The rescue force entered the ridge shortly after sunrise.
The morning air was cool, but nobody paid much attention to it. Soldiers moved in silence through the trees, following the route Theron had marked the day before. What little conversation existed stayed low and brief, disappearing almost as soon as it began.
Rain walked near the front beside Elara and Kai while Theron led the way with the scout. Behind them, soldiers carried extra water, blankets, and medical supplies for the prisoners. The operation felt larger than yesterday. He could hear it in the footsteps alone.
This wasn't a scouting mission anymore—it was a rescue.
The ridge seemed quieter than before. Rain couldn't tell if that was real or if he was simply noticing more now. Every shadow between the trees looked deeper than it should have. Every opening between the rocks seemed large enough to hide something watching them.
"You're doing that thing again."
Rain glanced sideways.
Mordred was looking at him.
"What thing?"
"The one where you look like you're expecting something to jump out of every tree."
Rain looked ahead.
"We're in demon territory."
"Fair."
For a few moments, they continued walking. The forest remained quiet around them. Too quiet. Rain found himself scanning the trees again before he even realized he was doing it.
Mordred noticed immediately. "There. You did it again."
Rain sighed.
"I was checking our surroundings."
"That's what I said."
Kai didn't look up from the slate in his hands. "He has been doing it all morning."
Rain frowned. "Why is everyone paying attention to me?"
"Because you're making it obvious," Kai said.
Rain opened his mouth, then closed it.
Unfortunately, he didn't really have an argument.
A faint smile tugged at Mordred's face. "See?"
Rain shook his head and kept walking. Ahead of them, Theron continued leading the group through the ridge while soldiers moved carefully between the trees.
Nobody spoke for a little while as the mission settled back into silence.
Then Stephen's voice came from behind them.
"Honestly, I'd rather he keeps looking around."
Rain glanced back.
Stephen shrugged. "Someone should."
"That's what the scouts are for," Mordred said.
"And yet I still feel better when paranoid people are paying attention."
"I'm not paranoid."
Several people looked at Rain, and he immediately regretted saying it. Even Elara raised an eyebrow.
Rain sighed. "Fine. Maybe a little."
A few quiet chuckles spread through the group before the conversation faded on its own.
The deeper they moved into the ridge, the quieter everyone became again. Nobody forgot where they were.
As they continued, it became more obvious that something had changed.
The tracks they had followed yesterday were still there, but now they found additional signs of movement—fresh claw marks carved into tree trunks, broken branches scattered across the ground, and patches of disturbed earth where something heavy had passed through.
Theron stopped near one of the larger tracks and crouched.
Several soldiers gathered around him.
"What is it?" Elara asked.
Theron ran his fingers beside the mark. "This is recent."
Elara frowned. "How recent?"
Theron kept studying the mark for another moment before answering.
"The edges haven't softened yet. No rain, no wind damage, no debris settling into it."
He pointed toward a section of disturbed earth nearby.
"Same thing there. Whatever made these tracks passed through recently."
Rain felt the tension around the group tighten.
"Recently as in yesterday?" one of the soldiers asked.
Theron shook his head, stood and brushed dirt from his hands. "Probably Hours."
Whatever was moving through the ridge had been here very recently. Theron stood.
"We keep moving."
Nobody argued, and the operation continued. By midday, they reached the old stone path. Rain immediately recognized the broken slabs and ruined structures buried beneath dirt and roots. The place looked exactly the same as yesterday.
That somehow bothered him. After everything they had learned, part of him had expected the place to feel different, but it didn't. The ruins remained silent, the ridge just as still as before, with only the soldiers moving through the ancient stone. Eventually the scout raised a hand, drawing Theron to his side before pointing ahead.
"There."
The ruined enclosure sat exactly where they had left it, its broken walls and collapsed stone casting dark shadows over the prisoners huddled within.
Rain felt relief before he could stop himself. They were still alive. Several prisoners noticed the approaching soldiers and immediately sat upright, while others looked too exhausted to react. One of the older men stared in disbelief.
"You came back." His voice sounded rough from disuse.
Theron stepped forward. "We said we would."
The man's shoulders sagged, not from weakness but from relief.
For a moment nobody moved.
Then Theron looked over the operation.
"Move. Free them fast before something notices we're here."
Everything happened at once.
Soldiers rushed forward to cut ropes and remove restraints. Mira immediately dropped beside one of the injured prisoners while Hale's assistant moved toward another. Blankets were distributed. Water was passed around.
Rain helped free a soldier whose wrists had been rubbed raw by iron restraints.
The man winced as circulation returned.
"Easy."
The soldier laughed weakly.
"Easy sounds good."
Nearby, Elara was helping two civilians stand while Kai worked with another group near the far wall. Stephen and Lin cleared debris from a narrow exit path while Mordred carried someone who couldn't walk at all.
The rescue was moving faster than Rain expected. That should have made him feel better. Instead, a strange tension settled in his chest, like they were running out of time.
The older prisoner from before grabbed Rain's sleeve before he could leave.
Rain turned.
The man's swollen eye looked slightly better in daylight. "Listen."
Rain crouched beside him. "What is it?"
The prisoner glanced toward the deeper ridge.
His voice lowered. "The demons weren't acting normal."
Rain frowned. "What do you mean?"
"There was one." The prisoner swallowed. "Stronger."
Rain immediately thought of a Higher Demon.
"We saw several."
The man shook his head. "No." His grip tightened. "Not like them."
Before Rain could ask another question, shouting erupted near the edge of the ruins.
Everyone turned as one soldier stumbled backward and a dark shape crashed through the trees, followed by another, then another—Lesser Demons.
Their silver eyes locked onto the enclosure almost instantly.
"Demons!" someone shouted.
The nearest creature lunged, and a soldier barely blocked the claws before being thrown backward. Chaos exploded through the ruins.
Theron's voice cut through everything.
"Form up!"
The operation moved immediately as soldiers pushed prisoners behind the defensive line and shields came forward. Rain drew his sword just as the first demon reached him, its claws tearing through the air toward his head.
Rain stepped inside the swing instead of away from it, turning his shoulders as the claws passed beside him. Before the demon could recover, his blade flashed upward and cut across its chest.
Black blood sprayed across the stone as the demon screamed. Another rushed him from the side, and Rain pivoted into a quick slash aimed at its neck, but the creature ducked lower than he expected and the blade missed by inches. A warning shout came from Kai. Rain dropped immediately. One of Kai's blades spun through the space where Rain's head had been a moment earlier and buried itself in the demon's eye. The creature collapsed.
Kai caught the returning blade without slowing. "Told you to stop staring."
Rain laughed despite himself as another demon charged. Around them, the ruins erupted into battle, steel clashing against claws while soldiers fought to protect the prisoners. And deeper within the ridge, unseen by everyone present, something began moving.