The orb pulsed quietly in the morning haze.
Raif crouched before it, the earth cool beneath his knees. The glow was steady, no urgency, no tremble. But when he placed his hand on its surface, the message came all the same:
[Minor Jungle Assault Approaches – 4 Days Remaining]
He said it aloud so the others could hear. "Four days."
Behind him, the clearing stirred. The air still held a weight from the night before. No one spoke unless they had to.
Mira was already awake beside Syl, checking her temperature and pulse.
Syl twitched once in her sleep. Mira paused, watching her closely. The girl's eyes fluttered open for the briefest moment. Her lips moved, cracked and dry.
"Rina... don't let them-"
Then she gasped, her body shivering beneath the layer of moss.
Lira jolted upright. "Syl?"
But the girl had already slipped back into unconsciousness, face twisted with whatever she'd seen. Mira touched her shoulder gently.
"She's drifting in and out," she murmured. "Whatever she's seeing… it's not here." The girl hadn't stirred since the procedure. Lira dozed close by, propped against the inner shelter wall, arms crossed and eyes shadowed.
"She's stable," Mira said without looking up. "But if the fever spikes again… we won't have another chance."
Raif didn't answer. He stood and turned to face the others as they emerged one by one, Goss, Eloin, Naera, Kael, and Rix, all still carrying the exhaustion in their movements. None of them met his gaze for long. Goss rubbed the back of his neck, fingers brushing over an old scar. Naera glanced toward the shelter, lips pressed tight. Even Rix, usually cocky and composed, stood stiffly, arms folded a little too tightly across his chest.
They gathered near the orb, forming a loose circle.
Rix stepped forward, tone clipped. "Spore growth is accelerating. Not randomly. It's spiralling outward. We saw the pattern stretching into at least two more quadrants."
Kael raised a hand and drew a rough curl in the air with two fingers.
"It's not wild expansion," Rix continued. "It's shaped. Growing with intent. And I tried to disrupt one of the root segments on the edge."
Raif frowned. "You tried to cut it?"
"No. Just disturbed the soil. Thought maybe... disrupt the rhythm. But something pushed back. Growth accelerated right beneath me. We got out before it reached our boots."
Kael gave a sharp nod. No elaboration.
Raif gave him a long look, then motioned subtly for Rix to step aside with him.
Once out of earshot, Rix leaned against the inner wall, exhaling slowly.
"I didn't tell the others everything," he said. "What pushed back… it wasn't just the growth accelerating. It felt like something was watching."
Raif folded his arms. "Watching?"
"I know how that sounds. But it wasn't just instinct. It was... targeted. I broke a piece of it, something thick, like a vein. There was a pause, and then the ground pulsed. Like it was deciding."
Raif stayed quiet. Rix continued.
"We have to figure out what it wants. Or what it's defending. If there's a centre to that spiral, I don't think it wants us getting anywhere near it."
"So it reacts," Naera muttered. "It knows."
"It's acting like a defence network," Rix added. "And the deeper it spreads, the harder it'll be to reverse. If that's even possible."
Goss frowned. "You sure it wasn't just more rot? You've said the jungle reacts before."
Rix's gaze sharpened. "This was different."
Nobody pressed the issue. The silence that followed was brittle, uneasy.
Before Raif could respond, movement drew their attention.
In the dim light of the crafting space, Hennick had worked through the night, hands cracked from bark splinters, sweat dried into the lines of his face. He muttered to himself now and then, not words but the rhythm of focus.
The fang had been harder to shape than he'd expected. Too curved. Too brittle at the tip. He'd snapped one trying to bore a hole through the base. The second he reinforced with a spiral-sinew band, wrapping it against a flattened length of cured bark.
"Ugly thing," he grunted. "But it'll kill just fine."
He worked by the heat of a glowing ember bowl, checking each knot and binding by touch. The shield came together next, a spiral chitin plate polished with tree wax, its barkwolf-hide rim still reeking faintly of old blood.
By the time he'd bundled the finished gear, his shoulders ached. But he stood taller than he had the day before. Hennick emerged from behind the southern wall, arms full of bark and bundled sinew. Goss turned, eyes widening.
"Took your time," he called.
"Didn't sleep," Hennick replied. "Didn't stop, either."
He dumped the pile at Raif's feet. It was gear, crude, heavy, but better than anything they'd had before.
Two bark-chitin vests reinforced with insect plates and wrapped in spiral sinew. A long bone-shard spear. A fang-tipped club, crude but balanced. And a circular shield made from spiral chitin, its edges layered with barkwolf hide.
Raif crouched and tested the spear's weight. It didn't wobble.
"These'll hold," he said. "They'll do more than that."
"We'll need one," Mira muttered. She stood in the doorway now, eyes still on Syl. "That assault won't wait."
Raif nodded. He turned to the group, but didn't launch into orders.
"We've got four days. If we're going to be ready, everyone needs to be where they're strongest. Talk to me."
Mira spoke first. "I'll stay with Syl. If the fever spikes again, I need to be there."
