At those words, the camp froze.
Conversations died suddenly, hands stilled. Even the fire seemed to crackle more softly because of that sudden silence.
Dominic frowned as he pushed himself to his feet as well. His eyes swept upward again instinctively and searching. The sky had not changed at all. No shapes or movement. Just stars scattered across a vast, dark canvas.
Was this 'company' flying? That made no sense.
Bandits didn't come from the sky. From what Dominic had heard they hid in trees, behind rocks, and along bends in the road. They rushed wagons, screamed threats, and used arrows. That was how it always went.
So why had the Arcanist looked up?
Unless he wasn't looking at the source itself and he was just reading signs. Ether disturbance maybe, or pressure. Something approaching from somewhere unseen.
Whatever it was, it was enough to put those seasoned Arcanists on edge.
Dominic's stomach tightened.
The burly crewman straightened and raised his voice. "All non-combatants, gather here. Now. Children first."
Everyone followed.
Dominic moved with the others as the caravan crew herded them toward the center of the camp.
The two commoner youths stayed close, with faces pale. Even the three noble boys obeyed, though they wore scowls and muttered complaints under their breath.
Not like Dominic, they never had encountered a battle. While him, he already had a near-death experience.
Around them, guards shifted into position.
Dominic counted without meaning to. More shapes emerged from the dark as they spread out, forming a wide ring around the camp. Nearly fifty guards in total, each armed with spears, swords, and crossbows.
They stood shoulder to shoulder, a living wall of steel.
Beyond them, the three Arcanists moved.
They didn't join the circle. They paced just outside it, eyes sharp, senses stretched.
The man with a sharp-cut feature scanned the treeline. The woman crouched briefly, fingers brushing the ground as if feeling for something beneath the soil.
The long-haired Arcanist remained standing, head tilted upward.
All three of them glanced toward the sky again.
Dominic strained to listen, but their voices were low, urgent, carried away by the night wind. He could only hear fragments reaching him.
"…no sound yet," the woman murmured.
"…ether's distorted," the sharp-faced man replied. "Above us."
The long-haired Arcanist exhaled slowly. "It's not ground-based. This thing is different."
He finally spoke louder, enough for the guards nearest to hear.
"It's flying," he said.
The word settled over the camp.
There were flying monsters closing in on them. That had never happened before.
The people around him panicked.
"Are those monsters that come from the Labyrinth?" A plump woman said with hands clutched at her chest.
"So it means there are leaks from the Labyrinth?" Another said.
"Why is it happening right now?!" A middle aged man said with grounded teeth, cursing his bad luck.
Dominic's fingers curled at his side.
The long-haired Arcanist's name surfaced as one of the guards addressed him. "Kel. Where does this monster come from?"
Kel's eyes narrowed, tracking something only he could sense. "Not directly overhead us. It's just circling us right now."
His hand tightened on the hilt of his sword.
"Stay sharp," Kel said. "It's already seeing us as prey."
A low murmur rippled through the gathered circle.
Whispers and uneasy breaths overlapped. The guards tightened their grips on their weapons, eyes darting between the treeline and the sky above. This was not what they had signed up for.
They had expected bandits made of men with blades and bows. Those were the threats that could be met steel to steel. Not this!
Most of the guards have their Bloodmarks. They had abilities, training, and experience. But monsters from the Labyrinth were a different matter entirely. They were unpredictable and some were resistant against steel. Sometimes immune to techniques that worked perfectly well on humans.
That was why they had chosen surface work like this escort duty and caravan protection. Safer pay for safer risks.
No one had mentioned a possible leakage at this route.
The tension spread, thick and heavy and sinking into the camp.
The three Arcanists felt it too.
Kel drew his sword in one smooth motion. The blade caught the firelight, ether faintly humming along its edge.
His posture shifted at once, loose calm replaced by sharpened focus.
He turned his head slightly.
"Riven," he said, addressing the sharp-cut man. "Be ready. If it landed, use your Signature immediately."
Riven blinked, caught off guard for half a heartbeat because Kel directly ordered him to use his Signature. His brows lifted, surprise flashing across his face. Using a Signature this early meant Kel was taking the threat seriously.
Then Riven exhaled and nodded once. "Understood."
His hand moved to his own sword, ether gathering subtly around his arm.
Kel turned next to the woman. "Mara. You stay here. Protect the caravan and the civilians."
Mara straightened from her crouch and nodded without hesitation. "I've got them."
She planted her staff against the ground and faint sigils flickering to life beneath her boots.
Kel lifted his gaze back to the sky.
The camp fell quiet again, waiting.
It happened without warning.
No screech of wings, or ripple in the air. No sign at all.
One moment the space in front of the guard line was empty. The next moment, something slammed into the ground with a heavy thud, as if it had fallen straight down from the sky.
The impact sent dust scattering.
Everyone froze, including Dominic.
The creature crouched low where it landed. Its body was black, its hide matte and lightless. Along its back ran dark feathers with a faint green sheen threading through them. They bristled and shifted as it moved.
Its head resembled a raven's with hooked beak slightly open, but its body was too long and heavy. It had four legs supporting it, thick and powerful like a wolf's leg, claws digging into the soil.
It did not belong in this surface world.
For a heartbeat, nothing moved.
Then the creature lifted its head and screamed.
"KHIEEEKH!!!"
The sound tore through the camp. It started like a raven's caw, but stretched too long, warped and shrill, layered with deeper sounds beneath it.
The cry scraped against Dominic's ears and made his skin crawl.
Several people flinched. One of the commoners gasped and fainted. A noble boy swore under his breath.
"Move!" Kel shouted. He reacted quickly despite the shocking cry, shoving Riven forward with a sharp push of his hand. "Now!"
Riven didn't hesitate. Ether detonated beneath his feet.
His Signature activated in a violent burst, a compressed shockwave erupting outward.
The ground cracked where he launched, dust and loose stones blasted back toward the guards.
Riven became a blur.
The shockwave hurled him forward at incredible speed straight toward the creature, his sword already drawn back as ether roared around his arm.
The beast snapped its head toward him, flaring its feathers.
—