The sun had fully risen by the time the road narrowed into woodland.
The open fields of Graden were gone. Trees pressed closer now, their branches knitting overhead in loose arches. The dirt path turned uneven, marked with wagon ruts and old hoofprints hardened by frost.
Brakka moved steadily.
Iron scales glinted through breaks in the canopy like dull blades shifting in rhythm.
Arun sat sideways on the carriage rail, one boot hooked against the frame. He watched the treeline without appearing to.
Taru rode with loose hands and relaxed shoulders.
Too relaxed.
Arun decided to test him.
"If Brakka throws a shoe," Arun said casually, "how long to replace it?"
Taru didn't look at him. "He doesn't wear shoes."
"Hypothetically."
"Forty minutes. Thirty if the ground's dry."
Arun nodded once.
"And if the front axle cracks?"
"Depends where."
"Mid-beam."
Taru scratched his cheek thoughtfully. "Temporary brace in ten minutes. Permanent fix? Two hours. I've got spare iron strips under the seat."
Arun's eyes flicked briefly downward.
There were.
"Food supplies," Arun continued. "How long?"
"Seven days if we ration. Five if you eat like you look like you do."
Arun gave him a blank stare.
Taru grinned. "Relax. I planned for detours. And if we run out we could always hunt"
Arun let the silence stretch.
"Bandits?" he asked.
"Not common this close to Graden," Taru said. "But desperate people don't care about distance."
"And if we're attacked?"
Taru finally glanced sideways.
"You handle the big problems," he said lightly. "I'll handle the rest."
Arun almost smiled.
Almost.
They rode another few minutes in quiet.
Then Taru's posture shifted. It was very subtle.
His left hand tightened on the reins by half an inch. His shoulders lowered slightly instead of straightening.
Arun noticed.
"What."
Taru didn't answer immediately.
He listened.
The creak of wheels.
Brakka's breathing.
Birdsong.
And
A rhythm.
Very slow, very steady.
Almost seemed intentional. Perhaps too intentional
Footsteps.
Behind them. Not vey close, but matching their pace.
"We've got company," Taru murmured.
Arun didn't turn around.
"How many?"
"One. Maybe two. Light steps. Not armored."
"Armed?"
"Probably."
Arun leaned back casually, as if bored.
"Want me to scare them off?"
"Not yet," Taru said quietly. "Let's see what they want."
He adjusted the reins slightly, guiding Brakka toward a narrower stretch of road where brush thickened on both sides.
Fewer escape routes.
Arun noticed that too.
"You're baiting them," he said.
"Mm."
The footsteps grew closer.
A shadow flickered between trees.
Then vanished.
Another minute passed.
Then
A blur of movement.
A small figure darted from the brush, quick and low, aiming straight for the back of the carriage.
Petty thief.
Who looked Young and seemed very desperate.
He grabbed for one of the supply sacks tied along the side.
And froze.
Because a massive iron-plated horn lowered inches from his chest.
Brakka hadn't moved fast.
He hadn't needed to.
The bull simply shifted one step sideways, blocking the thief's path completely.
The boy stumbled backward, eyes wide.
"I.. I wasn't"
Taru sighed.
"You were," he said, voice calm. "And you're bad at it."
The thief couldn't have been older than sixteen. Thin. Mud on his knees. A small knife at his belt.
He glanced past Brakka, calculating whether he could still grab something and run.
Arun hopped down from the carriage.
The movement was effortless.
Silent.
The thief stiffened.
Taru spoke first.
"Relax. If he wanted to burn you, you'd already be ash."
The boy swallowed.
Arun didn't flare his flame.
He didn't need to.
The air around him felt heavy enough.
"You're following us from town," Taru continued. "You matched pace for nearly an hour. That takes stamina."
The boy blinked. "How did you"
"You step heavy on your left foot," Taru said. "Old injury. Makes a slight drag on gravel."
Arun glanced at Taru.
with a look that showed he was Impressed.
The thief's shoulders slumped.
"I just needed food."
Taru studied him for a long moment.
Then he did something unexpected.
He stepped down from the bench and walked toward the rear of the carriage slowly, deliberately keeping Brakka positioned between the boy and any supplies.
He untied one small sack.
which was filled with 2 pieces of dried meat and hard bread.
He tossed it lightly toward the boy.
"Take it."
The thief stared at it like it might vanish.
"That's it?" he asked.
"That's it."
The boy looked suspicious. "No catch?"
Taru shrugged. "If you try again, he'll catch you."
He jerked his thumb toward Arun.
Arun met the boy's eyes.
For a heartbeat
The thief flinched as if struck.
"I won't," he said quickly. "I swear."
"I know," Taru replied.
The boy hesitated, then grabbed the sack and backed away.
"Why?" he asked before disappearing into the brush.
Taru climbed back onto the bench.
"Because stealing from travelers escalates," he said. "Today it's bread. Tomorrow it's a knife in someone's ribs."
Arun stepped back up onto the carriage rail.
"You think food changes that?"
"No," Taru said. "But fear alone doesn't either."
The carriage rolled forward again.
Brakka resumed his steady rhythm as if nothing had happened.
After a few minutes, Arun spoke.
"You knew he was alone."
"Yeah."
"How?"
"He never tried to distract us. No signal calls. No flanking movement. Just one set of steps."
Arun considered that.
"And if he'd had friends?"
Taru smiled faintly. "Then I wouldn't have given him food."
Arun let out a quiet breath that might have been a laugh.
"You're not soft," he said.
Taru glanced sideways. "No."
He clicked his tongue softly, adjusting Brakka's pace as the road began sloping downward.
"I just don't waste problems."
Arun leaned back again, eyes drifting to the treeline.
The forest felt quieter now.
Watching.
The White Flame stirred faintly beneath his skin.
Not in warning.
In awareness.
"You were right," Arun said after a while.
"About?"
"Being followed."
Taru grinned. "Get used to it."
The road ahead darkened as trees thickened.
Horse-drawn carts and wagons carrying grain or ore started to become less frequent has they pushed farther away from the town of Graden.
Steelhaven waited somewhere beyond the horizon.
And already
The world had started testing them.
One with questions.
The other with answers.