Cole held his breath, feeling the cold rush of blood to his hands, the pins and needles creeping up his arms. He and Jake crouched behind trees, silently praying the incoming soldiers wouldn’t notice them. If they were as strong as Rhea, it wouldn’t be a question of whether they would win—it would be a matter of how they would die.

  ‘This is what happens when you take the most dangerous route.’ Cole silently cursed the man who had sent them on this suicide mission.

  The footsteps grew closer—too close. Then, suddenly, they stopped.

  Cole held his breath. Had they been caught? Slowly, he peered around the corner, his gaze locking onto the figures standing by the Water’s Creek. They weren’t moving, just staring at something.

  His eyes followed their line of sight.

  The footprints.

  The ones they had left near Water’s Creek.

  They knew someone was nearby.

  Cole instantly looked towards Jake, coming to mutual understanding that they had to diverge their attention, before they started looking around and eventually find them.

  Jake exhaled, focusing his essentia. A golden glow pulsed at his fingertips, spreading up his arm as energy took shape. Threads of a light-yellow energy twisted together, solidifying into a sleek sword that hummed with power.

  Without hesitation, he stretched his fingers, hurling it at a nearby tree. The blade shot forward like a streak of light, striking the trunk with a sharp crack. The impact split the wood, and with a groan, the tree toppled, crashing to the ground.

  Jake flexed his fingers as the sword dissolved into the atmosphere.

  The soldiers immediately snapped their heads toward the fallen tree, searching for the source of the strike. But their efforts were in vain.

  By the time the tree crashed into the ground, Cole and Jake were already moving, using the deafening impact to mask the sound of their footsteps as they bolted further into the forest.

  Were they in the clear?

  No.

  The soldiers charged toward them, their heavy footsteps pounding behind. Cole could hear them getting closer, and the ruckus from the tree could no longer be used as coverage. The soldiers’ boots slammed against the ground, their voices shouting through the forest.

  ‘We won’t outrun them like this,’ Cole thought, his heart racing, but his mind was focused.

  He quickly used energy leaking from his essentia nodes and summoned a spear. It appeared in his hand, glowing faintly. Without hesitation, Cole threw it at a tree ahead, where it struck with a loud crack, nearly breaking off a thick branch. The branch swayed, barely hanging on as the weapon dissipated.

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  Jake followed right behind him, as Cole grabbed a stick from the ground and dragged it along, creating a false trail. He threw the stick ahead, hoping it would mislead the soldiers for a bit.

  They then went left, heading toward the creek. Climbing a fallen log across the water, they moved carefully to avoid making noise. The rushing water below them was loud, but they stayed quiet as they crossed. Once on the other side, they hid behind trees, waiting for the soldiers.

  Then they heard it. The soldiers, realizing they had been tricked by the fake trial, were catching on.

  “They must’ve gone downstream,” one soldier shouted.

  Cole’s pulse quickened. The soldiers would soon close in on them. Jake grabbed a stone from the creek and threw it back into the water, where their footsteps had been before crossing the log. The splash echoed, like the sound of footsteps.

  “They’re in the creek!” one of the soldiers yelled.

  The soldiers rushed to the creek, heading downstream.

  They were distracted, but one soldier got too close to Cole and Jake. They froze, holding their breath, praying he wouldn’t spot them. Every footstep he took felt like it echoed in their chest, each one a reminder of how close they were to being caught. The sound of his boots crushing the leaves beneath him seemed louder with every passing second, the air thick with tension.

  ‘Please stop.’ Cole thought, whilst begrudgingly reaching for his scythe strapped to his back.

  Then, just as it seemed like they might be caught, the branch Cole had broken earlier finally fell with a loud crash. The soldiers turned around, startled.

  “Back upstream!” one of them shouted.

  They rushed back toward the noise, convinced that Cole and Jake had gone that way. With the soldiers distracted, Cole and Jake quickly continued downstream, slipping away further north into The Ironwood. The soldiers, now confused, kept searching upstream while Cole and Jake escaped, leaving only the sound of the rushing creek behind them.

  As the boys ran, they exchanged a glance, and a smirk spread across their faces. Unable to contain themselves, they burst into laughter. They had made it out of that mess—survived the chaos. Though it was far too early to celebrate, they couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride in that small victory.

  “Did you see that, Cole?” Jake grinned, his bright white teeth flashing in the sunlight, his smile radiant.

  Cole’s lips twitched into a genuine smile, the first real one he’d had since stepping into the Abyss. “Yeah.”

  “Did. You. See. That. Cole?” Jake repeated, each word slow and drawn out, hyping both of them up, his voice practically vibrating with excitement.

  Cole couldn’t hold it back anymore and laughed. “Yeah!”

  For a brief moment, in the midst of their laughter, it was as if the weight of the trial, the danger, everything else, just slipped away. They were just two boys, caught up in the thrill of a small victory.

  “You know what, Cole,” Jake said, his voice full of pride, “we make a pretty good team.” He tilted his head to glance at Cole as they kept running deeper into the forest, their pace unbroken.

  Cole smiled back, feeling the bond between them. “You’re right—”

  Suddenly, a flash of crimson red shot across Cole’s hand. Had he scraped himself? He heard a strange plop, something soft hitting the ground.

  ‘Jake, what are you doing?’ Cole thought, his mind racing. ‘We have to keep moving.’

  But then, Cole’s eyes snapped to Jake. He was looking different. A dark, small hole had appeared in Jake’s abdomen, blood oozing from the wound.

  His body laid completely still.

  That’s when Cole saw him—a man, standing in the shadows. His piercing blue eyes glowed through the slits in his helmet.

  “Found you.”