Kael
Drake didn’t celebrate being put on point.
That probably should not have surprised me, but some part of me had expected at least one smug comment. A grin. A salute. Something obnoxious and entirely in character.
Instead, he simply nodded once.
“Single file.”
Then he turned and started walking.
I fell in behind him while the others rearranged automatically. Jones shifted two positions back to coordinate spacing while the rear guard widened formation. Within a minute, the convoy had transformed from a combat unit into something closer to a hunting party.
Nobody talked.
Nobody wanted to.
The deeper we moved into the trees, the quieter the world became.
Not silent.
Never silent.
But mountain silence had its own personality. Wind moved through branches overhead with a low whisp
