Alina stood in the forest.
She was just outside the line of sight from the castle walls.
She stared at the fortress.
Her eyes...
They were filled with worry.
A deep, cold, gnawing worry.
She hadn't moved for some time.
Just... staring.
Waiting.
'Where are you, Andre?'
'Why don't you report?'
'The signal. Why haven't you answered the signal?'
...
A twig snapped.
Alina didn't flinch.
A man emerged from the bushes.
Wood. Her second-in-command.
His face was grim.
Sweat beaded on his brow, despite the cold mountain air.
He didn't need to say anything.
She already knew.
"Alina..."
He stopped, seeing her unmoving back.
He knew that posture.
It was the "leader" posture. Cold. Hard. Made of iron.
He swallowed. The sound was loud in the quiet forest.
"Alina," he tried again, forcing the words out.
"There's no movement from Andre's team."
Silence.
The wind rustled the leaves.
"We've given the signal," he pushed on, his voice low and urgent.
"Three times."
"The bird call. The... the follow-up signal. The one for emergencies."
"There's no response."
He paused, then said the words she was dreading.
The words that made it real.
"They've... likely met with disaster."
Alina's back remained rigid.
Unmoving.
Wood rushed on, as if speaking quickly could lessen the blow.
"Andre... and his men... they are all skilled fighters. You know this."
"They're the best we have. The best."
"For the enemy to take out all them... so silently..."
He looked around, as if the trees themselves were listening.
"Not one escaping..."
His voice dropped to a terrified whisper.
"Alina, they must have a Bloodline Awakener."
"Or a Mage."
"A real one."
He stared at her, pleading with her back.
"We've already secured most of the supplies we came for."
"The grain. The iron. It's loaded."
The implication hung heavy in the cold, forest air.
We should get out of here.
Let's go. Now.
This is a trap.
We are in over our heads.
Alina was no fool.
She was a mage. Her mind was sharp. Logical.
She understood exactly what he meant.
He was right.
Logically.
Strategically.
He was absolutely, 100% correct.
The mission was a success. They had the supplies.
They should cut their losses and run.
But...
She couldn't leave.
She spoke.
Her voice was soft.
So soft, Wood had to lean in to hear it.
"Andre..."
Her voice was thick. Choked.
"...the kid just fell in love."
Wood blinked.
"What?"
"With Tally," Alina continued, as if talking to herself. Staring at that cold, dead castle.
"From logistics."
"He... he was planning to build a life together. After this. After we found a place to settle."
"He was saving his share. For a... a ring."
Her voice was hollow.
"Before we left... Tally... she's just a girl, Wood. She... she begged me to look after him."
"She made me promise."
Alina's hand clenched hard.
She didn't care.
"And Vilin..."
She went on.
"His father is still waiting for him to come home."
"He's the only son. He... "
"He sends every copper he makes back to his father. Every single one."
"And Kael..."
"And Renn..."
"And Bors..."
She listed the names.
All of them.
One by one.
Not as scouts.
Not as soldiers.
As... family.
As people.
She finally turned to look at Wood.
Her eyes were burning.
Not with anger.
With a terrible, agonizing, self-hating pain.
"I can't leave, Wood."
"They might still be alive."
"Captured. Wounded. Hiding."
"I don't know."
"If I turn my back... if I walk away now... just to save the supplies..."
Her voice broke, just for a second.
"...I'm condemning them to certain death."
Wood fell silent.
He said no more.
He looked at this woman.
This... witch. This mage. This... leader.
He'd followed her for a year.
In his heart, his respect for her...
It deepened.
It became... something else.
Something unbreakable.
He knew.
He knew, without a single doubt...
If he were in Andre's plight...
If he were the one missing...
Alina would move heaven and earth to save him, too.
That...
That was why they followed her.
That was why they would die for her.
...
Alina turned back to the castle.
Her mind was racing.
The pain was still there, but a cold, magical logic was taking over.
"Who?" she muttered. "Who could it be?"
"It's definitely not that useless brat, Kevin."
"He's barricaded in the inner bailey, wetting himself. I can practically smell the fear from here."
"So... who?"
A new, colder fear.
A practical one.
"Could the reinforcements... really have arrived so fast!?"
The thought was terrifying.
She spun around, her eyes wide, her focus total.
"Wood!"
"Yes, Alina!"
"Our lookouts! The main road! The Imperial road to Windsor!"
"Have there been any reports?"
"Any dust? Any banners? Any sign?"
Wood shook his head. Firmly.
"None."
"It's been quiet. All morning. Just like you said it would be."
"Kael and Renn are still out there. On the ridge. They would have signaled. They... they're fine."
"Then... who...?"
Alina's form flickered.
A shimmer of silver light.
She was gone.
Wood didn't flinch. He was used to it.
She was using her magic.
Her senses.
Scanning.
Expanding her consciousness, like a ripple in a pond, across the forest.
Ten minutes later...
She reappeared.
several kilometers away.
Next to a small, hidden trail. A game path. One they didn't use.
She was staring at the ground.
"Wood."
Her voice was dead.
"Get over here."
Wood ran.
He burst through the bushes and trees, finally arrived the spot.
And froze.
His stomach clenched.
Bodies.
In the middle of the path.
Half-hidden by the ferns.
Three bodies.
"Vilin..." he whispered, recognizing one of them.
His men.
His friends.
They were all dead.
Throats cut. A professional.
But...
There was a fourth body.
A man he didn't recognize.
He was dressed differently.
A leather gambeson, with a... crest.
A black hawk, on a field of red.
If Roland were here, he would definitely recognize this person.
This person is one of Knight Rena's men!