Kael noticed the smoke before he noticed the silence.

  Morning light filtered weakly through the cracks in the tower walls, brushing uneven stone and scattered floorboards. Ash sat rigid near the entrance, body angled toward the treeline, ears pricked forward. Kael paused beside him, letting the warmth of the rising sun touch his face, grounding himself for a heartbeat.

  Then he followed Ash’s gaze.

  The smoke rose thin and pale beyond the trees. At first glance, it looked harmless almost gentle but Kael’s frown deepened as he studied it longer.

  “Is this closer than it was?” he muttered.

  Ash didn’t move. His tail stayed low, muscles coiled tight beneath his fur.

  Kael pushed himself to his feet and turned inward, forcing his attention back to the tower. The floor near his sleeping area was littered with loose stone fragments, splintered wood, and stray bits of straw. Cold air slipped through gaps in the wall, brushing his skin like a reminder he hadn’t earned comfort yet.

  He knelt beside one of the larger holes and tried to wedge a flat stone into place. It crumbled under pressure.

  Not enough. Not yet.

  His eyes traced the tower slowly corner by corner, floor by floor mapping weaknesses. The ground level was barely holding together. The second floor groaned in the wind. Above that, the attic hatch sat half-hidden in the ceiling, a loose panel he hadn’t dared test yet.

  Later, maybe.Today wasn’t the day to climb.

  Ash padded over and nudged Kael’s leg with his snout. Kael huffed a quiet breath of amusement.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Don’t get any ideas,” he murmured. “You’re not in charge.”

  Ash’s tail thumped once against the floor.

  Kael returned to work, laying loose planks over gaps in the floor, stacking stones where they might actually hold, pressing his palm against the wall as if testing the tower’s resolve. Each small improvement felt like a stolen victory. Slowly, stubbornly, the place began to feel less like a ruin and more like something unfinished.

  Something worth keeping.

  But the smoke didn’t care.

  It rose steadily in the distance, thin and persistent, as if marking a place or a presence Kael couldn’t see. He crouched beside Ash again, eyes scanning the horizon. The forest beyond the village looked unchanged, yet everything about it felt wrong.

  Birds didn’t call. Leaves barely stirred. Even insects seemed to hide.

  “Stay close,” Kael whispered.

  Ash leaned into his leg, warm and solid. Protective. Ready.

  To keep his hands busy, Kael gathered loose wood near the tower and stacked it carefully, thinking ahead to repairs he might try if the day stayed calm. He shifted stones along the base of the wall, testing which ones fit tightly enough to block the wind. Each adjustment grounded him kept fear from growing teeth.

  Ash moved between the stacks occasionally, sniffing, nudging Kael for attention before returning to his watch. The small ritual steadied Kael more than he wanted to admit. They weren’t just surviving together anymore.

  They were coordinating.

  Kael’s hand drifted to his spear. His grip tightened as his eyes returned to the treeline, tracking shadows that didn’t move and spaces that felt too open.

  The forest held its breath.

  The tower creaked softly as the morning wind slipped through unseen gaps.

  Kael exhaled slowly, lowering his center of gravity, eyes never leaving the distant smoke. Today, they weren’t hunting. They weren’t running.

  They were watching.

  Waiting.

  Whatever waited beyond the trees hadn’t chosen them yet.

  And Kael intended to make sure that, when it did, they wouldn’t be prey.

  Ash pressed closer, solid and alive at his side.

  That was enough.