The forest seemed to close in tighter with every step, the trees looming above like ancient sentinels, their tangled branches thick enough to strangle the moonlight. Shadows spilled over the path, soft and dense, as if the forest itself were trying to swallow them whole.
Thorne moved ahead of them, silent and alert. He had introduced himself only hours ago, but he now led with the confidence of someone who had done so many times before. His movements were smooth, efficient, but there was something else in them, something watchful, hunted. Like a man who had spent years learning how not to be seen.
Eira followed just behind, her breath shallow from the run and the lingering tension of the last attack. Her hands still tingled from the burst of magic she'd barely contained. The sensation hadn't faded; it pulsed beneath her skin like something alive, something ancient. And now that it had been awakened, it didn't want to sleep again.
Kaela stayed close at her side, her jaw set in a hard line. She hadn't spoken since they'd fled the ruins of the clearing. There was a storm building in her eyes. On the other side, Lena moved in silence, her eyes sweeping the trees like a hawk tracking movement from above.
It should have felt safe, being surrounded like this. But it didn't. Not yet.
"We're almost there," Thorne said without turning. His voice was low, raspy, yet carried easily through the dark. "Keep moving."
The sudden edge in his tone made Eira's stomach twist. She spoke up before the silence could settle again.
"Where are we going?"
"A safe house," Thorne answered. "One of the few left that the Veil hasn't found. We'll rest there. Talk there."
His gaze flicked to Kaela, then back to the forest ahead. "I assume she knows the basics."
"She does," Kaela said tightly. "Enough to understand what's following her."
"I know I'm Mageborn," Eira said, her voice firmer than she felt. "I know that's why they're hunting me. I just don't understand why I'm the only one left. Or what they really want with me."
Thorne slowed slightly, just enough to glance over his shoulder at her. In the moonlight, his eyes looked almost black.
"It's not just about you," he said. "It's about what you might awaken."
Eira frowned. "Kaela said the Mageborn were wiped out. That they were protectors. That the Veil destroyed them to take power."
"She wasn't wrong," Thorne said, his steps never faltering. "But it's more than that. The Mageborn didn't just protect magic. They understood it. Lived with it. Their blood carries echoes of things the Veil has spent generations trying to bury."
"And they think I can bring those things back," Eira murmured.
"Yes," he said. "They believe you can undo everything they've built. And they're right."
The words landed like stones in her chest. Eira knew some of this. Kaela had told her enough to stir the fire of fear inside her. But hearing it from Thorne, who spoke not in theory but with the certainty of lived experience, felt different. Final.
She looked at him. "How do you know so much?"
Thorne didn't answer right away. He led them down a slope veiled in roots and low-hanging moss. Then, when they reached the base, he stopped and turned to face her fully.
"Because I was there," he said. "I saw the Mageborn fall."
Kaela's sharp intake of breath made Eira stiffen.
"I was a soldier of the Veil," Thorne continued. "Trained to hunt magic. To wipe out anyone who carried it."
The words were heavy. Too heavy. Eira opened her mouth, but nothing came.
"I didn't question it at first," he said. "I thought we were protecting the realm from chaos. That's what they taught us. But what we were doing wasn't order, it was slaughter. I saw villages burn. I saw children executed for lighting a candle without flint. I saw… enough."
He looked away, jaw clenched. "And I walked away. Too late, maybe, but I did."
Eira's heart pounded. "So now you're what, trying to fix it?"
He looked back at her, and for the first time since they'd met, something in his eyes softened.
"No.
I can't fix it. But I can stop it from happening again."
Kaela stepped closer, placing a hand gently on Eira's shoulder. "He's not just another fighter. He's how we find what the Mageborn left behind. He knows the paths. The wards. The signs. We need him."
Eira nodded, but her mind was racing. Thorne had been one of them. One of the hunters. She wanted to recoil, but something in his voice had struck her. It wasn't just remorse, it was weariness. Like he'd carried his shame for years, and each step forward was a punishment.
"Why risk your life to help me?" she asked.
Thorne didn't hesitate.
"Because when the Mageborn were dying, I didn't stop it. I turned my back on children like you. And you're the last one. That makes you more than a mission. You're a chance I never thought I'd get."
Eira didn't know what to say. Her fingers curled at her sides. The magic inside her stirred again, but it didn't burn this time. It ached.
Torin emerged from the trees behind them, his tunic streaked with mud, his breath uneven.
"They're close," he said. "I heard them maybe a mile back. Dogs too."
Thorne's jaw tightened. "Then we move."
He turned and took off at a faster pace. The others followed.
As they pushed forward through the thickening trees, Eira tried to breathe through the weight in her chest. Everything felt like too much. Thorne's past. Her own truth. The Veil pressing closer by the hour.
The trees finally broke just enough to reveal a low rise of stone, almost swallowed by vines. Moss grew over old carvings, and the doorway was no more than a crack between roots.
But before they reached it, Eira froze.
There was something behind them. Not just footsteps or breath, but something deeper. She could feel it in her bones, in the way the magic inside her shifted like a warning.
Lena slowed too, her hand drifting to the hilt of her blade.
"We're being followed," she said softly.
"I know," Eira whispered. "I can feel them."
Thorne turned, nodding once. "Then let them come. But not here. Not yet."
He pushed the stone door open with a groan and gestured them inside.
And still, as Eira stepped into the shelter of ancient stone, she couldn't shake the feeling that eyes were still on her. That something, no, someone was watching.