*Helios*
After that night of sleep we departed once again.
The forest had eyes. I could feel them in the way the wind shifted, in the sudden absence of birdsong, in the tension coiling through my shoulders. The trees whispered old things. Things that didn't like strangers. And we were very much strangers.
Aaron walked a few paces behind me. I listened to his breathing, his careful steps, the occasional shift of his stance like he was always half between thought and readiness. He didn't speak, and I didn't ask him to. I could feel his thoughts turning quick, heavy, uncertain.
Aelira flanked us on the right. She moved like smoke. I didn't like that. I didn't hate her either. Not yet. But she belonged to a world that taught people to lie with silence.
"Helios," Aaron said softly.
I slowed a bit to let him come up beside me.
"You've been quiet. More than usual."
"Thinking," I replied.
"About?"
"Everything. Her. This forest. What comes next."
He nodded. I could feel his eyes on me searching, not out of doubt, but because he knows me better than anyone.
"You trust her too quickly," I said.
"I don't trust easily. But I believe in people."
That answer, pure and unguarded was why I'd sworn myself to his side. But it was also what would get him killed, if I wasn't careful.
Behind us, Aelira spoke. "You're a hard one to win over, Helios."
"I don't need to be won," I said. "I need to be sure."
"Of what? That I won't stab you in your sleep?"
"That you won't lead him into something he can't walk out of."
Aaron's voice tightened. "You know I'm not helpless."
"I know," I said without looking. "But I made a promise. And I don't break those."
Aelira was silent a moment. Then, "What promise?"
The memory surged — blood-soaked ground, the weight of a dying man's hand in mine, and Aaron crying in the ash. My voice had trembled then. It didn't now.
"That I'd protect him. No matter what."
We reached a break in the trees — a shallow stream whispering across polished stones. Aelira knelt to fill her flask. Aaron sat on a mossy rock, eyes on the canopy.
I stayed standing. I didn't trust stillness.
"You're not just guarding him from me," Aelira said quietly. "You're guarding him from the world."
I didn't answer. She wasn't wrong.
Aaron said, "He does that with everyone. Not because he thinks I'm weak. Because he sees me clearer than anyone."
I looked at him. That smile had nothing to do with innocence.
Aelira closed her flask. "I'm not asking you to let your guard down. Just walk with both eyes open. One on the threat. One on the chance."
Then came the snap. A sharp, deliberate break in the underbrush.
We froze.
"Left," I said.
Aaron moved behind me. Aelira vanished like breath into mist.
Five figures broke the treeline — lightly armored, blades low, silent, fast. Not bandits. Military. Trained. Their formation was tight — three to flank, two to press.
"They've spread out," Aelira whispered. "Trying to collapse on us."
"Then we break their line," I growled.
The first one rushed me — high strike. Predictable. I slammed my shield into his chest and drove my boot into his thigh as he stumbled back. He dropped.
A second came from my right — faster. He ducked low, trying to hook my knee. I twisted, drove my shield down hard on his shoulder, then spun and smashed my elbow across his jaw. He crumpled.
To my left, one of the new attackers had already reached Aaron. Too close.
But Aaron didn't flinch — he pivoted, dodged the blade with inches to spare, then stepped inside the man's guard and drove a knee into his gut. The scout gasped — and Aaron followed up with a brutal uppercut. The man went down hard.
Behind me, I heard steel ring — Aelira. Two blades clashed again and again, fast and close. I turned just in time to see her disarm one with a flick and sink her dagger into his thigh. The other tried to take her from behind, but she rolled forward and cut his calf open as she moved.
"Four down!" she called.
The last scout — the fifth — tried to break off, retreating into the woods. Smart. But not fast enough.
I sprinted.
He heard me coming and turned too late. My shoulder hit him full-force, and we both went down hard. I landed on top, forced his blade aside, and pressed my shield against his throat.
"Alive?" I called.
Aaron answered. "Ours are breathing."
Aelira stood calmly, flicking blood from one blade. "So's mine. Barely."
I looked down at the man under my shield. His eyes were wide with fear. Young. Not ready.
"They weren't trying to kill us," Aaron said.
"No," I agreed. "They were testing us."
Aelira stepped beside me, scanning the tree line. "Whoever sent them will try again. And next time, they'll come in force."
Aaron's gaze didn't waver. "Then we stay ready."
I looked at him. His stance was firm. His eyes hard. He'd grown again in this single moment.
I turned to Aelira. "They weren't after us, were they?"
She didn't answer right away.
So I asked again :
"Did they come for you?"