The moon was barely a silver sliver in the sky amongst a sea of stars as Lioren moved like a panther through the grass. Her eyes darted to every shadow, pausing every few minutes to listen and observe. Mira and Tomas followed close behind, their not-so-silent steps thudded like distant thunder behind her.

  “Is it just me, or is she really scary right now?” Mira whispered to Tomas, low enough that she thought Lioren couldn’t hear.

  “She is always scary.” Tomas murmured back in that same whisper of a voice. “That’s why I like her.” Lioren’s head reflexively turned to acknowledge their voices when Kale issued them an abrupt ‘shhh’.

  “Also, she definitely heard that. So if I disappear later, tell people I died smiling.” Kale caught up and smacked Tomas in the head and gave him an aggressive quiet gesture. Lioren continued her tracking.The hunt sang beneath her skin, alive in the soles of her feet and the curl of her fingers. Tomas whispered something about wounded pride but Lioren froze. Movement

  She dropped to her knees and motioned sharply for the others to do the same. Every clunk, every scuff grated on her nerves like grinding steel.

  Gods, have they always been this loud?

  Kale maneuvered his way to Lioren’s side, the grass crunching softly beneath his weight. She motioned to the moving figures a couple hundred feet in front of them. She leaned to Kale and breathed out ‘seven’. He squinted, trying to see what her eyes could clearly discern.

  “Guess you were right.” Kale muttered under his breath, adjusting the cloth on his shield to make sure the little light of the moon didn't catch.

  “Do I get to say it now?” Lioren whispered back, a smile tugging at the corner of lips.

  “Don’t push it.”

  Kale glanced back at Tomas and Mira, who looked like they’d missed three steps of the plan and were still waiting for the script.

  “Lioren sees seven. So we will split up.” Kale decided, motioning with his hands as he whispered his plan.

  “Tomas and Mira, you two find a vantage point. If you see anything approaching or moving towards the caravan, call out.”

  Tomas opened his mouth to object. Obviously, but Kale turned before he could.

  “Lioren and I will take point. You two keep us covered.”

  “Covered? How? I can barely see you two let alone whatever is out here with us.” Mira hissed from beside Tomas. Her hands wrung her bow anxiously as she kept looking around.

  Tomas nodded in agreement with Mira.

  “She shouldn’t be the one taking point.” Tomas gestured to Lioren who kept her eyes on the figures.

  “I can handle myself.” Lioren said, and not even trying to sound friendly.

  “No, you shouldn’t be.” Tomas said again, this time with heat. “You don’t know what she’s—” Lioren’s head turned just enough for him to stop. Not a glare. Just a look. A warning. Or a plea.

  Kale turned to Tomas, expression flat but surprisingly honest. “You are better off protecting Mira. I can watch Lioren’s back.” Tomas didn’t like that but it stopped the argument. Mira gave Lioren a little smile, hesitant but trusting and Lioren… didn’t even return it. She just nodded once and turned back to the hill.

  They waited for Tomas and Mira to set off in search of a vantage point, Tomas cast one last glance at Lioren before he left. Kale crouching back down next to Lioren, eyes straining to see glimmers in the black ocean of grass and shadow. The chill of the night soaked through her leathers, but the heat under her skin didn’t waver. The hunt buzzed in her limbs like a fever.

  A few minutes passed in silence before Lioren whispered without turning her head, “So, you don’t trust me to keep Mira safe?” Mira and Tomas’ silhouettes were just disappearing over another hill.

  Kale snorted quietly. “I’d rather have Tomas with me.”

  Lioren glanced at him sharply, his jaw tense like he was waiting for her to do something.

  “Death changed you. And until I know what changed, I’d rather not put my sister in harm's way”

  “Fair.” Lioren muttered as she brought her legs under her, ready to move again. A pause. “I wouldn’t trust me either.” Kale followed her lead as they turned to find an alternate, safer path to get closer. Lioren moved like she was born to shadow and she took the time to point out loose rocks or shrubs that could give away their position.

  They came to a stop underneath a rock outcrop, Lioren unsheathing her shortsword but left her other hand free.

  “So what’s the plan? Run in swinging?” She asked dryly as Kale pulled out his hammer.

  “You’re asking me? I figured you already had blood on your mind.”

  Before Lioren could retort, five shadows descended, cornering them into the outcrop. Kale swung defensively and placed himself between Lioren and the figures. Lioren’s breath caught at the sight of their diamond insignias. These weren’t bandits. These were Locusts. Lioren recognized these people the moment they straightened up and let their arrogance shine.

