The forest thinned as they walked, the dense canopy giving way to lighter stretches where morning light came through properly. Birds were calling somewhere above them. The world had the particular stillness of early morning hours, quiet in a way that made everything feel loud.
Lucius was busy describing Cophey's shrine, the climb up to it, the way the old shrine smelled of incense, when the system notification arrived.
If not of his advanced perception, he would have missed it.
[System: Divine Sense — Integration Complete. Sensory stabilization confirmed. All absorbed attributes fully processed.]
He blinked, the words fading as quickly as they came. He kept talking without breaking stride, but his attention shifted inward for a moment, testing it.
His senses had been sharp since the absorption but unstable, occasionally too loud, or too strong. Now they were just there, steady and clean.
The forest smelled of damp bark and last night's rain. Seraphine's footsteps were slightly uneven, favouring her left side. Her breathing was controlled but costing her something.
He filed all of it away and kept talking.
"She's not what you'd expect," he said. "Most oracles I've heard about trade in vague answers, but Cophey tells you what she knows. Directly, it's almost like she's reporting facts rather than delivering prophecy."
"Sounds efficient, to be honest."
"Well of course it was. She located the sun god's postion in under an hour." He paused. "She also warned me it would go badly."
Seraphine glanced at him. "And?"
"And well….she was right about everything. Partially." He shrugged. "The finding works, but everything else that happened after was a bit more complicated than expected."
Seraphine was quiet for a moment, and when she spiked, her voice was careful in the way she had been careful all morning, for some reason. "What exactly does she use? For the location rituals?"
"Blood, or items related to the individual…names…intent." He kept it brief. "She said locating something requires a connection to it. That's why she tasked me to get divine mana, even though it was corrupted."
"And for a weather god?"
"That's what I want to ask her." He glanced sideways at Seraphine. "I don't know if she would do it again. What I asked last time put her at risk. Oracles who help god hunters aren't exactly operating safely."
"But do you think she will?"
"I think she'll want payment and an explanation." He almost smiled. "In that order."
Seraphine nodded slowly. Then, after a moment, something shifted in her expression. A flicker of something he couldn't quite name, recognition maybe, there and gone before he could interpret it.
"Cophey," she said, like she was turning the name over in her head. "That's an unusual name."
"She said it was an old name. Pre church naming convention."
"Mm." Seraphine looked ahead at the path. Her hand didn't move to her chest this time, but her shoulders had slightly tighter. "I've heard it somewhere. I think, hard to say from where."
"You mean recently or from an old memory?"
"Old." She shrugged loosely, the movement a little too deliberate. "Probably nothing serious. You know how names stick sometimes without context." She glanced at him, and her expression had settled into something pleasant and neutral. "How much further before we're out of the forest?"
Lucius looked at her, and she looked nack at him, her expression perfectly calm.
"Another hour, maybe less," he said. "The road to Hancock runs along the valley. Once we hit that, we can make better time."
"Good." She adjusted the strap of her pack, a small wince crossing her face before she smoothed it away. "I'm tired of looking at trees."
They walked in silence for a stretch. The path was uneven here, roots breaking through the ground, the soil still soft from recent rain. Lucius kept his pace moderate, watching the ground ahead and occasionally watching her without making it obvious.
She was managing. He could see the effort she was putting, the small recalibration she made to stay steady, but she was on her feet and moving, and that was more than she had been six hours ago.
Still. The Hollow look she had when she pressed her hand to her chest kept returning to him.
"Seraphine."
She turned and glanced at him.
"You saved my life back there." He kept his voice even, not making it into anything more than what it was. "The resonance ritual, taking the pain. I haven't actually said it properly." He paused. "So, thank you."
She was quiet for a moment. Something moved across her face, soft and genuine.
"You would have done the same," she said finally.
"Probably." He glanced ahead. "Still, it was worth saying."
She didn't respond immediately. When she did, her voice was lighter, deflecting before the moment could settle.
"Don't go getting sentimental on me now. We still have more gods to find, and I can barely walk in a straight line. Sentiment is a luxury in these times."
"Which is exactly why we must cherish the little ones," He said.
"Right." She nodded firmly, like the matter was closed.
Lucius almost said something else. Instead, he reached out as the path dipped suddenly, his hand steadying her officer before she could stumble. She caught herself, took a breath, and slowly pulled away.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"The terrain," he said.
"Yes." She straightened. "The terrain."
They kept walking ahead.
The trees broke ahead of them, the canopy pulling back to reveal open sky, grey-white and wide, the valley spreading below in patches of green and pale earth. The road was there, a dirt track running northwest between two low hills, exactly where he had expected it to be.
Seraphine stopped at the tree line and looked out at it. The wind came up off the valley, pushing her silver hair back from her face.
For just a moment she looked like someone who had set something down and was deciding whether to pick it back up or leave it.
Then she started walking again.
"Two days to Hancock," she said. "Three if my legs continue being dramatic about it."
"Two," Lucius said. "We'll camp before the valley narrows."
"I see you're being confident."
"No, I'm being practical."
She made a quiet sound that wasn't quite a laugh but was close enough.
They stepped out of the forest together and onto the road, the morning opening up around them, wide and uncertain, with the weather god's territory waiting somewhere beyond the northern hills.
Behind them the trees closed back in, silent and indifferent.
Seraphine kept her hand away from her chest, very carefully, the whole way down.