They all walked in.
Soren said it just loud enough for Eve to hear as they settled inside and the stillness of the room wrapped around them.
Then the forest started making noise.
Not wind. Not animals. Something deliberate. Soren felt it before he could name it and he was already turning to say something when Eve spoke first.
We need to leave. Now.
Naomi's face went confused but she moved anyway. She had learned to trust Eve's instincts faster than her own doubt.
They moved through the cabin as quietly as they could manage. It didn't cooperate. Every step creaked. Every door resisted. The floor announced them like it had made a decision to betray them and every sound felt loud enough to fill the whole forest.
Soren grabbed what fish he could carry. They couldn't take all of it.
They left through the back and didn't look behind them.
All that remained were footprints. Evidence that someone had been there. But not who.
The hunters arrived in two groups.
The first came from the left. One walked slightly ahead of the others a girl with long grey hair that moved like fabric around her, something in her shadow that looked like eighteen separate things hanging from her in the dark. The other hunters followed her without being told to. She hadn't spoken. She had simply moved and they understood.
On their way back they passed a few stone statues at the edge of the road. Odd to find there. Not impossible. Nobody mentioned them.
The second group came from another direction entirely and went straight to the cabin. They raided it. Then burned it.
The captain stood in the smoke and looked at what was left.
They were here. Some Unhuman.
He turned to the man beside him. Slow. Deliberate. Put a knife through him without raising his voice.
I thought you said you checked here.
He looked him in the eyes while he said it.
Then the group left him there and moved on.
Eve and Naomi and Soren walked the same road Naomi had run down to rob the merchant carriage. The forest felt different now. Heavier.
I forgot my hair pin, Naomi said. We have to go back.
Eve's face went serious in the way that could be mistaken for anger by someone who didn't know her.
We can't.
She didn't explain. She didn't need to. Above the treeline behind them a column of smoke was rising from where their home used to be.
Naomi didn't say anything after that.
They walked until even the sun got tired of it and started taking a break, the sky going dark around them. Nobody suggested stopping. Nobody wanted to be the one to say it.
Then Eve's legs gave out.
She went down mid step. Naomi and Soren both turned.
My legs just failed, Eve said from the ground, very calmly. I think we might actually have to rest here.
The relief on Naomi and Soren's faces was immediate and enormous. They both tried to hide it.
Oh no, Naomi said. Really. Anything you want since your legs aren't working.
*I think that's smart, Soren added carefully. Since it's late.
Eve could feel how tired they both were. She had known for the last hour.
They found a wide tree to hide under. No fire hunters could spot it from too far away. They ate what they had and said very little.
By the time they realized the fish would spoil overnight it was already late. They made a decision quickly. Drop the fish on a different road, far enough away to draw anyone tracking them in the wrong direction, then go deeper into the forest while the trail led somewhere else.
They moved. Dropped the fish. Kept going.
Then they slept. All three of them, in the dark under the trees, not quite knowing if it was night or something else. Their bodies made the decision for them.
The sun woke them up.
Or at least it woke Eve and Naomi. They opened their eyes to somewhere completely different a place that looked like something from a scene in a story, lit and structured and real in a way the forest wasn't. The kind of place that shouldn't exist underground.
They were tied.
Soren was not.
He was moving freely through the space, apparently already familiar with it, or at least not restrained by it.
Before either of them could fully process the admiration they felt for wherever they were, a voice interrupted.
A woman stood in front of them. The only way to describe her was feral something wild in the way she held herself but she looked the way a sunset looks at its best. The kind of beautiful that doesn't ask permission.
Who are you. What clan sent you. Who told you of this place. Her voice was flat and direct. Talk before you face execution.
Whether it was confusion or anger or just a brain waking up from sleep, Eve and Naomi were both lost for a moment.
Naomi was faster.
Hunters. We are not hunters. What are you saying.
Eve's voice came out sharper.
What makes you think we are hunters.
They both realized at almost the same moment. Their rifts weren't hidden. They had been suppressing for so long it had become automatic and somewhere between the walking and the sleeping and the smoke rising behind them they had let it go.
Naomi's was the lowest color possible. Barely visible. Almost human.
The woman's expression didn't change.
Where are your marks. This is a space for our kind. We cannot put anyone here at risk. A pause. Your kind has caused us so much trouble. You will both be executed.
Worry moved across their faces. Eve's disgust was immediate.
We are not hunters.
They looked at each other. Signaled without words. And then they dropped their guard completely let everything they had been holding go and as they were being dragged toward wherever executions happened in this place everyone around them went still.
Purple.
It moved through the crowd like a current. Whispered first. Then louder. People stopped moving.
The woman came forward with something new in her expression. Curiosity where certainty had been. She freed them herself.
I apologize for the misunderstanding. She said it without embarrassment. We have to keep ourselves safe. Make yourselves comfortable. We'll speak properly later.
Why didn't you help us. Naomi started the moment they were alone with Soren. We almost got killed.
I know I know
Did you want us to die. I knew it.
I tried, Soren said. They threatened me too. Said they would kill me for accompanying hunters. He paused. Also — how do you hide your rift for that long without mental fatigue.
It's a long story, Eve said.
They were shown to a place to sleep. All three of them went down fast, not knowing or caring what time it was. Their bodies made that decision too.
For Eve and Naomi a few hours passed.
For Soren it felt like weeks.
He sat in the room and talked to himself quietly not now, go out, we can continue later looking at the two sisters sleeping with the expression of someone watching something they have never been able to experience and have stopped expecting to.
Eve woke up. Light brown hair across her face. She looked at him through it.
Why are you staring at us so intensely. Her voice was low. Still half asleep. Why aren't you sleeping. Aren't you tired.
I can't sleep. He said it simply. I can't remember the last time I did. I think the first one I actually remember was when I was with Papa. I was six. I hurt my toe and he fixed it and I cried myself to sleep. Something shifted in his voice. He was so happy that I finally—
He kept talking. Like he had found somewhere to put things he had been carrying too long.
Eve listened.
What happened to your dad.
In the corner of the room Naomi's breathing changed. She was awake. She stayed still.
One day he went out, Soren said. It looked serious. He packed something. He told me he would be back — he did that sometimes, disappeared for a bit and came back. But this time he didn't. A pause. I kept thinking he would. I don't know. Even now I still think he might appear somewhere. He looked at his hands. Maybe he was scared of who I am. I can't blame him. My first family did the same thing. At least he tolerated me for this long.
Eve was quiet for a moment.
That's sad. She said it without softening it. Dads suck anyway. Mine made me and my sister something worse than slaves. She looked at Naomi sleeping across the room.
It's nice that she still finds a way to be happy. To smile. I want her to have that for as long as possible.
Soren looked at her.
You're so lucky you bled in our house, Eve said. I bet.
They stopped talking.
Across the room Naomi pretended to wake up. She stretched. Looked over at Eve sitting close to Soren like she hadn't been awake for the last ten minutes taking in every word.
Eve, why are you sitting next to him like that.
Eve stood up, walked over, and knocked her on the head.
I know when you woke up, she said. Dumb ass. Pretend better next time.
End of Chapter Four.