Lucy lay unconscious, her white fur matted with dust and pain.
Mizu knelt beside her, his fingers trembling as they hovered over the faintly glowing wound on her leg. The blue crystal around his neck pulsed in sync with her breath—weak, fading.
Rika crouched beside him, her voice low but urgent.
"We have to move. Now."
Sayos stood watch, his hands still glowing faintly from the fight.
"That guy… whatever he was, he wasn't normal."
"A shadow," Mizu murmured. "But something pulled him back."
No one answered.
They left quietly, the forest behind them silent once again.
But as they moved, Mizu felt it again—a flicker, deep in the trees.
A cold breath on the back of his neck.
They were still being watched.