POV: Aphrodite
The argument the twins started while hiding from Nightfang scouts doesn't fade as we travel. If anything, it gets worse as the day wears on and stress accumulates without outlet.
By the time we make camp that evening, the tension between Draco and Lucen is thick enough to choke on. The clearing we've chosen is small and defensible, ringed by dense undergrowth and old-growth trees whose roots create natural barriers. The ground is covered in a thick layer of moss that muffles our footsteps, and a small stream trickles nearby, providing fresh water and ambient noise that might mask our presence.
"I'll take first watch," Draco announces as we settle into a new clearing several miles from where the scouts nearly found us.
"I'll take it," Lucen counters immediately. "You need rest after being too scared to fight earlier."
"I wasn't scared," Draco responds, his voice dangerously calm. "I was thinking strategically. Something you wouldn't understand."
