The discovery of the geling ged everything. As the cave fell quiet, a weight settled over the tribe. A silent uanding passed between us all One geling means there could be more.

  In the low rush-lights I looked around me.I sat with my back to the cave wall, and watched the people around me, searg, sing, and nothing, even in the privet areas.

  The cave was divided into ses by leather walls held by wooden polls, but that leather couldn't block my mana sight, but just like the others I see no fea.

  They are all people!?.

  That thought lingered in my mind.

  As I moved quietly through the dim light of the cave, cheg faces and casting my senses wide, the feeling lingered—an uneasy presence, like something watg just beyond my reach. I hadn’t found any hint of faerie auras among the tribe, a... paranoia had taken root, sharp and unyielding. After seeing that twisted geling creeping into the tribe, the possibility of others lurking here g me. My mind ed with questions, my instincts alive with the feeling that we were all prey.

  Then I sed for sed time, bronlo his son, daughter, wife, brother, his brother's family. Then the hunters, and every man woman and child.‘Shit either I 't find them or there are no fay here’.

  I couldn't believe it. As I sidered the problem.

  Monir sidled up to me, the light from the burning rush-light in his hand showed his face a mask of eager admiration, but his eyes betrayed something sharper—a glint that always showed when he was after something. He smiled, almost too wide, as he g the dark stain on the cave wall where the geling had been pinned.

  “Anir,” he said, his voice low but reverent, as if he were speaking to a spirit. “That was… remarkable. I don’t think anyone’s seen skill like that before. We’d be lost without you.”

  I nodded, keeping my expression posed, allowing just the right hint of humility. Monir… always the sger, feeding on anyone’s success but his own. I’m not his friend—I’m his opportunity. Ahis eager devotion could be useful someday.

  “Thanks, Monir,” I said, smiling. “But anyone would have dohe same, given the ce.”

  Monir chuckled, dismissing the modesty with a wave. “I don’t think so, Anir. Not like you did. Not many of us do what you do, not many have… well, that gift.” He leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a spiratorial whisper. “And holy, it’s about time they all realized that.”

  Ah, so that’s it. Here he is, hoping I’ll share some glint of power or secret with him, so he wear it like a mantle. But Monir’s loyalty is as fleeting as the first snow—goh the slightest hint of sunlight.

  I maintaihe friendly, open expression. “I appreciate your fiden me, Monir,” I said, adding a chuckle food measure. “But the tribe’s strength doesn’t e from one person. We all rely on each other.”

  “True, true,” Mreed, a bit too quickly. “Still, it wouldn’t hurt for them tnize your worth. They should know just who it is that’s keeping them safe.” He smiled, fshih that showed just a bit too much eagerness.

  I tilted my head, sidering him with a warm smile. “You’re right, maybe a little reition wouldn’t hurt.” Yes, Monir, let’s keep you thinking we’re equals. Let’s see how far you’ll g to prove yourself worthy of a power you’ll never grasp. And to be ho am curious at what is he pning.

  He ughed, noddihusiastically. “Exactly! See? That’s what I’m talking about. The way you hahat creature—some people here… they just don’t uand it. But I do. I know there’s more to it than instinct. This teique You could teach them. Show them.”

  My eyes softened, and I houghtfully. “You think so?”

  “Absolutely,” Monir said, his face lit up with excitement. “With someone like you leading the way… imagine what we could aplish.” His tone was almost pleading, as if he hoped to be pulled along with the tide.

  I let the words hang for a moment, meeting his gaze with what I hoped looked like sideration. “You know, Monir, I appreciate your faith i means a lot.” I gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, as if to say he’d earned a pce of trust.

  His face brightened, practically glowing with satisfa. “Anything, Anir. You know I’ve got your back. Always.”

  “Always”—until someoronger shows up. But for now, he’ll be easy enough to keep in line. A fake friend, yes, but even fakes have their uses.

  “Thank you, Monir,” I said warmly. “It’s good to know I rely on you.”

  Monir left to sleep.

  I pushed the fool out of my mind and found my self back to the same thoughts I was in.

  The fae are pying some sick, dark game, I thought, feeling a chill crawl up my spihey don’t take interruptions lightly; by killing one of their own, I’ve disrupted whatever game they’re running. A, something tells me this darkhe faint whispers I hear when all else falls silent—might not be their doing alone. Fae magi’t be warded off by something as simple as the smoke Tahya uses, nor her primitive rituals keep these creatures at bay forever.

  People were tiring and falling asleep.

  I gnced around, careful to make sure no one else was watg. I’d already noticed that sleep came uneasily tonight, everyone lying tense, backs rigid against the cave walls. But even with them asleep or resting, I couldn’t shake the sehat another presence was lurking here, hidden by nothing more than shadows.

