The forest swallowed them whole.
The night was moonless, branches clawing like skeletal hands at their faces as Luv and Ayu pushed deeper into the wilds. Behind them, the sky glowed a sickly orange—the fortress burning, a beacon for every hunter who would soon spill into the woods.
Luv staggered, his wounds slowing him, but Ayu's arm around him never faltered. Her breath was steady despite the blood matting her hair and the grime smeared across her cheek. She listened—always listening—for the rhythm of pursuit.
It came quickly.
Distant horns. Barking hounds. The metallic thunder of armored boots. The Crimson Fang were not letting their prey escape into the dark so easily.
"Trackers," Luv rasped, his voice thin but sharp. "They'll spread wide… sniff the air, follow blood."
Ayu glanced at the crimson trail soaking through the bandages on his side. She cursed under her breath. "Then we make them lose the scent."
She dragged him toward a stream, its black water trickling quietly over stone. They waded in, boots sinking into the cold muck. The icy current bit at their wounds, but Ayu pressed forward, holding Luv upright as they followed the stream deeper into the forest.
The dogs howled behind them—closer now.
Luv's hand tightened around his dagger. "If they catch us—"
"They won't," Ayu snapped, her voice iron. "I'll gut every last one before they touch you."
The stream bent sharply, running beneath a curtain of hanging vines. Ayu pushed through, finding a hollow carved by roots—a shallow den hidden from sight. She eased Luv down, her hands moving fast as she pressed fresh cloth to his bleeding side.
The sounds of pursuit grew louder. Crackling branches. Shouts. The guttural snarl of beasts closing in.
Ayu's gaze flicked to the treeline, calculating. She had three bullets left in one pistol, none in the other. Her sword was chipped, her arms heavy. But her eyes burned with defiance.
Luv coughed, lips curling in a ghost of a grin. "They'll come in waves. Tire themselves… thinking we're cornered."
Ayu's hand brushed his cheek briefly—a rare softness. "Then let them come. I'll send them back in pieces."
The first dog broke into the clearing, foam dripping from its jaws, eyes wild with bloodlust. Behind it, armored shadows pushed through the brush, blades glinting in torchlight.
Ayu rose slowly, drawing her pistol, her silhouette framed by the faint glow of the burning fortress far behind them.
The night air was heavy, electric.
The hunt had begun.