Silence lingered.
Not empty.
But watching.
Waiting.
Leah didn't hear Thalia at first.
She was still holding Mauris.
Still clinging to the warmth that was already fading.
Her fingers curled into his armor like letting go would erase him completely.
"…Leah."
Thalia's voice was closer now.
Softer.
Breaking.
"We have to go."
Leah shook her head.
Barely.
"No…"
A whisper.
Cracked.
"I'm not leaving him…"
Henry turned sharply, his breath hitching.
His eyes darted into the forest of roots.
Into the darkness between them.
Something was wrong.
The air felt… tighter.
Thicker.
Like the realm itself had started breathing again.
"I.....I think it's coming back…" Henry stammered, grabbing Thalia's arm instinctively.
His grip was desperate.
Childlike.
"We can't stay here… we can't"
Leah didn't move.
Didn't listen.
Her tears fell silently now.
No sound left in them.
Only emptiness.
Thalia stepped forward.
Her hands trembling as she grabbed Leah by the shoulders.
Hard.
"Leah!"
She shook her.
Not gently.
Not this time.
Leah's head jerked slightly.
Her eyes unfocused.
Lost.
"He's gone, Leah…" Thalia said, her voice breaking despite herself.
"We can't… we can't bring him back…"
A tear slipped down her cheek.
She didn't wipe it.
"We can't do anything…"
The words hung between them.
Cold.
Absolute.
Something inside Leah shattered.
Not loudly.
Not violently.
Just....
Collapsed.
Her grip on Mauris loosened.
Slowly.
Like her hands no longer belonged to her.
"…gone…"
She repeated it under her breath.
Like testing a truth she didn't want to understand.
Another low rumble rolled through the sky.
Closer this time.
Not thunder.
Not quite.
Leah closed her eyes.
One last time.
Then,
Carefully,
Gently,
She lowered Mauris to the ground.
Like he might still feel it.
Like it still mattered.
Her fingers lingered on his chest for a moment.
Then slipped away.
She stood.
Unsteady.
Hollow.
"We can't leave him here…" she said.
Her voice wasn't loud.
But it cut deeper than anything before.
There was fear in it.
And something worse,
Guilt.
Thalia stepped forward and pulled her into a tight embrace.
Leah didn't resist.
Didn't return it either.
She just stood there.
Broken inside it.
"Sometimes…" Thalia whispered, her voice trembling against Leah's shoulder,
"…we don't get a choice."
A pause.
Her grip tightened.
"Sometimes we just… survive it."
Henry looked over his shoulder again.
The roots were shifting.
Slowly.
Subtly.
But they were moving.
"We have to go," he said, more urgently now.
"Please…"
Thalia pulled back slightly, holding Leah's face.
Forcing her to look at her.
"We don't leave him behind," she said softly.
"We carry him with us."
Her voice cracked.
"In here."
She pressed a hand against Leah's chest.
Leah's lips trembled.
A silent sob breaking through.
"We live…" Thalia continued, barely holding herself together,
"…to honor him."
Leah nodded.
Once.
Small.
Fragile.
But real.
They started to move.
Slowly.
Close together....like if even a single step drifted too far, something would tear them apart.
Thalia reached back, her fingers trembling as she pulled a few arrows from her quiver.
She pressed them into Leah's hand.
Leah nodded faintly.
Then turned to Henry.
"The dagger…"
Her voice was softer now.
Worn.
Henry didn't speak.
He just handed it to her.
His hands shook so badly the blade rattled faintly in his grip before she took it.
Leah noticed.
She gently caught his hands.
Held them.
Tight.
"Don't worry…" she whispered, tears still clinging to her voice,
"…we'll protect you."
Henry nodded quickly.
Too quickly.
Like he didn't trust himself to speak.
They moved.
The roots stretched endlessly in every direction.
Twisting.
Layered.
Alive.
They crept along the ground… along the walls… along each other.
Sometimes shifting.
Sometimes tightening.
As if aware.
Mist began to coil around their legs.
At first thin;
Then thicker.
Crawling upward.
Wrapping.
Following.
Lightning tore through the sky above.
Brief flashes of white;
Revealing glimpses of what surrounded them.
Then darkness again.
In those flashes;
They saw them.
Bodies.
Not fresh.
Not whole.
Skeletons.
Half-decayed forms tangled deep within the roots.
Limbs twisted.
Skulls tilted in silent screams.
Some still wore fragments of armor.
Others;
Nothing at all.
Leah looked away.
Too late.
The image stayed.
Burned.
They moved closer together instinctively.
Shoulder to shoulder now.
No space between them.
Their footsteps slowed.
Then slowed again.
Because nothing in this place felt like a path.
Only endless wrong directions.
Confusion thickened.
Like the mist itself had entered their thoughts.
Thalia stopped.
Abrupt.
"Wait."
Leah and Henry froze instantly.
Thalia closed her eyes.
Her breathing steadied.
Slowed.
Even as the world around them seemed to tighten.
Another low rumble rolled through the sky.
Closer.
Watching.
She inhaled deeply.
Held it.
Then exhaled.
Silence stretched.
Henry shifted nervously.
"Thalia…?" he whispered.
She didn't respond.
For a moment;
Nothing.
Then;
Her fingers twitched slightly.
Her head tilted.
Just a fraction.
Like she was listening to something they couldn't hear.
Her brows furrowed.
Then suddenly;
Her eyes snapped open.
Sharp.
Focused.
Different.
"I feel it…"
Her voice was low.
Certain.
Leah stepped closer.
"What?"
Thalia slowly raised her hand.
Her index finger pointing into the darkness.
Not toward a path.
Not toward anything visible.
Somewhere.
"That way."
Henry looked.
Saw nothing.
Only roots.
Mist.
Shadows.
"There's… something," Thalia continued, her voice tightening slightly,
"…a pull… like… a thread…"
She swallowed.
Lightning flashed.
For a split second...
The direction she pointed seemed deeper.
Darker.
Like the roots there twisted differently.
More tightly.
More alive.
Then darkness swallowed it again.
Leah tightened her grip on the dagger.
Her other hand still clutching the arrows.
"…Is it safe?" Henry asked, his voice barely holding together.
Thalia didn't answer immediately.
Her gaze remained fixed.
Unblinking.
"…No."
A pause.
"But it's something."
Silence again.
Heavy.
Then Leah stepped forward.
First.
"Then we go that way."
Henry hesitated,
Only for a second...
Then followed.
Thalia moved last.
Her eyes never leaving that direction.