Page 64 of A Sunwoven Ascent

One by one, the pack filtered along the narrow trail, elders steadying their steps, younger wolves careful to keep silent. The outpost lanterns flickered through the trees, close enough now to taste the smoke in the air. Once they cleared the back of the trading post, Kaldrek did not allow them to slow.

“Keep moving,” he ordered.

He could see the exhaustion settling over the pack, in the older wolves and the young alike, but stopping was not an option. He knew that metallic scent too well. It was the same foul trace that had filled the tunnels near Nerathar, the unmistakable scent of blood magic, and it had never once meant anything good.

***

A cool breeze brushed the back of Evelyne’s neck, raising a shiver across her skin. She kept her eyes on Kaldrek as he walked ahead with Alaric and Holden, the three of them bent into low conversation while the pack pressed on at a brisk pace.

His shoulders were too stiff. Something was wrong. She could feel it through the bond, the tension he was trying, and failing, to keep contained.

“I’m going to catch up with Kaldrek,” she said, aiming for casual. “See what the plan is.”

“Can’t you just ask him through the bond?” Heidara asked.

“I can…” Evelyne hesitated. “But he hasn’t answered.”

The half-lie tasted bitter. He had answered, just not fully, and she did not want Heidara catching the spike of fear bleeding through their bond.

“Well then go,” Heidara said with a faint sigh. “And make sure he tells the rest of us. I would very much like to rest before I collapse.”

Evelyne offered a tight smile and quickened her pace, weaving forward through the moving bodies until she reached Kaldrek. He turned just before she reached him, the corner of his mouth lifting as if he had known she wouldn’t wait much longer.

“I tried my best,” she murmured beneath her breath. “Now please tell me what’s going on.”

No one answered. Instead, Alaric dropped suddenly into a crouch, scooping up a handful of mud. He lifted it toward her face.

Evelyne frowned, then inhaled.

It was faint, but she knew the scent at once. The same smell of bloodroot veins winding through stone, of bat-faced creatures peeling themselves from tunnel walls.

Her stomach turned. “Why can’t we scent it in the air?” she asked quietly.

“Because I think it’s under—”

Kaldrek froze.

Another gust swept over them, colder than the last, and Evelyne knew at once it was no ordinary breeze. The sun had already slipped beneath the horizon, and her wolf-sight sharpened to meet the dark. That was when she saw them. Not shadows cast by the trees, but living ones, moving in thin black tendrils across the ground, threading between roots and stone, curling toward them with clear intent.

Hide the young. Draw your daggers.

Kaldrek’s command rang through her mind and she knew it was not meant for her alone. The entire pack shifted into readiness in a heartbeat.

Evelyne’s pulse thundered as she scanned the line behind them. Cillian walked beside his horse, the animal whining and stamping, eyes rolling white with panic. She moved to run—

Holden’s arm locked around her waist, stopping her mid-stride. Kaldrek was already moving ahead, disappearing into the dark to assess the perimeter.

Why was he going alone?

“We have to go with him!” Evelyne shoved against Holden’s grip, fury and fear colliding in her chest.

“Not yet,” Holden bit out. “This is what he does. He’ll signal when it’s time.”

Signal? But she could feel the shadows tightening around them.

“And let me guess,” she snapped, struggling again, “he ordered you to protect me.”

Holden’s brows lifted in silent confirmation.