The second leg took them into the forest's interior.
The northeastern cluster had given them cover and elevation. The interior gave them something different. Density. The canopy here was old growth, trees wide enough that the spacing between them produced a specific quality of enclosed space. Walls without walls. Movement possible in all directions, visibility limited to thirty meters in any of them. The undergrowth grew thick where light penetrated, sparse where it didn't, creating natural corridors that could be routes or traps depending on who was using them.
You couldn't see across it. Couldn't be seen across it. The forest absorbed everything and gave nothing back. Sound didn't carry well here. The thick canopy and dense undergrowth muffled footsteps, voices, the specific sounds of people moving through terrain.
