POV: Nara
The warning reached her long before the danger did. Sena hadn't spoken directly, but Varyn had delivered the message without changing a single word. That alone made Nara take it seriously. Sena was not someone who exaggerated, and she never repeated herself unless something mattered.
Zone 30.
Fast.
Never lost a target.
Those three facts settled quietly in Nara's mind, not loud or dramatic, just heavy enough to stay there. A Zone 30 hunter was not something you prepared for like a normal threat. It was something that found you, and when it did, hesitation usually meant death.
They were still moving through Zone 4 when she felt it.
At first, it wasn't even something she could see. It came as a faint shift through the link connecting her to her summons. Stone's presence stayed steady, the wolf remained alert, Pip restless as always, and the Dire Fox lingered at the edge of perception. But beneath all of that, something brushed against the connection, distant and deliberate.
Nara slowed her steps.
"Stop," she said quietly.
The command carried instantly. Stone froze mid-stride, the wolf lowered its head, and the Dire Fox slipped deeper into the tree line, its form blending with the shadows in that unsettling way that never looked entirely natural.
Rhen turned toward her. "What is it?"
She didn't answer immediately. Her gaze had already lifted toward the sky.
The forest opened slightly above them, pale light filtering through broken branches. At first glance, there was nothing unusual there, just empty blue stretching across the horizon.
Then she saw it.
A single shape circling far above them, too steady, too controlled to be ignored.
"There," she said.
Rhen followed her line of sight, narrowing his eyes before finally spotting it. "Just a bird?"
Nara shook her head, her focus sharpening as she reached through the System.
The familiar pull settled behind her eyes, and a faint panel flickered into existence.
[Target Identified]
Hawk – Scout Class – Level 17
Status: Bound
Her expression changed slightly.
Bound.
Now that she was looking for it, the difference was obvious. The creature wasn't just flying on instinct. There was a structure layered over it, something woven tightly into its being. Threads of control, precise and intentional, holding it in place even as it moved freely.
A Soul Gem binding.
But not one like hers.
Nara studied it more closely, her eyes narrowing as she traced the pattern. This wasn't rough or forceful the way most bindings were. It was refined, almost elegant, built with a level of control that made her uneasy.
It didn't just restrain the creature.
It used it.
"He's here," she said quietly.
Rhen didn't need to ask who she meant.
"That thing is watching us," she added.
"How far?" he asked.
"About two hundred feet."
Rhen's jaw tightened. "We can't reach that."
Nara tilted her head slightly, glancing toward Pip. "You can't."
The small creature stilled on her shoulder, its body going unnaturally quiet as it picked up on her intent.
"Take it down," Nara said, her voice low but firm. "Don't kill it."
Pip gave a soft chirp, and then it moved.
It didn't disappear, not exactly, but it became almost impossible to track. It slipped through the trees in quick, controlled bursts, using shadows and angles in a way that felt almost wrong to look at. Even Rhen lost sight of it after a second.
Above them, the hawk continued circling, unaware.
Until it wasn't.
A sudden shift in its movement came too late.
Pip struck from below in a blur of motion, hitting the hawk with enough force to break its balance without tearing it apart. Feathers scattered in the air as the creature dropped.
Nara stepped forward and caught it before it hit the ground.
The hawk struggled weakly in her hands, wings twitching as it tried to regain control. Its eyes locked onto hers, sharp and aware in a way that felt wrong for a creature in that state.
She could feel it now.
Not just the binding itself, but the presence behind it.
Someone was watching through this.
The connection wasn't perfect, but it was enough.
Nara tightened her grip slightly, holding the hawk steady as she focused on the structure wrapped around it.
Up close, the details became clearer. The binding wasn't built like necromancy, not even a refined version of it. It was something else entirely, something that felt… consuming.
"This isn't necromancy," she said.
Rhen shifted beside her. "Then what is it?"
Nara didn't look away from the hawk. "Something that takes instead of controls."
As she examined it further, she caught a glimpse of the source.
It wasn't a full image, not even close, but there was a pattern behind the binding, faint and incomplete, like a mark left behind by whoever had created it.
A signature.
Cold.
Deliberate.
Watching.
"That's him," she said under her breath.
She adjusted her hold on the hawk, thinking quickly.
Killing it would break the connection immediately, but that wouldn't help them. Not when she had a chance to mislead whoever was tracking them.
She glanced at Pip. "Guide it."
Pip tilted its head.
"Away from us," Nara clarified. "Make it look like we went the wrong way."
Understanding clicked instantly.
Nara released the hawk.
For a brief moment, it hovered unsteadily in the air, disoriented from the impact. Then Pip moved again, subtle and precise, pushing it into motion and steering it away from their actual path.
The hawk disappeared into the distance, carrying false information with it.
Nara watched until it was gone.
Then she felt it.
Something stayed behind.
Her breath slowed as her attention turned inward.
There was a new weight in her mind, unfamiliar but clear.
The binding.
Not the connection to the hawk, not the watcher behind it, but the structure itself. The way it had been formed, the pattern of it, every detail preserved.
Copied.
Nara frowned slightly.
She hadn't tried to do that.
She hadn't even known it was possible.
Yet it was there now, sitting in her thoughts as something complete and intact.
Rhen stepped closer. "What happened?"
Nara blinked, forcing her focus back to the present. "Nothing."
It wasn't entirely true.
The Dire Fox had moved closer, its gaze fixed on her with a strange intensity, as if it recognized the change before she fully understood it herself.
Nara looked down at her hands, turning them slightly as if expecting to see something different.
There was nothing.
And yet, the copied binding remained in her mind, steady and real, like a piece of knowledge she didn't know how to use yet.
It felt like a word she couldn't read.
A structure she didn't understand.
But it was hers now.