Thorne and Selene tensed like coiled springs. Eccar who still crouched between the thick roots, remained calm, his eyes quietly watching the swaying brush. He knew and felt that whoever was coming wasn't nearly strong enough to trouble him.
"Be ready," Thorne commanded in a low, clipped tone, his voice cutting through the thickening tension.
His sword glead as he drew it in one swift, controlled movent, the edge catching the faint light filtering through the leaves.
Selene stepped out, spreading her hands. Tendrils of crackling orange lightning danced between her gloved fingers, leaping from rune to rune across her gloves. Her face was fierce, not afraid. Her eyes sharp and her jaw set.
Eccar realized again that she wasn't just so support Mage. She was a warrior in her own right.
Without hesitation, Thorne and Selene moved to shield Eccar, flanking him, their bodies angled outward to et the incoming threat. They acted with precision, like this formation had been drilled a hundred tis before.
Eccar couldn't help but smile faintly and exhale a soft sigh. He didn't need protection but he respected their sense of duty. He would stay back as they wished, and only step in if it beca absolutely necessary.
The bushes shuddered violently and then the attackers burst forth.
"KRAAAAHHH!!!"
They leapt with primal cries, clad in patchworks of bark, skins, and woven leaves. Their crude weaponry—stone-tipped spears, jagged axes, and gnarled clubs—looked savage, yet no less deadly for their rough craftsmanship.
They moved fast. Their muscles wiry and limbs hardened by a life lived close to the brutal rhythms of the forest.
Thorne didn't hesitate. With a powerful step forward, he swung his sword in a brutal arc, knocking aside the first spear thrust at him. His movents were efficient and designed to kill or cripple with every blow. And he is calm, not even fazed by their sudden cries or appearance.
Behind him, Selene let loose the lightning coiling around her fingers. It shot out in crackling whips, snapping into the advancing tribesn with stunning force.
The sll of burning bark and flesh filled the air as two of the attackers convulsed and dropped, twitching.
Yet more kept coming. They erging from the thickets in droves, their war cries rising into a wild sounds that shakes the forest.
Eccar stayed low, observing. His eyes glead surveying an insignificant squabble. Part of him itched to move and remind these forest warriors what kind of being they dared to threaten—but he restrained himself, trusting Thorne and Selene to hold the line.
At least for now.
And just like Eccar had thought, only a few seconds later, the two adventurers had finished the fight. The forest floor was strewn with the fallen tribesn—either dead, unconscious, or writhing in pain.
Thorne and Selene didn't even look winded. They hadn't suffered a single scratch, moving with such ruthless efficiency that it almost seed effortless.
Their experience, talent, and strength, all of it was undeniable, carved into every controlled movent and precise strike.
But even after subduing the last of the attackers, Thorne and Selene didn't lower their guard. Their bodies remained taut and their eyes still sharp.
"There's more of them but for now they are retreating," Thorne muttered, eyes scanning the treeline. His voice was cautious. He could see shifting shapes behind the thicker shadows, movents too deliberate to be just the forest wind. "What about Mark and Kaela?"
Selene shook her head, her jaw tight. "Still no answer."
"What do you think happened?" Thorne asked, without taking his eyes off the looming darkness beyond the trees.
Selene narrowed her eyes, feeling for the faint telepathic link she usually kept open with their companions—only to find it severed, as if sothing invisible cut the tether.
"I think it's so kind of Magic interfering. I don't think they're wounded by these weaklings," she said.
Thorne nodded grimly. "I think so too. Must be Magic that's cutting off our communication." His hand tightened around his sword hilt. "Let's keep moving. We need to find them."
Selene nodded in agreent and turned her gaze to Eccar. Her expression softened slightly. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Eccar said, offering a calm, faint smile.
Selene gave a small laugh, her eyes amused. "You don't look scared or even panicked. You're smiling at . Just like I thought—you're not so simple person needing an escort and protection."
Eccar shrugged casually. "Maybe not. But I appreciate it though."
Thorne glanced at him as well, feeling more at ease knowing that their 'charge' could probably handle himself if things turned worse—but he kept his thoughts to himself, giving only a small grunt of acknowledgnt.
Without wasting any more ti, the three of them pressed on, moving swiftly through the forest, muscles tensed, senses heightened, fully expecting another attack to co crashing down upon them at any mont.
After about five minutes of trekking through the undergrowth, Selene suddenly stiffened, her hand going to her temple. A mont later, her eyes sharpened with focus.
Finally, a thread of telepathic contact reached her. it was Mark's voice, sounding slightly strained but clear.
"Anything happened?" he asked.
"We're fine. We were attacked by a few tribesn, but nothing serious." Selene answered imdiately, her tone steady.
"Good," Mark replied. "There's so kind of Magic around here that's cutting off our telepathy, I believe."
"Yes," Selene agreed simply.
"Alright. I'll et you on the way," Mark said. The connection flickered for a second before cutting off completely.
No sooner had Mark's voice faded than another telepathic connection brushed her mind—this ti Kaela's.
Kaela echoed Mark's ssage, confirming that she too had sensed the interference and was unhard. Selene replied with the sa calm confirmation, telling her what she had just told Mark.
"They're fine," Selene relayed aloud to Thorne and Eccar, her voice relaxed now. "Both of them. They're coming to et us."
Not long after, the rustling of careful footsteps grew louder ahead, and through the dappled forest light, Mark and Kaela erged from the trees.
Their expressions alert but relieved as they spotted Selene, Thorne, and Eccar.
The group was whole again, reunited under the shadowed canopy, but they all knew better than to relax. The forest still held threats, and the path ahead was far from clear.
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