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Chapter 8 - The Hunter’s Bargain

They didn't stay in Draemir. By sundown, Lucas and Kaelen were already slipping past the southern gate, blending with a caravan of merchants hauling spice crates.

Lucas glanced over his shoulder every few steps. The feeling of being watched had clung to him like a shadow all day.

"You keep twitching like that," Kaelen muttered, "and you might as well wave a sign saying 'Suspicious Person Here.'"

"I'm telling you," Lucas whispered, "someone's following us."

Kaelen didn't respond, but his grip on his staff tightened.

The road south wound through marshland, thick mist curling low over the ground. The caravan's chatter faded as they entered a stretch of road lined by skeletal trees. That's when Lucas heard it — the faint crunch of boots on damp soil, just behind them, too light to belong to the caravan's heavy wagons.

Kaelen stopped abruptly. "We're being tailed," he said flatly.

A voice drifted from the fog. "And here I thought I was doing so well."

From the mist stepped a woman in a black leather coat, her hood thrown back to reveal a cascade of silver hair. She held a crossbow, not quite aimed at them — yet.

Lucas's first instinct was to reach for his dagger. Kaelen's was to shove him behind.

"Who sent you?" Kaelen demanded.

The woman tilted her head. "Relax. If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't have heard me coming." Her eyes, sharp and amber, fixed on Lucas. "You're the one who found it, aren't you? The Rainbow Orb."

Lucas's pulse spiked. "Never heard of it."

She smirked. "Cute. But I can feel its resonance. The affinities bleed off you like perfume."

Kaelen stepped forward, staff raised. "If you're here to take it—"

"I'm here to keep you alive," she interrupted. "At least until you reach the Ember Cliffs. After that… well, we'll see."

Lucas blinked. "You want to help us? Why?"

"Because," she said, lowering her crossbow, "the Ashlord isn't the only one hunting you. There's something older, and far worse, moving in the dark. And if it gets to that Orb first…" She shrugged. "Let's just say nobody's walking away from that."

Kaelen's eyes narrowed. "And what do you want in return?"

Her smile was razor-thin. "A favor. One you can't refuse — when the time comes."

Lucas hesitated. Every instinct screamed don't trust her. But there was a glint in her eyes — not greed, but urgency. And if she was right about a worse enemy…

"Fine," Lucas said. "You've got a deal."

Kaelen muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like idiot, but he didn't argue.

The woman slung her crossbow over her back. "Name's Seris. Try to keep up."

As they followed her into the fog, Lucas glanced at Kaelen. "So, do we trust her?"

Kaelen's reply was grim. "No. But right now, she might be the only thing standing between us and a grave."

Somewhere behind them, far back on the road, another set of footsteps echoed — heavier, slower… and patient.

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