The wind bit sharper than expected, tugging at their cloaks and scattering dust along the rocks. They stood at the mouth of the cave.

  “This feels like we’re about to do the obvious bad thing in a horror movie,” Alex said, smirking.

  "Do you want to sleep with the things outside?" Adrian said, chuckling.

  “No, but I’m just saying,” Alex replied, shrugging. “It doesn’t exactly scream safe."

  "Yeah, because outside screams safe."

  “I get it, I get it,” Alex said, throwing his hands up in mock surrender.

  Adrian pulled a compact flashlight from his vest and locked it onto the rail of his MP7 with a soft click. The beam cut a sharp line through the dark. Beside him, Alex did the same.

  “We’ve got an hour, maybe two, before night falls. Let’s get this done,” Adrian said, double-checking the light on his weapon.

  “Sounds good,” Alex replied with a grin. “And afterward we feast! Or at least a snack. That rabbit thing wasn’t exactly a banquet.”

  "It better taste good."

  When they were finally set to enter, Alex gave a crooked smile, gestured toward the entrance, and said, “After you.”

  Adrian rolled his eyes, shouldered the MP7, and stepped into the cave, the mounted flashlight cutting a narrow path through the dark.

  As he stepped inside, his heart hammered. He forced himself to breathe steadily. He had to clear the cave before night fell; he didn’t like to imagine what was out there after nightfall. Taking a deep breath, he moved.

  Alex fell in right behind him, weapon raised in a matching stance, his own beam slicing alongside Adrian’s.

  The cave was narrow at first, with rough, damp walls that scraped against their shoulders. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, and small puddles collected on the uneven floor. The air was cool and heavy, carrying the faint smell of wet stone.

  They moved cautiously through the cave. The walls scraped lightly against their shoulders, and puddles collected on the uneven floor. Each step echoed softly, but their nerves made it sound louder, sharper, as if something could spring out at any moment.

  A few drips of water fell from the ceiling, shadows shifted in the corners of their vision, but nothing more. Despite the cave being empty, their hearts race. Finally, they reached the end. The space opened slightly, the walls bare and silent. Nothing stirred, yet the tension lingered, making them pause for a long moment before allowing themselves a quiet exhale.

  Alex let out a long, shaky breath. “Well… I'll die of a heart attack before anything else manages to kill me.”

  Adrian rolled his eyes, letting out a small laugh. “Better than your head falling next to your body,” he muttered, remembering how the rabbit had met its end.

  Alex shuddered, but a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

  Adrian set his bag on the uneven ground of the cave and took out his sleeping bag. "You're taking first watch."

  "Guess that's fair."

  They ate and joked quietly, letting the tension drain from their shoulders as their hearts gradually stopped hammering. Eventually, the adrenaline faded enough that Adrian’s eyes grew heavy, and he finally drifted off to sleep.

  Morning came. Adrian crouched over a small portable burner, carefully measuring coffee grounds into a tiny metal pot. The smell hit him instantly, rich and bitter, and he inhaled deeply, savoring it like a ritual. He poured water over the grounds, watching it bubble and hiss as it brewed.

  Alex crouched nearby, carefully cleaning and preparing the rabbit for cooking. He worked efficiently, removing the fur and checking the meat, while Adrian focused on his coffee. The smell of roasting meat soon mingled with the rich aroma of brewing coffee.

  They were both holding meat from the rabbit, waiting for someone to take the first bite.

  Adrian finally broke the silence, raising a piece of meat. “After you,” he said, smirking.

  Alex shrugged and took a careful bite. His eyebrows lifted, and he nodded slowly. “Hmm… actually, not bad,” he said, chewing thoughtfully. “Better than I expected.”

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  Adrian took a sip of his coffee, glancing at him.

  Alex shrugged again and took another bite. “Yeah… alright. This is pretty solid.”

  They finished the last bites of rabbit, Adrian sipping the final warmth of his coffee while Alex cleaned up the remains of their small meal. The fur went into a bag, and the pair packed their sleeping gear, folding it neatly despite the rough ground. The cave had been empty, thankfully.

  When everything was done, they resumed their journey north.

  They kept a steady pace, heading north, their cloaks tugged by the breeze. The terrain was uneven, with jagged ridges cutting the horizon, and scattered shrubs clinging stubbornly to cracks in the rock. Every so often, patches of rough grass broke up the stone, and in the distance, darker clusters of trees swayed like watchful sentries.

  Alex glanced at Adrian, grinning. “We gotta find another one of those hex rabbits. It was tasty.”

  Adrian arched a brow. “Tasty? It wasn’t bad. But we could as easily be its dinner. Or cooked with it.”

