"You can come out now."
For a few heartbeats, nothing happened.
Then a cluster of massive ferns shook nearby, and someone stepped out.
He was a boy with copper-tan skin, cotton-white white hair, and piercing cerulean eyes.
Tall and athletic, with sharp features, he carried the sort of handsomeness that felt more untamed than refined — as though he belonged to the wilderness, not the world of men.
Maybe that was why his presence didn't feel out of place here, and why I had trouble spotting him.
Or maybe it was because he was an exceptional scout who had mastered the art of moving without being noticed.
In any case, he seemed far more relaxed than anyone else I'd met in this hellish forest.
I flashed the kind of smile that was reserved for close friends.