  My fingers ched involuntarily around a small, rough golden his rock, one of several I’d painstakingly gathered, would have to serve as my anchor. A simple stone by itself, but tonight it would be a small but potent lifeline, pushing some of the strain of spellcasting away from my heart.

  Strange, I thought, with a bitter smile. An empire’s worth of spells in my mind—an advantage any mage would kill for—and still, tonight I feel like prey. My aura is still raw, immature, and I feel its limits painfully in a time of need. If the fae e again, with more strength or ing, we won’t be ready.

  Waiting until the st of the evening small fire had died down to embers, and after casting a quick look around to firm everyone else was resting, I pressed my back against the cool stone wall and reached deep into my aura. Every movement, every breath, had to be quiet—silent, even. As I drew on my power, I trated it into my left hand, allowing the fairay mana to flow into the golden ethering the spell around it, a focused anchainst the tension swelling in my chest. I barely breathed, whispering the faint words to el the spell, letting it settle into the gold, hoping it would stay hidden from other prying auras.

  When the casting was plete, I leaned my head back against the stoaking a brief moment of rest. The spell sat quietly in my hand, pulsing like a distabeat—a small fort in the suffog dark. But the spell would keep, and as the night stretched on, I realized it wasn’t only the fae I’d have to worry about. No, if tonight had taught me anything, it’s that the true darkness y within us all, waiting for the moment to strike.

  In the shroud of night, cealed by the faint glow of embers, I let the spell slip from my trol and take form. With a slow, deliberate pulse, I gathered iron from the rocks ah surrounding me, reag deep into the soil and the cave walls, coaxing the metal to answer my call. Every whisper of mana I used felt like drawing blood, and the strain pricked sharply at my heart, as though my body might betray me with each breath.

  This is a risky game, I thought, teeth ched as I eled power. A fine liween survival and colpse. But it has to be done.

  Carefully, I extended my reach, fog my aura deeper, letting it wind through the cracks of the stone. Slowly, like a cautious predator, I drew iron from the hiddehs, feeling each grain g to my will. Minutes crawled by, eae tightening my chest, eaaking my pulse throb louder in my ears. I gathered a rge, jagged k of iron, heavy and cold in my palm, then another, and another. By the fourth—a small iron sphere the size of a pearl—the golden fueling my spell was depleted, leaving me drained and hollow.

  I exhaled, carefully tug the iron into my hand. If I had a wallet, it would ache seeing the gold vanish, I thought bitterly, imagining every glint of gold lost to the ether, its sad how mana erosion causes the metal to degrade each time it’s used in high-power spells, requiring a steady supply to keep spells and devices funal. But the price was a small oo pay for avoiding the dahat could shatter my heart.

  Brag myself, I used anold , eling my energy into the smallest iron sphere. As the spell took hold, the metal transformed in my grasp, shifting into a hazy, thin mist—a swarm spell, bound by i alone. With a silent push, I released the iron particles, watg as they drifted into the air and dispersed, like perfume thinning and spreading until they were invisible to the naked eye. It was like releasing smoke into the room, an invisible barrier that lingered, cloaking the entire cave.

  For a moment, the air felt thick, charged, as if even the shadows held their breath. Then I heard it—a low, guttural hiss, coiling through the silence like venom. My spiiffened, every instinct screaming as I sehe presereat, recoiling from the spell’s protective embrace. It was only a faint noise, almost a whisper, but enough to make my skin crawl.

  One of the night watchers guarding the cave entrance shifted, his eyes darting through the darkness. His posture tensed, and I caught him gng into the shadows, as if he too had felt something foul retreating from e.

  Shit, no wonder my paranoia was having aion, the danger wasn’t just outside anymore. It had found its way in. there was a fug fea attempting to enter or did it enter just as my spell hit.

  I let out a slow breath, my hand pressed against my chest to steady the frantic beating of my heart. That was too close. The idea of some unseen fey slipping past me, through the smoke, and into the heart of our home—it shows just how dangerous these things are. I’d pushed myself to the edge tonight, and I khe cost, both in mana and in sheer will.

  I forced my hands to unch, to rex, though every fiber in me was braced for more. The siletled back around us, deep and unnerving, with only the faint crackle of the dying fire. And as I y there in the dark, my thoughts echoed with a grim certainty: these fey would return, aime, they would be ready.

  My mind fshed bay past life’s brutal wars with the fay. Grandfather hadn’t hesitated to destroy every st faerie that stood in his way. Aher will I, given the ce.

  I pced a gold o my palm and used my aura to absorbed it this time the absorption was iional and guided half for my hart and half for my bones.

  I must speed up my growth and be ready for war with the fae.This night we will sleep safe but tomorrow I am going to start my preparations.