bria frowned slightly. “You knew I followed.”
“I knew the moment you stepped beyond the trees,” he said, having heard her movements and knowing, without question, it was her.
She crossed the remaining distance between them, though she did not come fully to his side, her gaze dropping briefly to the ground where he had been looking.
“I made no effort to hide it,” she said.
“Aye, you did,” he returned calmly. “You simply do not know how to do it well.”
Her head lifted at that, a spark of irritation stirring, something she rarely if ever felt. “And you believe you do?”
“I know I do.” The certainty in his voice left little room for argument.
Bria chose not to pursue it further—for now.
“What did you find?” she asked instead.
Kaelan inclined his head slightly toward the ground. “Look closer.”
Bria stepped forward, her attention narrowing as she studied the earth more carefully this time. The soil had been disturbed, though not in any way that would have drawn her notice at a glance. Leaves pressed down unevenly, the faintest impressions marking where something heavy had passed.
“These are not from any animal I know,” she said quietly.
“They are not,” he agreed.
Her gaze shifted, following the trail as far as she could see, the marks fading where the ground hardened.
“It came this way, close to the village,” she said, fear of what could have happened sending a shiver through her.
