Otto was out of the vehicle before Hendrik finished confirming the thermal reading.
Hunter emerged from the second carrier at almost the same moment, weapon already drawn and aimed toward the narrow break between the trees, while the technical team remained behind reinforced doors and redirected every available drone toward the approaching figure.
Arion stepped onto the frozen road behind them.
The air smelled wrong.
Not immediately dangerous, not in the violent way corrupted pheromones had once flooded Claudia's Palace, but dense enough that something bitter scraped beneath the familiar scent of wet bark, cold soil, and old vegetation.
The man was close now.
Close enough that Arion no longer needed the drone feed.
He appeared between two enormous pines perhaps sixty meters away, moving with a gait that looked almost human until the shape of his body became clear.
His arms were too long.
