The fire burned low in the ring of stones, giving off a soft orange glow that shifted across the rocky foothills. It had been a long day of travel. The warband had covered more ground than usual, and the weight of the coming morning seemed to settle over them like an invisible blanket. No one wanted to admit it, but everyone felt the same thing. Tomorrow they would reach the dwarven ruins. Whatever waited inside them was close. Close enough that some in the group felt as if they were already being watched.

  Maruzan poked at the fire with a long stick, turning over a half-burned branch. He did not look tired exactly, but the lines around his eyes were deeper than normal. Velthur sometimes thought those lines never went away, even when his father smiled. Maruzan kept most of his worries inside. Velthur had learned to read what little he showed.

  “We should reach the ruins by midday,” Maruzan said. He spoke quietly, so his voice did not carry too far into the woods. “Once we arrive, we search every open hall and every sealed chamber. We do not waste time. If Azandra is there, we take her and we leave. We do not wait to see who else might show up.”

  Xonya stretched out her legs and leaned back on one elbow. Her bow rested beside her, always within reach. “You say it like it will be simple,” she said with a small smile. “Nothing in my life has ever been simple. But if something tries to stop us, I will make sure we are not easy prey.”

  Bram shook his head. “I think it is good to be confident,” he said. “But I do not trust ruins. Especially ones people go missing in.”

  Nethira sat cross-legged near the edge of the firelight. She was quiet most of the time, but tonight she was even more withdrawn. Her eyes kept drifting to the slopes above them, where the silhouettes of tall pines swayed in the wind. There was something thoughtful, almost troubled, in the way she kept staring.

  “You have not felt something like this before,” she said at last. Her voice was steady but soft. “Whatever hides in those ruins is changing the land around it. The trees feel restless. The ground feels restless. Even the animals that passed by us today were uneasy. Something unnatural is stirring.”

  Even Winnum, who had barely spoken since the afternoon, slowly lifted his head. “The little bit of light I still have left,” he said, “it keeps warning me about something. Not in words. More like a pressure. I can feel it behind my ribs. Something is sitting awake in the dark. Maybe it has been awake longer than we realize.”

  Farrin and Bram exchanged a look. They had been in stag hunting parties together back at the mountain, and often understood things about the land that others missed.

  “We saw it too,” Bram said. “The deer were moving fast today. Too fast. They were fleeing something they could not see.”

  Farrin nodded. “Birds were leaving their nests. That never happens at this time of year. The woods know. They always know first.”

  Ennett leaned forward, elbows on her knees. Her basilisk-scale armor reflected the firelight in small patches of green and gold. Someone had once asked her if the armor was comfortable. She had laughed and told them nothing built for survival was comfortable.

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  “Magic, animals, curses,” she said. “It does not matter what it is. I will be ready. Just make sure you get sleep while you can. We may not get another night like this.”

  Maruzan let her words settle. He looked around the circle, studying each face. Xonya looked focused. Bram looked tense. Farrin looked ready, but uneasy. Nethira seemed to be listening to something none of them could hear. Winnum looked like he was trying to steady himself. Ennett seemed impatient to move.

  He turned his gaze to the trees before speaking again. “We will split into two groups in the morning. Not to wander apart, but to cover ground faster. No one goes off alone. Even for a few steps. The moment we find Azandra, we leave the ruins. We do not explore. We do not risk anything more.”

  He paused, thinking of Velthur and the college far behind them. He wondered briefly if his son was staying out of trouble. He hoped so. Velthur had grown quickly, too quickly in some ways, and Maruzan was proud of him. Proud and worried. He would tell him that one day.

  A gust of wind pushed through the clearing. The flames swayed and threw sparks upward. Nethira’s head turned sharply toward the hills. Winnum did the same. It was not coordinated. It was instinct.

  Xonya noticed and straightened at once. “What is it?”

  Winnum listened before he spoke. “It feels colder. Like something is standing at the edge of the trees.”

  Nethira did not blink. “It is closer than it was earlier. I have felt it moving all night.”

  “Do you think it is watching us?” Bram asked.

  “Yes,” she said simply.

  A quiet settled over the camp. It was not a peaceful quiet. It was the kind that made the air feel thick. Every person in the group felt it. Even the fire seemed to burn lower.

  Maruzan finally spoke, his tone calm. “If it wanted to attack, it would have already. Whatever it is, it is either waiting for us to reach the ruins or it is tied to them somehow.”

  Farrin poked at the fire. “I do not like the sound of something waiting.”

  “No one does,” Ennett replied.

  Winnum rubbed the back of his neck. He looked like he was trying to decide whether to speak again. In the end, he did. “When we find Azandra,” he said, “what if she is hurt? Or scared? Or worse? I do not know if I can help her. Not with the way my healing works now.”

  Maruzan looked at him gently. “You will do what you can. That is all any of us can do.”

  Xonya added, “You saved Ennett today. That was real. You felt it. We all saw it.”

  Winnum shrugged, eyes on the fire. “Saving one does not erase losing another.”

  No one answered right away. They knew he did not mean to push them away. He was only speaking from a wound that had never fully closed.

  The clouds above them began to gather. The night grew darker. The wind grew colder. The fire crackled again, trying its best to stay alive.

  Nethira finally broke the silence. “Tomorrow is going to change something,” she said. “For all of us.”

  “And for Azandra,” Bram said.

  “And maybe for more than her,” Farrin added.

  Maruzan folded his hands together, thinking of all the things he wished he knew. “Rest if you can,” he said softly. “This is the last quiet we are going to have for a while.”

  One by one, the warband stretched out their bedrolls, though none of them found comfort easily. Some stared at the fire. Some watched the trees. Some closed their eyes but did not sleep.

  Above them, the clouds thickened, and the darkness grew deeper.

  Something in the hills watched.

  Something in the ruins waited.

  And morning was on its way.