Silas did not remember when the forest stopped being a forest.

At some point, the trees had blurred into silhouettes, smears of shadow against an unending grey dusk. Hunger clawed at his throat until it felt like someone had stuffed gravel down it. His ribs ached like each step was peeling them inward, and his legs had long stopped feeling like legs. They were just two trembling sticks he bullied forward through mud, roots, and cold patches of night air.

He'd been lost for… what?

Hours? Days?

Time moved differently once the delirium pulled you into its grasp and refused to tell you which way was up.

He remembered leaving Grim Hollow—the smug tilt in his stride as he convinced himself he'd outsmarted his companions, abandoning them to fend for themselves. He'd sprinted off in a random direction, following trails left behind, praying he'd somehow picked "south," despite never owning a compass or even remembering the actual route.

That old pride curdled on his tongue now

He had led himself in circles twice, maybe three times, each loop punctuated by the bellowing echoes of bone crawlers in the distance—those jagged, multi-jointed nightmares that howled like dying wolves and metal scraping against stone. Once or twice, he heard the deeper churn of earth: burrowers tunneling beneath the surface.

He remembered pressing his ear to the ground and feeling vibrations pass through him like a heartbeat.

Not yours,

he'd thought,

but something's.

He had run after that.

He couldn't even remember the direction he chose, yet somehow his body pushed through. His senses burned behind his eyes like someone dragging a hot wire through his brain. His thoughts were disjointed, running feral as exhaustion swallowed reason.

Left—no, right. Trees broken here. That means something big passed. Don't follow that. Follow… water? Is that water? No, that's just blood. Yours? No. Keep moving. Don't stop.

He stumbled again.

His shoulder caught the side of a rock, scraping skin off in a long bloody smear. Pain lanced up his neck but even that felt distant, like it was happening to someone else.

He blinked.

And when his eyes opened again, the forest was gone.

The treeline broke, revealing walls.

Huge metal-reinforced concrete plates rose ahead like a jagged crown, floodlights mounted atop them, casting sharp cones of white across a wide open stretch of cleared land. Watchtowers dotted the walls, and figures patrolled along the battlements, rifles slung and armor gleaming faintly beneath the lights.

Silas stared.

He thought he was hallucinating at first.

But as he staggered forward, the wind hit him—a clean, crisp gust, not the damp rot of Shroud-tainted woods. That alone was enough to make his throat tighten.

A voice came from the walls.

"Movement at the south treeline! Possible crawler!"

"Hold your fire," another called. "It's humanoid."

A beam of light stabbed down from a handheld searchlight, shining directly onto him. He flinched, raising a trembling hand to shield his eyes.

Someone shouted:

"He's alive! It's a human!"

"Get the gates open!"

Silas barely registered the thundering mechanism of reinforced metal sliding apart. Shadows rushed forward—soldiers in Vester's armor, boots pounding like drums.

Everything slowed.

He saw their helmets.

He saw the insignias.

He saw some with rifles pointing down, not up.

He could finally stop running.

Silas collapsed into their arms.

—

He woke lying on a cot, the rough material scraping softly against the bandages wrapped around his torso.

"Easy there," a medic murmured from beside him. She was young, probably mid-twenties, with a clipped tone that spoke of both discipline and exhaustion. "You were half-dead when you came through the gate. We had to pump you full of fluids, and some mild pain suppressants. Your leg was… well, let's not talk about your leg."

Silas looked down.

More bandages.

More bruises.

It was strange—he didn't remember hurting this badly, but the evidence wrapped around him said otherwise.

He swallowed, throat scraping like sandpaper.

"How long…" he croaked.

"Only a few hours. You crashed hard. But you're stable." She closed her med kit. "You're one of Atheon's, right? Part of the Grim Hollow evacuation?"

Silas nodded slowly.

The medic let out a long breath.

"Then you'll want to hear this—your people are here."

Silas's heart lurched. Not from relief, but from the sharp, welcomed awareness that he was no longer alone in this unfamiliar place.

"Easy," she said again. "One at a time."

Silas bit his lip, forcing himself to quiet.

The medic stood and motioned for him to follow.

Silas tried to stand, stumbled—and she caught him with surprising strength.

"Lean on me. You're not winning any races today, handsome."

They stepped outside into the cold evening air of Outpost Vester.

And Silas froze.

The place was alive.

Rows of barracks. Training yards. Market stalls run by off-duty soldiers. Clusters of initiates sharpening weapons or arguing over equipment. A massive bulletin board displaying hunts, tasks, and postings sponsored by the nobles funding the outpost.

People.

Safety.

Warm light.

Nothing like the dying ruin of Grim Hollow.

But what caught his eye most were the adaptive floodlights lining the walls, their beams sweeping the outer plains where the remnants of burrowers and bone crawlers lay in mangled heaps—fresh kills from Vester's defense corps.

