The Lesser Demons followed them.
Rain noticed the first pair nearly twenty minutes after the rescue force left the prison camp behind. They weren't hiding particularly well. A pale shape moved between the trees before disappearing again. Later, he spotted another standing motionless on a rocky ledge overlooking the column. Then another. And another.
They stayed hidden among the trees, matching the column's pace from a distance.
That was what bothered him.
Demons attacked. They rushed, clawed, screamed, and threw themselves at anything human, but these ones simply remained there, keeping pace with the rescue force from a distance and watching.
Rain noticed them several times over the next hour. Every time the column changed direction or crossed another section of the ridge, he would catch movement between the trees. A silver eye. A dark silhouette. A shape disappearing behind stone.
The rescue column continued moving through the ridge, but the pace had slowed even further. Several prisoners were struggling to stay on their feet, and every stop created another opportunity for something to find them.
Theron knew it, and judging by the weary expressions around him, everyone else did too.
"We're making half the distance we should be." One of the veteran soldiers spoke quietly as he approached Theron.
Theron simply nodded. "We keep moving."
"The prisoners need rest."
"I know."
The veteran glanced back at the column. "So what's the plan?"
Theron's eyes drifted toward the trees. "The same plan we've had since this started."
The veteran waited.
Theron finally looked at him. "We get them out."
The answer wasn't satisfying but it was the only one they had.
Rain was helping one of the older civilians down a rocky slope when the man suddenly stumbled.
Rain caught him before he hit the ground. "Easy."
The older man grimaced. "Sorry."
"No need to apologize."
"I'm slowing everyone down."
Rain looked at the column. The man wasn't wrong. Several prisoners were exhausted, some were injured, and others looked like they hadn't eaten properly in days.
Still. "They came back for you."
The man looked at him.
Rain adjusted the man's arm over his shoulder. "So stop worrying about slowing us down."
The man stared at him for a moment before letting out a tired laugh. "You sound older than you look."
Rain frowned. "I've heard that twice today."
"Then maybe it's true."
From somewhere behind them, Stephen called out. "It isn't."
A few nearby soldiers laughed. The tension eased, if only slightly.
Far behind the main group, Elara slowed her pace and moved beside Kai, lowering her voice as she glanced toward the trees.
"You've noticed it too."
Kai nodded immediately. He didn't need clarification. "The lesser demons."
"They're following us," Elara said.
"They've been following us for hours," Kai replied, his eyes scanning the forest. "And nobody is attacking."
Elara frowned. "Which means they must be waiting for something."
Kai glanced toward the shadows between the trees before looking ahead toward Theron. "Yeah."
"But waiting for what?" Elara asked.
Kai's expression hardened. "That's the question."
Back at the operation camp, Doctor Hale stood inside the medical tent staring at a tray of used bandages. The answer was sitting in front of her. She just didn't like it.
One of the bloodstained cloth strips belonged to Taren, and she had already checked it twice before. Now, standing alone in the tent, she found herself examining it again, unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong.
A voice spoke from behind her. "You've been staring at that thing for ten minutes."
Hale didn't turn around. "Have I?"
"Yes."
The medic stepped closer. "What's wrong?"
Hale finally looked up. "The blood."
The medic blinked. "What about it?"
She picked up the stained cloth. At first glance it looked normal—dark, dried, nothing unusual. Except she knew what human blood looked like after treating soldiers for years, and this wasn't quite right. The color was close, close enough that most people would never notice, but it wasn't exact.
The medic frowned. "I don't understand."
"Neither do I." That was the problem.
If she understood it, she would already have answers, but instead she only had questions, and every one of them seemed to point back toward the same person: Taren.
The rescue force stopped shortly before sunset, not because they wanted to, but because they had no choice. Several prisoners could barely continue, and pushing them any farther would only create more problems. While Theron gathered the captains and veterans to discuss their next move, soldiers spread out to form a perimeter around the exhausted civilians. Nobody liked stopping—not here, not now—but the condition of the rescued prisoners left them little alternative.
Rain sat beside a large stone and accepted a water flask from Mira.
"Thanks."
Mira nodded.
For several moments neither spoke.
Then Mira glanced toward the prisoners. "They're worse than I thought."
Rain followed her gaze to the prisoners. Several looked exhausted, a few already asleep despite the danger, while others sat silently staring into nothing.
"Yeah."
Mira lowered her voice. "Do you think we'll get them all out?"
Rain didn't answer immediately. His eyes lingered on the exhausted prisoners scattered around the camp, and for a moment he searched for an answer he wasn't sure existed. The truth was that he didn't know. None of them did. After a few seconds, he finally said:
"We have to."
Back at camp, Hale entered Taren's tent without warning. Taren looked up from his bedroll, and for the briefest moment genuine surprise crossed his face before disappearing almost as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by the same calm expression he always seemed to wear.
"You look serious."
Hale ignored the comment as she walked directly to his bedside. "Where exactly did you say your patrol was attacked?"
Taren blinked, a flicker of surprise crossing his face before he forced a weak smile. "That's your first question?"
"Answer it."
The smile faded as he gave the same answer he had given before—the same location, the same story, the same details, all perfectly consistent. Too consistent. Hale listened without interrupting, and when he finished, she simply nodded before turning and leaving. Taren watched her go, and this time the smile didn't return.
The sun disappeared completely behind the ridge, and darkness settled across the forest. Rain sat near the perimeter while soldiers rotated watch positions, the prisoners and rescue force taking what rest they could. The ridge, however, remained restless. Somewhere in the distance, a demon screamed, and another answered before a third joined in. Rain slowly looked toward the darkness beyond the trees, noticing several soldiers doing the same. Nobody spoke, because everyone was thinking the same thing: the demons were gathering, and whatever was controlling them was getting closer.