Lira nodded from the back. "Naera and I can handle foraging. We know what to look for."
Rix added, "Kael and I will take the spiral again. Other side this time. Less overlap."
Kael tapped the ground twice in agreement.
"I'll help Hennick with more of the gear," Goss said. "Test what we've made. Fix what fails."
Raif looked to Eloin. "You up for the wall?"
Eloin gave a short nod. "Still standing. I'll reinforce the worst-hit spots. Lira?"
She sighed but didn't argue. "Fine. But I'm not hauling the mud alone."
Raif glanced around the circle. "We rotate on Syl's care. Mira leads there. Everyone else sticks to their role. If anything shifts, jungle activity, noise, new growth, report it."
The group nodded, each committing silently.
Before they could break, Hennick spoke up again.
Lira lingered by Syl's side as the others moved on. Mira adjusted the bindings, dabbing the girl's forehead with cool moss.
"She said 'Rina' again," Lira said softly.
Mira didn't look up. "Same name as before."
"I think I knew her. From before the summoning," Lira added. "Not well. But Syl... she followed her everywhere."
They sat in silence a while. The wind rustled through the leaves above.
"She's remembering something," Mira finally said. "We all are, piece by piece." "The chitin shield needs better strapping. I can redo it by tomorrow. Maybe line it with softened bark to reduce rattle."
"Good," Raif said. "Do it."
They scattered to their tasks.
Within the hour, the sound of sparring echoed softly near the shelter.
Raif gripped the fang-tipped club, circling Goss. The older man held the shield tight against his forearm.
"Try it," Goss challenged.
Raif swung. The club hit the shield with a hard crack. Goss staggered, caught off balance, and didn't raise it again. Raif stepped back, club still half-lifted.
"You alright?"
Goss blinked, eyes distant. "Yeah. Just…" He looked down at the shield, then past it, toward the shelter. "When she screamed last night, I thought it was Thomund. Just for a second. Thought I was hearing him again."
Raif said nothing.
Goss adjusted his grip. "And now she's lying there pale and shaking and I'm supposed to train like this is normal."
He raised the shield again, slower this time. "Let's go again."
Raif hesitated, then nodded. He swung, lighter, more deliberate.
The shield caught it, though a bark strap snapped and flapped loose.
"Better binding," Goss muttered, stepping back.
Naera sparred with Mira nearby, both holding short spears. Mira's movements were tight, focused, but a little too sharp, like her tension hadn't eased since dawn. She lunged suddenly, the spear's tip grazing Naera's shoulder and making her stumble.
Naera straightened with a hiss. "You trying to skewer me?"
Mira's eyes widened. "I… sorry. That wasn't…"
"You're not the only one wound tight," Naera said, voice lower now. "Just don't bleed me before the jungle gets its shot."
From the side, Goss muttered, "We're all still cracked from last night. Don't pretend otherwise."
"You're rushing," Mira called, her tone sharper than usual.
"Trying to get in before I think," Naera replied. "You're too careful."
From the sidelines, Lira smirked. "You're both predictable. Next time give me the spear."
"You're on tomorrow," Raif said, catching his breath.
Eloin, observing from a distance, was already taking notes. "We need shorter grips for smaller frames. Mira's balance is off with that length."
He paused, then added quietly, "The shield holds. That's what matters. Even when we don't."
He pointed to the fang club. "And that handle will tear through someone's palm without padding."
A while later, Raif returned to the orb. The surface shimmered as he approached.
[Crafting Milestone Reached – Defensive Tools]
[+3 KE Earned]
[Reminder: Minor Jungle Assault Approaches – 4 Days Remaining]
[Optional Objective Unlocked: Equip 6 Units with Enhanced Equipment (0/6)]
He stared at it for a moment.
The numbers ticked upward, just a little. Their KE sat at 92 now, close to summoning range, but still not enough to risk anything else.
But it was progress.
Raif glanced around the camp. Naera pulling vines from a fencepost. Goss hammering bark flat against a plank. Hennick threading sinew through a chitin plate. Kael vanishing into the trees.
He wasn't just reacting anymore. He'd given them tasks, tools, direction. But that didn't mean it would be enough. Not against something that adapted as fast as it hunted.
He exhaled, voice low.
"Then we'd better get to work."
The hours that followed passed in effort and focus. There were no loud commands, no celebration, only the steady repetition of preparation. Sinew stretched. Bark was stripped. Mud thickened under their nails. Each person moved like they knew how much still rested on too little.
By nightfall, the camp had changed. Not in appearance, but in rhythm. Tasks passed from hand to hand without word. Meals were shared, but few sat to eat. The jungle pressed from all sides, quiet for now, but listening.
And somewhere in that stillness, a new pattern formed. The kind that carried forward not just through instinct, but through choice. Days would pass. The jungle would not wait. But neither would they. They had to be ready.
[System Alert – Imminent Threat Detected]
[Estimated Time: 1 Hour]
[Suggested Action: Prepare Defences]
[Potential Reward: Moderate KE Bonus]