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The night swallowed them, but silence never came. Ethan's ears tracked every distant sound, the clash of steel, the bark of commands, the crunch of boots in dirt. The Obsidian Court's hunters weren't giving up.
"They're still on us," Ethan hissed, glancing back. "Two groups. One circling east, another following the ridge."
Kael shot him a sharp look. "You see them?"
"No. I hear them." Ethan regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.
Lyra's eyes gleamed in the moonlight. "You're not lying. You can sense them… like me."
Kael growled. "Enough riddles, sorceress. We need distance, not chatter." He pulled them toward a narrow animal path winding through the tall grass. "This way. Keep low."
They crouched as they moved, blades of grass whispering against their clothes. Ethan's chest tightened with each sound, his senses painted the night in painful detail. The click of a bowstring, a man's uneven breath, the scrape of leather on stone. Every noise screamed at him, a flood he barely controlled.
A sudden twang split the air. Ethan shoved Lyra aside instinctively, an arrow sliced past where her head had been. She landed hard in the dirt, sparks flaring from her hands.
Her eyes widened at him. "You knew—"
"Move!" Kael barked. He yanked them both to their feet as more arrows hissed through the grass.
The hunters broke into view, torches blazing, shadows stretching long. Their leader raised a blade etched with runes, his voice booming: "By order of the Court, surrender the witch and be spared!"
Lyra's hands ignited, fire pooling like molten light. "Over my dead body!"
Ethan's instincts screamed again. He felt the weight of steel arcing through the air before he even saw it. He turned, sword clumsy in his hands, just in time to deflect a thrown axe. The impact rattled his bones, but the weapon clattered harmlessly to the ground.
Kael stared at him, stunned. "You… blocked that?"
"I just—moved," Ethan said breathlessly.
Lyra's lips curved into the faintest smile. "No. You felt it."
The hunters advanced, spreading out to encircle them. Flames from Lyra's hands painted their armor in flickering light. Ethan's heart pounded, senses screaming with danger.
Kael lifted his blade, jaw tight. "We can't take this many."
Ethan swallowed hard. "Then what do we do?"
Lyra's eyes flashed. "We break through."
She hurled her fire skyward, a blazing signal that lit the ridge for miles. The night exploded with heat and light, and in that instant, chaos reigned.
The hunters staggered, shields raised against the fire. Kael charged forward with a roar, cutting a path through the dazed line. Lyra followed, sparks scattering from her hands. Ethan had no choice but to run with them, his every step guided by the storm inside his senses.
But as they fled into the darkness, Ethan caught something the others didn't, the faint sound of chanting carried on the wind. Deep, guttural, and growing louder.
Someone else was waiting for them ahead.
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