"Don't worry," the medic said, noticing his stare. "We cleaned up most of what followed your group. There were a lot of confirmed crawlers, and burrowers. The patrol units got them before they hit the gates."

Silas exhaled.

So they had been followed by the ugly beasts.

He wasn't just paranoid in the woods.

His steps grew heavier with the weight of reality.

"Come," she said gently. "They're at the east quarter."

As they crossed the outpost grounds, soldiers stared. Some whispered:

"Another survivor?"

"That makes a lot."

"Damn… how many did they lose?"

But Silas ignored them.

His heartbeat thundered in his ears.

When they reached the long barracks at the eastern end, the medic stopped.

"Your people are inside. Go on."

Silas stepped forward.

He pushed the door open.

Inside, voices buzzed—tired, hushed, but alive.

Baggen was cleaning his hammer at the far end, his face bruised and arm in a sling.

Estovia sat beside him, leg wrapped, sipping broth like it might shatter if she held it too tightly. The quiet aura of nobility she once carried now dimmed at the edges.

Bright stood near the wall, speaking quietly with Duncan, both of them looking like they'd been carved out of battle-hard stone.

Silas opened his mouth.

But Adam saw him first.

"SILAS?! Looks like the prodigal son is back"

Heads snapped around.

The room froze.

But Bessia was the first—and the only one—to show anything bright. Relief etched itself plainly across her face.

She hit him with a smile that softened the lines around his eyes even though his expression barely changed.

Baggen stood there, stunned like the others. Grim Hollow had hit them hard—good, loyal men had bled and died in that attack. Rallying every fighter they could find had become their top priority, especially an initiate as promising as this one.

Atheon crossed his arms, releasing a slow breath like he had just been proven right about something grim.

Silas barely had time to blink before being welcomed by the soldiers.

He staggered, still weak, but he didn't fall.

Sergeant Tyven approached next.

He simply placed a hand on Silas's shoulder—firm, grounding, the closest thing the soldiers had to an embrace.

"You made it," Tyven said quietly.

Silas nodded.

He wanted to say something sharp or sarcastic or clever. Something that would prove he wasn't the trembling wreck he felt like.

Instead, his throat closed up. That ambition of his, that burning drive to stand apart, had almost cost him his life. He'd been so fixated on the future that he'd gone blind to what was waiting in his path. The anger twisting in his chest fed the lone tear that slipped from his eye.

"You survived," Tyven consoled.

Those two words hit harder than any critique.

"But—"

"Silas."

Tyven's tone shifted—calm, firm, absolute.

"You survived."

Silas swallowed hard.

Then—unexpectedly—Baggen let out a loud snort.

"Kid, you think you're the first person to get lost in those woods? Even half the grown initiates mess up their trail sometimes."

Adam nodded. "Vester is hidden on purpose. They don't make it easy to find."

Silas's eyes stung.

He blinked fast, trying not to let it show.

Atheon walked over last.

The mid-tier adept commander studied Silas with a measuring look, gaze sharp but not unkind.

"Your prowess has proven time and again," he said. "And now, with the noble games approaching, your value as a member of this team matters more than ever. Don't underestimate being alive, initiate. Sometimes, it's the hardest part."

Atheon spoke at length, trying hard to perfect his pitch—realizing just how little real fighting strength they actually had.

Silas didn't know what to say.

Most of Atheon's words were usually cut from steel and discipline.

But this—

This felt almost like approval.

Almost.

Atheon turned away, his cloak shifting with the movement.

"We have a meeting soon with the Outpost Vester leadership," he said. "A noble house wants to include us in their little 'event.' That includes you, Silas. Rest now. When the bell rings, you will join us."

Silas blinked.

"…Event?"

Bright sighed.

"You'll see."

Adam added, "Think recruitment fair meets bloodsport meets noble pissing contest."

Estovia scowled. "In other words, chaos."

Rolf grinned wide. "And we're getting dragged into it!"

Silas looked at them all. This sudden closeness between people who were usually strangers was almost revolting. Sheep huddling together at the scent of wolves. It was an instinctive reaction—one that would fade in a few days, once the trauma loosened its grip.

Still for the first time in hours—maybe days—the crushing pressure in his chest loosened.

He wasn't alone in the woods anymore.

He wasn't lost.

He was here.

Silas stepped deeper into the barracks, A soldier guiding him toward a seat, Bright keeping a quiet watch, Baggen rambling about the crawlers they'd smashed on their way here, Estovia already scolding him for exaggerating, and Atheon muttering something about "children" and "future headaches."

Silas sat.

He let the warmth of the room surround him.

He allowed himself to breathe.

And for the first time since Grim Hollow began to burn,

Silas felt safe.

Or at least—

as safe as any egoistical initiate could be

in a world like this.

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