Chapter 68 Chapter 68

Chapter 68 Chapter 68

Luci

I didn’t let go of Yulia.

My hand stayed locked around her arm, not too tight, just enough to keep her where she was.

Something was wrong with her.

I could feel it. Rhys spoke from behind me. “What happened?” His voice was lower than usual.

I didn’t answer immediately. My eyes stayed on Yulia’s face, watching for anything that didn’t seem right.

Her expression was steady, but there was something underneath it.

Something sharper. More aware. “Talk,” I said.

Yulia’s gaze shifted back to me. “It wasn’t the creatures. Something else is here. It pulled me in.”

I had already figured that much out. “When?” I asked. “The moment I realized I was being watched.” My jaw tightened slightly.

That matched what I saw. One second she was moving with us, the next she just… stopped responding.

No struggle. No warning. Just gone. Rhys pressed, “What did it do?”

Yulia hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering. “It showed me something. Someone.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “Who?” I asked. “My father.” The air around us shifted.

Rhys swore under his breath. “Illusion.”

“Yes,” Yulia said. “But not random. It was pushing me. Saying things it knew would get a reaction.”

My grip tightened slightly before I forced it to ease.“Like what?” I asked.

Yulia didn’t look away from me when she answered. “That I don’t need you.” Silence followed.

I didn’t react outwardly. There was no point. Whatever that thing was, it had already said what it wanted.

Reacting now wouldn’t change that.

“And?” I asked.

Yulia’s expression didn’t shift. “I didn’t believe it.” I held her gaze a moment longer, then nodded once. That was enough.

“For now,” I said.

Rhys exhaled slowly. “So it gets into your head, uses your past and tries to what? Break you?”

Yulia shook her head slightly. “No. Not break.” That got my attention.

“It wanted me to reach for the power inside me,” she continued. “Every time I reacted, it pushed harder. Not to scare me. To make me use it.”

My mind ran through that quickly, fitting it with everything we’d seen so far.

The creatures. The way they tested her. The fact that they didn’t kill when they had the chance.

“They’re not hunting,” I said. Rhys frowned. “Then what are they doing?”

I looked back toward the forest, my expression hardening. “They’re baiting.”

That didn’t sit well with him.

“For what?” he asked. I didn’t answer immediately. Because I already knew.

Yulia.

“They want her to use whatever’s inside her,” I said finally. “Whatever that thing is… it’s feeding off it.”

The words hung there, heavy and clear.

Yulia didn’t argue.

That was the part I didn’t like.

Before either of us could speak again, the air shifted.

Not violently.

Subtly.

I felt it immediately.

Every instinct I had sharpened at once, my attention snapping toward the tree line.

The warriors reacted a second later, weapons up, formation tightening without needing orders.

Rhys stepped forward slightly. “You feel that?”

“Yes.”

This wasn’t like before.

Before, it had been scattered. Watching. Testing.

Now it was focused.

On us.

On Yulia.

I glanced at her.

She had already turned toward the forest, completely still, like she was listening to something I couldn’t hear.

“They’re closer,” she said.

“I know.”

“That’s not it,” she added. “It’s clearer.”

Something in my chest tightened.

“Clearer how?” Rhys asked.

“Before, it felt distant,” Yulia said. “Like I was sensing something through a barrier.”

She paused slightly.

“That’s gone now.”

Silence.

Then Rhys spoke again, slower this time. “You’re saying whatever’s out there can reach you directly now?”

“Yes.”

That was all I needed.

“We’re leaving,” I said immediately.

No hesitation.

No discussion.

Rhys didn’t argue. He just nodded and turned, already signaling the others to pull back.

Yulia didn’t move.

Of course she didn’t.

I stepped in front of her slightly, cutting off her view of the forest.

“We’re not staying here,” I said.

Her gaze met mine, steady and unyielding. “It’s not going to stop just because we leave.”

“I know,” I replied. “But we’re not fighting something we don’t understand on its ground.”

That was the difference.

Control.

Here, we didn’t have it.

For a second, it looked like she would argue.

Then the air changed again.

Stronger.

Heavier.

Like something had decided it was done waiting.

Every muscle in my body tensed instantly.

“Move,” I ordered.

The group pulled back fast but controlled, exactly the way we trained for this.

No one broke formation.

No one ran.

We didn’t make it far.

The first scream came from the back.

One of the warriors dropped without warning, his body jerking as something yanked him off his feet and dragged him into the trees.

It happened too fast to react.

“Hold formation!” Rhys snapped. Too late.

The shadows moved, not like before.

Not testing, not watching. Attacking.

They came from everywhere at once, slipping between the trees, faster and more solid than before.

One lunged from the side. This time, it didn’t pass through. It hit. Hard.

The warrior it struck went down instantly.

“Kill them!” someone shouted.

Steel met shadow.

This time, it didn’t pass through cleanly.

The creatures flickered when struck, their forms destabilizing, but they didn’t disappear.

They resisted.

Adapted.

That confirmed it. They had learned.

“Back!” I ordered, pulling Yulia with me as another rushed in.

It went straight for her. Of course it did.

I moved before it could reach her, my blade cutting through it mid-lunge.

It split, destabilized, then reformed.

Faster than before.

That wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Luci—” Yulia said, something in her voice making me look at her. Not fear.

Realization. “They’re not the problem,” she said. I didn’t like that.

“Then what is?” I asked. Her eyes lifted past me, deeper into the forest. For the first time since we got here, I saw it too.

Not clearly, but enough. Something standing beyond the tree line.

Watching. Not moving. Not attacking. Just waiting.

My grip tightened on my weapon. Because I understood immediately. The creatures weren’t hunting us. They were driving us.

Keeping us here. Keeping Yulia here. For that. “Luci,” she said again, quieter this time.

“I see it,” I replied.

The moment the words left my mouth— it moved.

Not toward us. Closer. Every creature in the forest stopped at the exact same time.

Like something had just given a command. Then, slowly they all turned. Not toward us.

Toward Yulia, and bowed.