The howl reverberated through the cavern, shaking dust loose from the jagged ceiling. Kieran's pulse quickened. This one wasn't like before—there was no hesitation, no delay.
It was a signal.
Elias didn't stop walking. "Move."
Kieran's body screamed at him to follow, but his mind still lingered on what had just happened. His grip tightened. He wanted to say something, to demand answers, but the ground trembled beneath his feet.
Then the shadows moved.
Figures emerged from the darkness—tall, lean, their glowing eyes locking onto them.
Kieran barely had time to register them before they attacked.
A spear of bone shot toward him. His body reacted on instinct, rolling to the side just as the projectile buried itself into the rock. A second followed—faster—but he managed to twist out of the way.
The enemies didn't hesitate. They moved with purpose, surrounding him and Elias with coordinated precision.
Not wild beasts.
Hunters.
One of them tilted its head. "The traitor," it rasped in a language Kieran's system barely translated.
Elias didn't even spare it a glance. "Took you long enough."
Then, with a single step forward, he vanished.
Kieran barely processed what happened next. One second, Elias stood beside him. The next, blood sprayed into the air, and a hunter's body collapsed in two clean halves.
The rest attacked instantly.
Kieran moved, pushing his exhaustion to the back of his mind. He parried a claw strike, dodged another, then swung—his blade cutting deep into one of the creatures.
It screeched, but the sound was quickly drowned out by another howl.
Kieran didn't need a translation.
More were coming.
Elias reappeared beside him, his sword dripping. "This isn't a fight we win," he muttered. "We need to go."
Kieran barely dodged a strike. "And go where?"
Elias's eyes flicked toward a tunnel—a narrow passage barely wide enough for a single person at a time. "That way. We bottleneck them, then break through."
Kieran didn't like it. But he didn't have a choice.
Another spear shot toward him—he deflected it, then sprinted. Elias followed, cutting down another hunter as they raced toward the passage.
The howls grew louder.
The hunt had begun.
And this time, they were the prey.