As Rain led Emily and her remaining group through the forest, Diego and the others had already regrouped at a small clearing. They had spent the past few days searching for survivors, but Rain’s absence hadn’t gone unnoticed.

  Diego stood near the center of the group, arms crossed, scanning the surroundings with a tense expression. When he noticed movement in the distance, his hand instinctively went to his sword—until he recognized Rain at the front of the approaching group.

  “There you are,” Diego said, his tone carrying both relief and frustration. “You took your time.”

  Rain shrugged, feeling the weight of exhaustion still clinging to him. “Got sidetracked. Ran into Emily’s group.”

  Diego’s sharp gaze flickered to Emily and the few people trailing behind her. His expression darkened as he took in their numbers. “This is all that’s left?”

  Emily’s face was unreadable, but her voice was firm. “Yeah.”

  A heavy silence hung over the group. They all knew what that meant.

  Diego let out a slow breath, his fingers tightening slightly around his sword hilt. He gnced past Emily at the few survivors she had brought with her—Grayson, Bond, and two others who looked equally exhausted. It was a grim sight.

  Rain watched Diego process the situation, his red eyes narrowing as if he were calcuting their next steps. No one spoke for a moment. The unspoken reality weighed on them—too many were missing, and the chances of finding them alive were slim.

  Emily finally broke the silence. “We searched for others, but it was chaos. I don’t know how many made it out, but…” she trailed off, shaking her head.

  Diego ran a hand through his white hair, his usual composure wavering for just a second. “We’ll hold out hope,” he muttered. “But for now, we need to focus on survival. We’ve already lost too much.”

  Rain crossed his arms, shifting his weight. “Then what’s the pn? We can’t just keep wandering around hoping we bump into people.”

  Diego’s gaze hardened, his leadership instincts taking over. “First, we rest. Then we make a decision. We don’t have the numbers to take risks anymore.”

  Emily nodded, though the tension in her shoulders didn’t ease. “Agreed. We’ll set up camp here for now.”

  Grayson and Bond, still carrying the deer, exchanged gnces before setting it down. “Guess we’ll eat well tonight, at least,” Grayson muttered.

  For the first time in what felt like forever, the group had a moment to breathe. But they all knew it wouldn’t st. The Forsakened Vale never let its prey rest for long.

  As the group settled into the temporary camp, the tension in the air remained thick. Rain sat down on a fallen log, rubbing his temples. The past few days had been nothing short of a nightmare, and his exhaustion was finally catching up to him.

  Diego crouched near the deer, inspecting the damage from Emily’s fire spell. “At least there’s still some good meat left,” he muttered. “We’ll cook what we can and dry the rest for ter.”

  Grayson scoffed. “If we even get a ter,” he said under his breath.

  Diego shot him a sharp look but didn’t argue. The truth was, none of them knew what would happen next.

  Emily crossed her arms and looked at Rain. “How many people are with you?”

  “Not many,” Rain admitted. “A few, like twelve of us. That’s it.”

  Emily let out a slow breath. “That means we’ve lost more than half already.”

  Silence fell over them again, the weight of their losses pressing down.

  Rain looked up at the fog-drenched canopy, his mind still racing. The Withered Canopy, the Harrowstalkers, the Guardsmen—everything in this cursed forest was designed to kill them. And now, they were stranded, split apart, with no clear way out.

  Diego stood up, his expression unreadable. “We’ll make it through this,” he said simply.

  Rain raised an eyebrow. “You sound confident.”

  Diego smirked, but there was no real amusement behind it. “Not confidence. Just stubbornness.”

  Emily shook her head. “If we’re going to make it, we need to be smart about it. We can’t keep moving blindly. We need a real pn.”

  Diego nodded. “Agreed. But first, we rest. We’ll take turns keeping watch.”

  Rain sighed, leaning back against the log. He wanted to argue, to push forward, but his body was screaming for rest.

  “Fine,” he muttered. “But tomorrow, we figure out what’s next. We’re not going to survive this by just hoping for the best.”

