The Leontaris had retreated.Not out of respect.Not from calculated fear.
But from something older—a primitive instinct.
Something in them had screamed that this human was neither prey…nor rival.
And yet, Lusian did not advance.
Because the human girl—the one who had run until her throat tore—collapsed to her knees before him.
She was trembling.Caked in red earth stuck to sweat.Her breath came in broken threads between gasps and fear.
Elizabeth moved first, lowering herself beside her with slow, almost protective motions.
"Easy," she said softly, without force. "It's over."
The girl lifted her head.She looked at Elizabeth… then at Lusian… and her expression fractured between disbelief and terror.
"You… you're not from here," she whispered, as if the idea itself were dangerous."The Leontaris don't back down. No one makes them back down."
Emily reached out a hand—but the girl recoiled sharply, like an animal that had learned every touch meant pain.
Adela knelt beside her, carrying that warm calm that could quiet a storm.
"No one is going to hurt you," she said. "Not again."
The girl blinked.Her eyes filled with tears.
"I… I'm just a gatherer from my cave.The Lamihya found me… and… and they started playing with me…"
Her voice broke.
Then she looked at Lusian—and the tremor changed.Not fear.
Something closer to pure confusion.
"What… what are you?"
Lusian did not answer.
Kara did, with a crooked smile.
"Trust me—you don't want the long version without water and a proper shelter."
"Or without somewhere to hide," Dayana added from her perch, never taking her eyes off the horizon. "This place is closing in on us."
But the girl shook her head, desperate.
"No! You can't stay here!The Lamihya will come back when they see I didn't return.And if they find your tracks…"
She clutched her chest, trembling.
"The Drakari guard the northern ruins.The Leontaris patrol the savannah.And the Zarkos cross these lands at dusk.If you don't move now…if you don't hide…"
She looked up at Lusian.
"They'll kill all of you."
Elizabeth let out a cold laugh.
"They can try."
The girl stared at her, stunned.
That wasn't arrogance.Wasn't ignorance.Wasn't empty bravery.
It was the voice of someone who did not conceive death as a possible outcome.
Isabella stepped forward, fire flickering between her fingers.
"We need to know who lives here.We need your information."
Aren hesitated.Her breathing quickened.
"If I help you… and the Lamihya find out I spoke…they'll kill my tribe."
Lusian looked at her.His eyes flickered gold.
"If you stay alone," he said—neither harsh nor gentle—"you're already dead."
The girl went completely still.
It wasn't a threat.It was truth.
She would not survive another night in the savannah.
Elizabeth extended her hand—firm, but never forcing.
"Come with us."
The girl hesitated.She looked at the hand.Then at Lusian.
And finally, slowly…
…she took it.
"My name is Aren," she whispered, her voice trembling."And… I know a place where you can hide.From the sun… from the Lamihya… from everything."
Kara's ears tilted.
"Where?"
Aren pointed east—where the savannah curved toward a forest that seemed to swallow light instead of reflect it.
"At the edge of the Shadowed Forest," she whispered."The demi-humans don't go in there."
Isabella arched a brow.
"That name sounds like elven trouble."
Aren shuddered.
"Yes.But it's better to risk the elves…than die as prey under an open sky."
Lusian nodded.
"Then we go to the forest."
Adela drew a slow breath.
"Dark elves don't usually welcome strangers."
Lusian stepped forward, violet mana stirring around him like a living mantle.
"Neither do we."
Aren swallowed—but she walked.
And so, guided by a girl who seemed more shadow than flesh, the group moved deeper into the continent.
A continent where every prey had fangs.Where every predator had territory.And where every shadow… watched.
The savannah trembled behind them.
The Shadowed Forest opened like an ancient mouth.
And something within the darkness had already felt the arrival of the demigod.
Something that had not forgotten the scent of broken divinity.
Something that was waiting.