Morning ca with pale gray light filtering through the canopy, accompanied by the sounds of forest birds and Tessa humming cheerfully while she packed up our camp.
How is she this energetic?
We started walking as soon as everything was secured.
Scarlet walked ahead of us, her nose working constantly, testing the air.
Tessa walked beside , close enough that our shoulders occasionally brushed. Then, without warning or explanation, she reached over and took my hand, lacing her fingers through mine like it was the most natural thing in the world.
And kept humming so village song I didn’t recognize, completely unbothered.
I looked down at our joined hands.
Then at Tessa, who was still humming and looking around with wide-eyed interest at the forest like she was on a pleasant morning stroll.
"Why are you holding my hand?"
She tilted her head, looking up at with innocent confusion.
"Am I not allowed to?"
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Couldn’t actually think of a good reason to say no that wouldn’t sound ridiculous.
Then, I sighed and shook my head.
"Just... watch your step. Tree roots."
Her smile widened, and she squeezed my hand once before going back to humming.
We’d been walking maybe two hours when Scarlet suddenly froze ahead of us, her entire body going rigid.
Her hand moved to the knife at her belt.
I activated my debug vision imdiately, scanning—
[ENTITY_DETECTED]
type: "forest_boar"
level: 8
status: "foraging"
threat_level: LOW
distance: 35_ters
A large boar, maybe three hundred pounds, rooting around in the underbrush completely oblivious to our presence.
Scarlet looked back at us, then specifically at Tessa.
"Hey, farm girl," she called out quietly. "Do you know how to cook bristleback boar?"
Tessa’s expression imdiately shifted, the cheerful humming stopping, her posture straightening, her eyes narrowing.
"Excuse ," she said, her tone taking on a dangerous edge. "I have a na. Tessa. Tessa Halvar."
Then she turned to and her expression completely transford, eyes going wide and liquid, bottom lip jutting out slightly in an exaggerated pout.
"Your maid is so rude to ," she said plaintively, her voice taking on a wounded quality that was definitely calculated.
"I’ve been nothing but nice and she keeps calling ’farm girl’ like I don’t even have a na."
Scarlet’s jaw clenched so hard I could hear her teeth grinding from here.
"What did you just call ?!" Her voice rose dangerously. "I’m not his—"
"Stop fighting," I interrupted, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Both of you. We don’t have ti for this."
I looked at Scarlet.
"Hurry up, Sara. Or our lunch is going to run away."
Scarlet’s mouth opened like she wanted to argue.
But she didn’t.
Just turned sharply and moved toward the boar with predatory focus, her knife drawn.
The glamour ant she didn’t have her claws, had to rely on the blade.
She moved fast.
The boar barely had ti to squeal before she was on it, the knife finding its throat with practiced precision.
It went down hard, thrashing once before going still.
Scarlet straightened, wiping blood from the blade, looking back at us with an expression that clearly said Happy now?
Before anyone could respond, her head suddenly snapped toward the way we’d co.
And her entire body went rigid, face paled.
What the...?
I activated my debug vision imdiately, expanding the scan range—
[THREAT_DETECTION: MULTIPLE]
entities_detected: 8_humanoid / 3_canine
distance: 400
threat_level: EXTRE
No.
No no no!
I grabbed Tessa’s hand and yanked her forward into a run.
"Move! Now!"
Scarlet was already sprinting, her survival instincts overriding everything else.
"What happened?!" Tessa stumbled but kept pace, her earlier cheerfulness completely gone. "Why are we leaving the boar? Why are we running?!"
"Not the ti for explanations!" I pulled her harder. "Just run!"
We crashed through the underbrush, abandoning stealth for pure speed.
Behind us, maybe thirty seconds later, I heard them.
The baying of hounds. Deep, aggressive, getting closer.
Then voices, n shouting to each other, coordinating.
"Tracks here! Fresh!"
"Release the hounds!"
Crap!
I looked ahead desperately, scanning the terrain with my debug vision while running and started making modifications on the fly.
The ground behind us beca slick, treacherous.
And I heard a shout of surprise as one of the hunters lost his footing.
Not enough.
[ENVIRONNTAL_EDIT]
More shouting. A yelp of panic as soone’s leg sank knee-deep into suddenly unstable ground.
The hounds were still coming. Faster than the humans, not as affected by terrain modifications.
I grabbed a fallen branch without stopping, modified it in motion.
And threw it.
The branch flew like an arrow, striking one of the lead hounds in the shoulder hard enough to send it tumbling with a yelp of pain.
I kept running and editing.
Pebbles beca projectiles, one hit hound in the head, drawing blood, making it falter.
Another struck a hunter’s shoulder, making him curse and stumble.
I created more terrain hazards, pits hidden by leaves, roots that suddenly beca trip wires, branches that snapped at exactly the wrong mont.
I was burning through mana fast, but we were gaining distance.
The hunters were having to slow down, navigate the increasingly treacherous terrain, deal with injured hounds.
We kept running.
Tessa was breathing hard beside , her face flushed, but she kept pace without complaint.
Scarlet was ahead.
I could still hear them behind us, more distant now, but still pursuing.
Still hunting.
"How..." Tessa gasped between breaths, "...much... farther?"
"Until they stop chasing us," I said, my own breathing labored. "Or until we find better cover."
I scanned ahead with my debug vision, looking for anywhere we could hide, anything we could use—
And then I saw.
Maybe two hundred yards ahead, the terrain dropped into a ravine with a stream running through it.
There was dense vegetation on both sides.
"There!" I pointed. "The ravine! We can lose them in the water!"
We pushed harder, my legs burning, Tessa’s grip on my hand almost painful in its intensity.
The sound of pursuit was fading, not gone, but more distant.
We reached the ravine edge and didn’t hesitate.
Just jumped, sliding down the steep slope in a controlled fall, hitting the stream at the bottom with splashes that soaked us imdiately.
"Downstream!" I pointed. "Stay in the water!"
The cold water would hide our scent from the hounds.
The multiple branching paths would confuse pursuit.
We just needed to buy enough ti to get completely away.
We ran through the stream, water splashing, rocks slippery underfoot, my modifications keeping us stable despite the treacherous footing.
Behind us, the sounds of pursuit had stopped.
Replaced by confused shouting.
"Lost them at the ravine—"
"Check both directions!"
We kept running.
Five minutes. Ten. Fifteen.
Finally, when I couldn’t hear anything but forest sounds and our own ragged breathing, I signaled a stop.
We collapsed against the ravine wall, all three of us soaking wet, exhausted, but alive.
Tessa looked at with wide eyes.
"Who..." she gasped, "Who were those people?"
I t Scarlet’s gaze.
Her expression was hollow, terrified.
"Duke Glimor’s hunters," I said quietly. "They’re looking for us."
"Us?" Tessa repeated. "Why would a Duke—"
"Long story," I interrupted. "And not one we have ti for right now."
I checked my mana.
[MP: 315/625]
Enough to keep going if we had to.
"We need to move," I said, and pushed myself to my feet. "They’ll figure out which direction we went eventually. We need to be miles away before they do."
Held out my hand to Tessa.
She took it, let pull her up.
"This is the adventure you wanted?" I asked sarcasticly.
She looked at for a long mont.
Then, despite everything, she smiled.
"Yes," she said simply. "This is exactly what I wanted."
I blinked. "Huh?"
She’s insane.
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