  Diego and Emily exchanged a gnce before nodding.

  The night was coming fast, and with it, the unknown dangers lurking in the shadows.

  The small group settled in for the night, the weight of exhaustion and loss pressing heavily on them. The fire crackled softly, casting flickering shadows against the trees. Rain sat near the edge of the camp, sharpening his dagger absentmindedly, his mind clouded with everything that had happened.

  Emily and Diego sat across from him, speaking in hushed voices about their next course of action. The others—Grayson, Bond, and the few remaining members of their fractured expedition—were either tending to their wounds or eating what little food they had.

  Rain’s stomach growled, but he ignored it. He gnced toward the others, particurly at Emily. She had lost most of her group, yet she still held herself together. Even now, she carried the weight of leadership, giving orders, making sure the remaining survivors were at least somewhat stable.

  Rain turned his gaze to Diego, who was quietly eating a piece of dried meat. Despite his usual confident demeanor, Diego’s expression was distant, troubled.

  After a moment, Rain broke the silence. “So what’s the pn now? We can’t just sit here forever.”

  Diego looked up, his red eyes reflecting the firelight. “We’ll wait until sunrise. Once we have light, we’ll start looking for more survivors.”

  Emily sighed. “That’s assuming there are any left.”

  The words hung in the air, heavy and undeniable.

  Grayson shifted uncomfortably. “Captain, if we keep looking for others, we risk running into more of those things. The Harrowstalkers, the Guardsmen… who knows what else is out there.”

  Bond nodded in agreement. “Yeah, maybe it’s better to focus on getting out of here instead of searching for people who might already be dead.”

  Rain clenched his jaw. “And if they’re not? What if some of them are just waiting, hoping someone will come for them?”

  Emily gnced at Diego, waiting for his input.

  Diego sighed, rubbing his temple. “We’re not abandoning anyone. But we need to be smart about this. If we find more survivors, we’ll bring them with us. If not… then we move forward.”

  There was a long silence.

  Eventually, Emily nodded. “Fine. At first light, we search. But we don’t take unnecessary risks.”

  With that, the conversation ended.

  Rain leaned back against the tree, staring up at the darkened sky. His body ached, exhaustion creeping in again. He hadn’t properly rested since they fled the Withered Canopy.

  Diego must have noticed because he muttered, “Go to sleep, Rain. You’ll need the energy.”

  Rain scoffed but didn’t argue. He adjusted his position, gripping his dagger tightly as he let his eyes close.

  The night stretched on, the sound of distant, unknown creatures echoing in the darkness.

  Rain’s eyes fluttered open, his body stiff from sleeping against the rough bark of the tree. For a moment, he wasn’t sure if he had actually rested or just bcked out from exhaustion. His muscles ached, and a dull headache throbbed behind his eyes, a reminder that he still hadn’t fully recovered from the past few days.

  ———

  The forest was eerily quiet, save for the occasional rustling of leaves in the distance. The fire from st night had burned down to embers, casting a faint orange glow over the group. Some were still sleeping, while others, like Diego and Emily, were already awake, speaking in hushed tones near the remains of the fire.

  Rain pushed himself up, wincing at the stiffness in his legs. As he stretched, Diego noticed him and gave a small nod.

  "You're up," Diego said, his voice low but steady.

  "Unfortunately," Rain muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

  Emily gnced at him. "Get ready. We're moving soon."

  Rain sighed. "So much for breakfast."

  Diego scoffed. "If we’re lucky, we might find something along the way. If not, we’ll have to go hungry for a bit longer."

  Rain exhaled sharply but said nothing. He was already used to that reality.

  He gnced at the others—Grayson and Bond were sluggishly getting up, their expressions just as exhausted as he felt. The atmosphere was heavy, but no one compined. They all knew what had to be done.

  Rain adjusted his clothing, tightened his belt, and picked up his dagger.

  "Alright," he said, rolling his shoulders. "Let's get this over with."

