Aren led them in silence.
For hours, they crossed red grasslands that sliced like blades in the wind.The continent's golden sun bore down without mercy, heating the الأرض until it seemed to hum.In the distance, deep roars reminded them they were moving through Leontari territory.
Emily noticed Aren's limp worsening with every step.
"You don't have to push yourself," she murmured gently.
Aren shook her head, almost afraid to stop.
"I can't… no one survives if night catches us out here."
When the savannah finally gave way, it wasn't to a village.
It was a fracture.
A massive, damp, lightless fissure hidden beneath roots so ancient they seemed to hold up the sky itself.Aren dropped to her knees and struck a stone in a steady, rhythmic pattern.
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes.
"A signal?"
Aren nodded.
"So they don't attack us. Here… no one lives by accident."
Two pairs of eyes gleamed from the darkness.Human. Small. Afraid. Distrustful.
A rope dropped from above—rough, but firm.
"Quick," Aren urged. "Before they smell that we're not alone."
They descended one by one.
Elizabeth first—to secure the ground.Then Emily.Kara, Isabella, Adela, Dayana.Lusian came last, watching, feeling the pulse of ancient mana sleeping beneath the stone.
The cave was enormous.
A makeshift refuge of rock, bone, and frayed blankets.The air smelled of damp, of hunger, of fear that had settled and stayed.Malnourished children hid behind adults who had lost their youth too early.
Humans.
Not primitive.Just… survivors.
Aren ran to two thin figures: a woman with hollow eyes and a man carved by old scars.
"Mom! Dad! I'm alive—I'm okay!"
Her mother broke into tears, clutching her desperately.Her father barely lifted his gaze—too used to the idea that nothing from outside ever brought anything good.
Only when he saw Elizabeth—tall, armed, unyielding—did his body react like a cornered animal.
"Wha… who are they…?"
Aren spoke quickly.
"They saved me. Found me before the Lamihya…" —she swallowed— "…before they caught me again."
The father went pale.
"The Lamihya saw you? Did they follow? Did you bring them here?!"
This wasn't paranoia.
It was habit.
Kara, surprisingly gentle, spoke:
"No one followed us. The Leontaris backed off when they saw us."
A murmur rippled through the tribe.
Backed off.
The Leontaris.
It was like saying night had retreated from fire.
An old woman stepped forward slowly, leaning on a twisted staff.Her eyes held no fear. Only years.
"Don't lie," she said, her voice rough as stone."The demi-humans do not retreat. Humans are their prey. We always have been."
Lusian took a single step.
The cave tightened.
He said nothing.But his presence… changed the air.It was as if the cavern remembered an ancient predator.
The old woman studied him for a long moment.
"You… are not one of us."
Adela shifted, ready to intervene—but Lusian raised a hand.
"No," he said calmly. "I'm not."
The old woman exhaled, trembling.
"Then… perhaps you are what we need."
Aren looked at her, confused.
"What do you mean?"
The old woman pointed to the cave wall.
Ancient paintings covered the stone:
Humans fleeing.Demi-humans hunting.Gods above them.
And at the center of every scene…
A dark figure.Golden eyes.Standing between men and beasts.
"This prophecy is older than our savannah," the woman whispered."It speaks of one who is neither man… nor god.The one who breaks the cycle of devouring and being devoured."
Elizabeth frowned.
"And you think it's him?"
The old woman gave a toothless smile.
"I don't think.I know it in my bones."
Isabella crossed her arms, uneasy.
"And what do you expect from him? To end all your monsters? To defeat every demi-human out there?"
The old woman shook her head.
"We don't want a savior.We want to survive."
A frail little girl stepped forward—without fear—and took Lusian's hand with trembling fingers.
"Will you help us?" she asked, her voice too small for the weight of hope it carried.
It wasn't a plea.
It was… something older.
The last question her people had left.
The entire cave fell silent.
Elizabeth clenched her jaw.Emily bit her lip.Kara stopped smiling.Isabella looked away.Adela waited—knowing nothing could stop what came next.Dayana rested her fingers on an arrow, ready.
Lusian—the demigod feared by gods—looked at the humans who had lost everything but their lives.
And he spoke.
"First," he said, slow and steady, "tell me who hunts you."
The entire tribe exhaled—as if they had been holding their breath for years.
And far out in the savannah, something roared.
As if the continent had heard the question.
As if it were… answering.