Chapter 109 The Hunt
Dawn came in gray.
No sunrise worth writing about, just a slow lightening of the sky over the trees, turning black into charcoal. The river mist clung low to the ground, wrapping the world in a wet chill that sank straight to the bone.
Lyra yanked her jacket tighter and checked the straps on her pack again. She didn’t need to. It was habit now—check, re-check, move.
Kade was already awake, crouched on a rock near the edge of camp, eyes closed as he pressed his fingers into the dirt. The runes along his wrists glowed faint blue.
Maverick stood a short distance away, watching the tree line like it might bite.
“You two ready?” Aris asked, stepping up beside Lyra. She looked like she’d slept even less than they had.
“As we’ll ever be,” Lyra said.
Aris nodded toward Kade. “He’ll have the best chance of tracking Dax. The east ridge is full of dead zones. The Syndicate loves those pockets—they’re hard to scan, easy to control. Don’t let him wander off.”
Kade opened one eye. “You know I’m standing right here, right?”
“Good,” Aris said. “Then you heard me.”
He sighed and got to his feet. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t die, don’t get captured, don’t blow up the last working relay we could steal. I read the notes.”
Maverick snorted. “You left out ‘don’t annoy the dragon.’”
“That one’s implied,” Kade said.
Aris’s gaze sharpened. “You’ll have maybe twelve hours before the Syndicate recalibrates their sweep. Once they do, every relay within range will be monitored. If Dax reaches that outpost and transmits, they’ll have more than Lyra’s power signatures—they’ll have safehouse coordinates, routes, names.”
Lyra’s jaw tightened. “We won’t let him make that call.”
“See that you don’t,” Aris said. She wasn’t threatening. Just tired and deadly serious.
Maverick slung his rifle across his back and nodded once. “We’ll be back.”
“Come back with good news,” Aris said. “Or don’t come back at all.”
Kade winced. “Really loving the pep talks around here.”
Lyra gave Aris a look. “We’re not planning on dying today.”
Aris’s expression softened by a fraction. “Good. I’m running out of people I trust.”
That landed heavier than anything else. Lyra didn’t have a good answer for it, so she didn’t try. She just turned toward the trees.
“Let’s go.”
🔥🔥🔥
The forest changed as they climbed.
The ground shifted from soft river mud to rocky, uneven slopes. Roots twisted across the path like traps, half-hidden under damp leaves. The air thinned, growing colder. A low wind pushed through the branches, carrying with it the faint metallic scent that seemed to follow anything Syndicate-built.
“You’re sure he went this way?” Lyra asked after an hour, stepping over a fallen log.
“Pretty sure,” Kade said. He paused to press his hand against the bark. His eyes flickered blue for a second. “Tracks are messy, but they’re there. Heavy boots. One person. Moving fast.”
“Could be anyone,” Maverick said.
“Could be,” Kade agreed. “Except most people don’t leave a trail of scrambled ward residue behind them.”
Lyra frowned. “Scrambled how?”
“Like someone carrying Syndicate-grade tech through a field of rebellion wards,” he said. “The patterns don’t like each other. They fight.” He tapped the tree. “That burn mark? That’s not lightning. That’s a bad marriage between hardware and magic.”
“Can you tell how far ahead he is?” Maverick asked.
Kade shook his head. “He’s covering his tracks when he remembers to. But he’s not a ranger. He’s running scared.”
Lyra adjusted her pack. “Good. Fear makes people sloppy.”
Maverick glanced at her, half impressed, half amused. “You say that like you’ve never run scared.”
“Oh, I absolutely have,” she said. “That’s how I know.”
They moved in silence for a while, the only sounds their boots on rock and the distant call of some bird that didn’t care there was a war going on. The bond hummed in Lyra’s chest, steady as a second heartbeat. Every time Maverick shifted his weight or scanned the treeline, she felt a faint echo of the motion through it—like the space between them was shorter than it looked.
It should have unnerved her.
Instead, it felt… solid. Like no matter which way this went, she wouldn’t be alone when it hit.
Kade slowed again near a narrow ravine. The rocks here were darker, streaked with iron. The wind funneled through the gap, carrying a faint whisper that almost sounded like static.
“Here,” he said. “He cut through this way.”
Lyra peered down into the ravine. “You sure?”
Kade pointed to a scuffed patch of stone near the edge. “Boot print. Partial. He slipped.”
“And didn’t fall,” Maverick said. “Damn.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Kade said dryly.
Maverick gave him a flat look. “Wasn’t hoping for a corpse. Just less walking.”
Lyra snorted. “You’re getting soft.”
He glanced back at her. “You did kiss me in the middle of a battlefield. Might’ve messed with my brand.”
Kade nearly tripped. “Wait. What?”
Lyra’s ears went hot. “Focus, please.”
Maverick grinned. “You heard the healer. Eyes forward.”
Kade shook his head. “Unbelievable. I risk my life for people who flirt during missile strikes.”
“It worked, didn’t it?” Maverick asked.
“We’re not analyzing your coping mechanisms right now,” Lyra muttered.
Kade bit back a laugh and dropped into the ravine, sliding carefully down the loose rock. “Come on, lovebirds. Dax isn’t going to catch himself.”
Lyra decided she liked him, just a little.
🔥🔥🔥
By midday, clouds had thickened overhead. The light turned flat, shadows dissolving into a single gray mass. They’d crossed two small streams and skirted an old landslide that had taken half a hillside with it.
They stopped briefly in the shelter of a crooked pine, passing a canteen back and forth. Lyra’s legs throbbed from the climb. Maverick’s shoulders were tense, like he was waiting for the sky to drop a drone on them.
“Talk to me about this relay outpost,” Lyra said. “What are we walking into?”
Kade wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Used to be a weather station. Syndicate took it over a few years ago. Upgraded the tower, slapped some guns on the roof, called it a day.”
“Staffing?” Maverick asked.
“Light, normally,” Kade said. “They use it more as a repeater node than a full base. Rotate a squad every few weeks. But after the blast at the facility…” He shrugged. “Could be more.”
Lyra frowned. “What about wards? Detection fields?”
“It’s a relay, not a lab,” Kade said. “They rely on tech, not runes. Good for us. Easier to break.”
Maverick cracked his knuckles. “That’s my favorite kind.”
Lyra glanced at him. “You going to torch the front door and call it strategy again?”
“Worked last time,” he said.
“Barely.”
“Still counts.”
Kade looked between them. “Is this what you two are like all the time?”
“Yes,” Maverick said.
“Unfortunately,” Lyra added.
Kade sighed. “Great. I’m going to die with banter echoing in my ears.”
Maverick’s expression turned serious. “You won’t die. Not if I can help it.”
Kade studied him for a beat, then nodded once. “Then I’ll hold you to that, dragon.”
They moved on.