The Road East. Morning.
William led the soldiers out at dawn.
There were twelve of them—veterans, mostly, men and women who had served the Duke for years. They rode in formation, their armor polished, their weapons ready, their eyes on the road ahead. William rode at the front, his back straight, his hand on his sword.
He had never led soldiers before. He had only followed. He remembered the feeling of being the one in the back, the one who didn't know what he was doing, the one who was learning. Now he was in front. Now they were watching him.
He didn't look back.
The road east was familiar. They had traveled it weeks ago, when the creature was still alive, when they didn't know what they were hunting. Now the road was empty, the fields were bare, the villages were quiet.
The soldiers didn't talk. They just rode.
---
They reached the hills by midday.
The terrain was rough, the path narrow, the trees pressing close on either side. The clearing where the creature had died was ahead—William could see it in his mind, the scorched earth, the blackened ground, the body that had shrunk and crumbled and faded into nothing.
He raised his hand. The column stopped.
"We're close," he said. "Spread out. Watch the trees."
The soldiers fanned out, their swords drawn, their eyes scanning. William rode ahead, his hand on his sword, his heart pounding.
The clearing was empty.
The body was gone—crumbled, maybe, or taken by animals. The scorched earth was fading, the blackened ground already beginning to green. But something else was there. Something new.
Tracks.
Fresh. Human. Leading away from the clearing, toward the hills.
William dismounted. Knelt beside them.
"Someone's been here," he said. "Since we left."
One of the soldiers moved to stand beside him. "How many?"
William studied the tracks. "Three. Maybe four. They came from the north, stayed for a while, then left." He pointed. "That way."
The soldier looked at the hills. "There's nothing that way. Just rocks and caves."
William stood. "Then we go that way."
---
The tracks led to a cave.
It was hidden in the side of a hill, its entrance narrow, its interior dark. The soldiers spread out, their swords drawn, their eyes on the shadows.
William moved to the entrance. Listened.
Nothing. Just silence.
He stepped inside.
The cave was small, dry, sheltered. Bedrolls were spread on the floor—three of them, their blankets still rumpled. A fire pit sat in the center, its ashes cold. Empty bottles and food wrappers littered the ground. A pack leaned against the wall, its contents spilling out—clothes, rope, a hunting knife.
Someone had been living here. Someone had been watching.
William knelt beside the pack. "They left in a hurry."
One of the soldiers moved to the fire pit. "The ashes are cold. Days, maybe. Not weeks."
William looked around the cave. "They knew we were coming."
The soldier frowned. "How?"
William shook his head. "I don't know."
---
At the back of the cave, one of the soldiers found something.
A map. Scratched into the stone, crude but clear. It showed the hills, the clearing, the road to the palace. It showed the place where they had killed the creature. It showed the palace itself, marked with an X.
William stared at it.
"Someone was tracking us," he said quietly. "Someone knew where we were going."
The soldier moved to stand beside him. "Who?"
William shook his head. "I don't know. But we need to tell the Duke."
---
They searched the cave for another hour.
They found more supplies—food, water, extra clothes. They found a journal, its pages filled with cramped handwriting, its entries ending days ago. William flipped through it, looking for names, for places, for anything that would tell them who had been here.
Nothing. Just observations. The creature's movements. The soldiers' patrols. The heroes' return.
Whoever had been here had been watching for a long time.
William tucked the journal into his pack. "We're taking this with us."
The soldiers nodded. They gathered the supplies, mounted their horses, rode back toward the palace.
---
They reached the palace as the sun began to set.
The gates were open, the guards were at their posts, the courtyard was busy. William dismounted, handed his horse to a stable boy, walked to the Duke's study.
The Duke was there, alone, reading reports by the fire.
"We found something," William said.
The Duke looked up. "What?"
William set the journal on the desk. "A cave. Someone was living there. Watching us. Watching the creature." He paused. "They had a map. Of the hills. Of the clearing. Of the palace."
The Duke opened the journal. Flipped through the pages. His face was unreadable.
"They left before we got there," William said. "Days ago. Maybe weeks."
The Duke closed the journal. "They'll be back."
William nodded. "I know."
The Duke was quiet for a moment. "Show me the map."