They left the doctor's town at first light. Hooded. Silent. The path to Velthane wound through forest and fog.
Velthane... Mira's new base of operations. A city at the outskirts of the capital. Close enough for the King to keep an eye on.
By midday, the road narrowed.
Then it happened.
A hiss. A dart. Vile's horse buckled mid-step and crashed hard. She dropped with it, cloak falling back, hood torn. Her face now visible.
A figure lunged from the brush. No warning. No voice. Blade aimed for Zee.
He dodged clean, steel drawn in the same motion.
Another figure stepped out from behind... stopped. Eyes locked on Vile.
A flicker of recognition.
Hesitation.
Zee moved to intercept the first. Blades clashed once. Then he shoved the man back, hard into a tree.
Sevi turned fast, spell flaring. White light cracked the treeline.
Torren drove his blade into the distracted second attacker. One clean thrust. Down.
Zee pinned the first man, forced his wrist back.
"Who sent you?"
The man looked at Vile... then at Zee.
No answer.
He bit into his cheek. A snap.
Dead.
They searched both bodies. No marks. No orders. Only a silver ring. Inside, one word:
Eclipse.
Torren stared at it. "Is that one of yours?" he asked Vile.
"No," she said.
They burned the bodies. And the horse.
When they were ready to move, Vile prepared to walk.
Zee held out a hand. No words.
She took it. Mounted behind him. Quiet. Distant.
They rode like that.
Velthane ahead.
One horse short.