  As Rain adjusted his clothing, a thought crossed his mind. He gnced up at the towering trees around them, their thick branches stretching high into the fog-covered sky.

  "Why can’t we just climb the trees and look from above?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "Wouldn’t that make finding the others easier?"

  Diego shook his head immediately. "No."

  Emily sighed. "It’s not that simple."

  Rain frowned. "How is it not simple? We just climb, take a look, and—"

  Diego cut him off. "And get ourselves killed."

  Rain blinked. "What?"

  Diego crossed his arms. "The canopy isn't safe. There are things up there. Things that wait for idiots to climb too high."

  Emily nodded. "Even if you don’t get snatched up by something, the moment you break through the leaves, you’ll be an easy target. If there’s anything watching, you’ll be the first one they see."

  Rain gnced back up at the trees, a sinking feeling settling in his stomach. He hadn’t even considered that something might be lurking above.

  "Right," he muttered. "So no climbing, then."

  With that discussion settled, the group gathered their things and prepared to move out. Diego took the lead, his eyes scanning ahead, while Emily and her remaining men stayed close. Rain adjusted the strap of his dagger, feeling its weight at his side.

  "Stay close," Diego ordered. "We’re still not in the clear."

  The air was thick with tension as they stepped forward, the damp earth beneath them muffling their footsteps. The deeper they went, the more the forest seemed to shift around them—the sounds of distant rustling, the occasional creak of wood, as if the trees themselves were listening.

  Rain kept his gaze moving, scanning for any sign of movement. His encounter with the Harrowstalkers was still fresh in his mind. He couldn't afford to be caught off guard again.

  Emily, walking beside him, broke the silence. "How far do you think they could’ve gone?"

  "Depends," Diego said. "If they ran in the right direction, they might not be too far."

  "And if they ran in the wrong direction?" Rain asked.

  Diego didn't answer. The implication was clear.

  As they pressed forward, that uneasy sensation crept back into Rain’s mind—the feeling of unseen eyes watching from the shadows. His steps slowed slightly as he scanned the trees, his senses sharpening.

  Diego must have felt it too because his hand drifted toward his sword. Emily’s gaze flickered across the dense foliage, her posture tensing.

  "We’re being watched again," Rain muttered under his breath.

  Diego nodded slightly. "I know."

  The others in the group were less perceptive, trudging forward with only vague wariness. But Rain, Diego, and Emily? They knew better. Something was out there. Something waiting.

  As they moved cautiously through the dense forest, the stench hit them first—a sickly, rotting odor that made Rain’s stomach churn. Then they saw them.

  Bodies.

  Scattered across the forest floor, some torn apart beyond recognition, others already bloating and decaying. Flies buzzed around the carnage, and the darkened soil beneath them was stained with dried blood.

  Emily covered her nose, her expression hardening. Diego let out a sharp breath, his grip on his sword tightening.

  Rain stepped forward, eyes scanning the corpses. "These… these were from Bryan’s group."

  Diego crouched beside a body, inspecting the wounds. His expression darkened as he traced a deep, clean cut along one of the corpses. "This wasn’t just any beast. The precision… the way they were torn apart… This was the work of Harrowstalkers."

  Rain’s jaw tightened. He could almost picture it—the creatures waiting, watching, striking when the group was at their weakest.

  Emily took a step back, gripping her staff. "Then… Bryan—"

  "He’s alive," Diego interrupted firmly. "He's the strongest of us three afterall."

  A heavy silence hung in the air, but Diego’s words gave a sliver of reassurance. If Bryan had survived, then maybe the others had, too.

  Rain stepped forward, his eyes scanning the mangled corpses. His gaze nded on a sword still clutched tightly in the stiff grip of one of the fallen. Without hesitation, he crouched down and pried it from the lifeless fingers, the cold steel sliding free with little resistance.

  He examined it—worn but sturdy, its edge dulled by battle yet still serviceable. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

  Diego gnced at him but said nothing, only nodding slightly before turning his attention back to the surroundings. They had no time to waste.