The forest thinned marginally as they moved.
Not enough to change the character of it—the canopy was still dense above, the air still heavy with the particular weight that had settled over this place long before Damien arrived and would probably remain long after he left. But the terrain had shifted slightly.
Fewer of the massive, fused root formations that dominated the deeper sections. More open ground between the larger trees. Small changes that added up to something fractionally easier to move through.
Damien noticed but said nothing.
They had been moving for a while now, long enough that the aftermath of the fight with the mana beast group had faded behind them and the immediate weight of it had settled into the background.
Cerbe padded forward at Damien's left, its three heads occasionally turning at separate intervals to track sounds and movements in the surrounding forest.