  “Worth it,” Alex said without hesitation. “Next time I’m keeping the legs for myself.”

  Adrian just laughed. This was the second day, and Alex was thinking about hunting hex rabbits. Hex—Adrian had given it that name because the damn thing had messed with their minds. The memory still sent a chill down his spine. He hoped they would be out of the forest soon.

  But even with the fear clinging in the back of his mind, he couldn’t deny it, he was having the time of his life. The last three months, ever since discovering the Nexus, his life had been changing in ways he never imagined. Better might not be the perfect word, but compared to the hollow days he knew before… it was good.

  For a while, they walked in silence, the quiet broken only by the crunch of their boots and the distant chirping of birds. That's what they thought it was, anyway.

  A rustle in the brush to their left snapped both of them to attention. Weapons raised, they froze. The sound grew louder, quick steps crunching through grass. Adrian’s breath caught, until a small, lean animal darted out of the shrubs, its fur bristling and eyes wide. It stopped just long enough to glance at them, then bolted toward the trees.

  Alex let out a shaky breath and lowered his weapon. “I almost shot it.”

  Adrian exhaled through his nose, forcing his own weapon down. “Yeah, same. Well, good to know my heart’s still working.”

  They pressed on. The land grew rougher, the ground rising into low ridges that forced them to climb, their breath coming heavier with the effort. At the top, the view stretched wider. The valley rolled out below them.

  Adrian squinted. Against the horizon, a thin gray line curled upward, almost blending with the clouds. Smoke.

  “What’s that?” Alex asked, squinting his eyes. “Smoke?”

  “Yeah,” Adrian said after a moment, narrowing his gaze. “Looks like it.”

  “So… we’re going toward it?” Alex asked.

  Adrian pulled out his compass. “Not exactly. It's a bit off our path, but we can make a detour.”

  Alex smirked. “So, Elves?”

  Adrian chuckled, shaking his head. “We can only hope.” A second later, the thought struck him as so absurd he broke into a laugh, the sound echoing faintly across the ridge.

  They started moving toward the smoke, but not directly. Adrian kept their course angled, far enough to bypass it. Neither of them liked the idea of walking blind into whoever was out there.

  As they moved closer, the land began to change. The rough ridges softened into slopes, and faint traces of use started to appear. A trail cut across the rocks, the kind worn smooth by countless footsteps.

  Alex crouched low, brushing his fingers along one of the tracks. “It’s a well-trodden path… someone’s been using this for a while.”

  "Let's go around it. We need to see them before they see us."

  They detoured the well-trodden path, keeping low and quiet, letting the smoke stay off to their right. The closer they got, the forest thinned slightly, and subtle signs of human presence began to appear. A line of stacked firewood, cut and arranged neatly, suggested someone had been here recently. Small clearings held patches of flattened grass where tents or temporary shelters had likely been set up.

  A narrow track wound through the trees, worn smooth by countless footsteps. Broken branches lay to the side, pushed aside like someone had cleared the way. Adrian noticed a few footprints pressed into the soft soil.

  Alex crouched low, brushing his fingers along one of the tracks. “Looks like a proper path… someone’s been using this for a while,” he whispered.

  Adrian nodded, keeping his eyes on the movement ahead. “Let’s stay off it.”

  They pressed on cautiously. A discarded clay pot, cracked and blackened from fire, lay near a tree. The narrow path led toward the smoke, with footprints of varying sizes.

  And then, just beyond a gentle rise, the first real glimpse of life: smoke curling steadily from a small stone chimney. A figure moved through the clearing, carrying a basket. At first glance, they seemed normal, but Adrian noticed the slight oddities: the person’s fingers were longer than usual, with an extra joint giving them a slightly clawed appearance.

  Another figure appeared, stooping to gather wood. Their head tilted a little farther to one side than normal, and one shoulder sat higher than the other, giving a subtly uneven posture. They wore simple clothes and worked methodically, but these small deformities made Adrian and Alex exchange uneasy glances.

  A child ran past, giggling, but as it passed, Alex noticed it had six toes on one foot.

  "We're gonna see everything but elves," Alex whispered with a sad look on his face.

  Adrian glanced at him, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth despite the tension. “Yeah… seems like our ‘elves’ got lost somewhere,” he whispered back, keeping his voice low.

  Alex let out a soft sigh. “Still… they look like humans.” He leaned closer. “So… we sneak closer or watch from here?”

  Adrian’s eyes narrowed. “We watch a bit more. Get a feel for them before deciding. Could be dangerous to just rush in.”

  A crack of a twig behind them made Adrian spin, fingers tightening around his gun as his heart thumped in his chest.