They left the ruins early.
Lyra hadn't slept.
Kaal had, but not well. He looked worse in the morning, dark circles under his eyes, and a slight tremor in his hands when he packed his things.
Lyra noticed. She didn't mention it.
Trees were fewer now, and the ones that remained were twisted and thin, bark stripped bare by wind.
The sky stayed grey, and even though it didn't rain, the wind blew strong and the cold clung to everything.
Lyra walked ahead, as usual. She didn't talk much. Neither did Kaal.
The silence between them wasn't awkward. It was practical. There wasn't much to say when every shadow looked like it could come to life.
Around midday, they came to a narrow pass where the cliff on one side rose steep, and the drop on the other went far deeper than Lyra wanted to think about.
They moved carefully, one step at a time, leading the horse by the reins.
Then the wind shifted.
It wasn't loud. Just sudden, sharp, like something exhaling right beside her ear.
Lyra stopped.
Kaal did too. "What?"
"Shh."
She turned slowly, eyes scanning the ridge behind them.
Nothing.
But the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
"Kaal," she said quietly, "don't run. But walk fast. Now."
He didn't ask questions. He moved.
They made it to the other side of the pass without anything jumping out of the shadows. But even after they cleared the rocks and hit open ground, Lyra kept checking behind them.
Something was following.
She didn't know what. She didn't see anything. But it was there.
She could feel it.
By late afternoon, they reached a wide, flat stretch of ground with stone pillars all around, natural ones, maybe. Or not.
Some had carvings. Some looked melted.
None of them felt right.
"We'll stop here for a bit," Lyra said. She crouched beside one of the pillars, tracing a finger over a small spiral etched into its base. It looked like the ones back at the ruins.
Kaal sat nearby. He was out of breath. "Is this part of the old road?"
"Maybe," she said. "Or a warning."
He raised an eyebrow. "Comforting."
She stood and looked around. No movement. No sound but the wind.
Still, her pulse stayed high.
"Something's following us," she said finally.
Kaal went still.
"I don't know what," she continued, "but it's keeping its distance. For now."
He didn't respond.
She looked at him. "You're taking that better than I expected."
"I'm used to waiting for the worst."
Lyra snorted. "You're a ray of sunshine."
That night, they didn't make camp properly. Just stopped near a pile of rocks and stayed low.
No fire. No light. Just dark sky and colder wind.
Kaal stayed awake longer than usual. So did Lyra.
"You think it's a person?" he asked finally.
She shook her head.
They sat in silence for a while.
Then he said, "If I don't make it to Eternity…"
Lyra cut him off. "You will."
"You don't know that."
"I know if you say stuff like that and start giving up now, I would have wasted my time. And I hate wasting time."
He almost smiled.
She didn't.
Something howled far off in the dark.
Not a wolf.
Neither of them moved. They put out the fire and lay down.
They didn't speak again that night.
And neither of them slept.
The next morning started quiet.
Kaal paused mid-step, eyes narrowing as he scanned the ground.
Lyra kept walking until she realized he wasn't behind her. "What now?"
"Come look at this."
She stepped back beside him. At first, she didn't see anything strange, just rocks, dirt, more rocks. Then she looked closer.
The stones weren't random.
They were arranged. Circles. Symbols. Some of them matched the carvings they'd seen on the ruins.
"This is a path," Kaal said.
"You think it leads somewhere?" she asked.
"I think it's meant to."
Lyra touched one of the stones. It pulsed faintly with warmth. "You think it leads somewhere, or just gives us hope?"
His lips twitched. "Aren't they the same thing?"
She straightened, dusting her hands. "Your optimism is showing. Might want to tuck that back in before it gets us killed."
He didn't say it, but she could tell, he wanted to follow it.
"You want follow an unknown path into the middle of nowhere. I don't think you've had a worse Idea ever."
"Probably."
They followed the stones anyway.
The trail curved between jagged cliffs, narrow and unnatural. Lyra scanned the bend with narrowed eyes. "This shouldn't be here."
"It's not on the map," Kaal admitted.
"Of course it's not."
After half an hour, the pass widened, and the air changed.
Lyra's boots crunched to a stop.
Kaal stepped beside her, and his stomach dropped.
Below them was a camp.
Or what had once been a camp.
Tents torn apart. Blood splashed on stone. A supply wagon smashed in half. No bodies. Just gear and signs of a fight.
But that wasn't what made her reach for her blade.
In the center of the wreckage stood a figure.
Still. Silent. Wrapped in layers of cloth and shadow, faceless.
Kaal's voice was barely a whisper. "It's watching us."
Lyra didn't reply. Just backed up slowly, never breaking eye contact with the thing below. "Step back. Quietly."
The figure moved.
Not turned. Not ran.
One moment it was below.
The next, it was standing on the ledge behind them.
Lyra spun, blades out.
Kaal stumbled back, eyes wide.
But the ledge was narrow, and his foot slipped.
He fell.
"Kaal!"