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  ““Well, well… isn’t this a delightful surprise? Someone who knows how to crawl like a Locust.” The voice was cocky and it came from a shadow to their right. It was female and her face was covered by a mask. “I counted three shadows earlier. But to my surprise... there’s a fourth.”

  Kale tensed. There were only five visible now. Two were still unaccounted for.

  “We are just scouts from the caravan. The others are waiting for our return.” He muttered, trying to bluff and Lioren rolled her eyes. She elbowed Kale aside and stepped forward.

  “I have information about the bounty you seek.” Kale uttered a shocked gasp as their momentary captors murmured amongst themselves, confused and disbelieving.

  Kale scoffed in disbelief. What was she doing? Bluffing? Betraying?

  Lioren turned her head just barely to whisper back to Kale. “Trust me”

  “What bounty may that be? We have a lot of them.” The woman scoffed with a roll of her shoulders. Kale tensed behind her, his thoughts racing to figure out what she was doing.

  “Before I tell you anything, you let this man go. I don’t care to share the reward.”

  “Lio!” Kale hissed the warning and the rest of their audience laughed. He placed a hand on her shoulder but she shoved it off, turning on him. Her eyes flaring. Go! She mouthed.

  “Oh? That juicy of a secret? Give us a taste then.” A man chortled behind her now. Lioren didn’t turn, her eyes never leaving Kale. This was the line she could never uncross. But if it kept them alive… It didn’t matter. None of the locusts would live to share it.

  “I know where the Saelith sister is.”

  Silence.

  Even the crickets decided now was not the time to sing. Nobody moved and it seemed everyone but Lioren forgot how to breathe.

  “How do you know that name?” The woman stepped forward but Lioren held up a hand.

  “You want more information? Then he leaves with the other two.”

  Lioren motioned with her hand and turned away from Kale, whose breaths had gone shallow and fast.

  Please, Kale… you’re not going to like what I’m about to do.

  The urge to hunt had been abandoned. She had found her prey.

  Heat sparked behind her ribs, igniting her veins with every beat of her heart. The woman studied her for a long beat before finally nodding to one of her men.

  “Lioren, don’t do this,” Kale said, and for a second — just a second — she wondered if he was playing along, or if he truly believed she was about to turn on him.

  A blade pressed against his throat. One of the men guided him away.

  “Go find your sister, Kale,” she said over her shoulder, tone colder than she meant. “Maybe teach her how not to get caught.”

  A sharp breath — Kale’s — then the crunch of his steps fading into the dark. The Locust with the blade returned alone.

  The woman stepped in close, circling. Measuring. Admiring.

  When she finally stopped in front of Lioren, her voice was crisp and commanding.

  “Now talk.”

  Lioren smiled. It was the kind of smile that shouldn’t be trusted in daylight, let alone under moonlight.

  “Mm… yeah, see, about that...” She tilted her head, sweet as rot. “She is right in front of you.”

  Time seemed to stretch.

  You always disarm the leader first. Cut the head off, and the body forgets how to fight.

  A distant voice echoed in her mind. Cold and clear as the day she first heard it.

  My little blade, show me you remember.

  Lioren took a sharp breath as that satin voice echoed in her ears.

  The woman’s eyes widened, as if she couldn’t decide if Lioren was bluffing or suicidal. Her hand twitched—just the smallest motion toward the hilt at her hip. That was enough.

  Time was stretched, and then it snapped.

  Lioren surged forward, her blade flashing up and slicing across the leader’s knuckles before her sword had cleared its sheath. The weapon clattered uselessly to the ground, a scream punching out of her throat. With a quick step, Lioren closed in, shoulder to chest and drove her elbow up beneath the woman’s chin.

  Teeth slammed together and she dropped like a ragdoll.

  Shouts echoed off the hills and boots scrambled. Two blades cut toward her from opposite sides. Lioren ducked under one, her knee slamming into a man’s stomach, folding him in half before she twisted his wrist back with a sickening pop. Her sword carved through his neck with practiced ease. The other swung wide, panic already setting in. Lioren let the sword pass her ear, a stinging nick blooming just beneath it. She turned on her heel and swept his legs out from under him. Her blade followed him down.

  The grass swallowed the sound. Two left.

  Lioren’s breath came shallow, but steady.

  Yes, the voice purred through memory, just like that. Beautiful, efficient. No hesitation.

  Lioren’s stomach churned but her body was alive. Another lunge. She caught the blade with the flat of hers, slid under his arm, and drove her hilt into the back of his skull. He dropped, maybe dead, but definitely not moving.

  She turned to the next and caught the briefest flash of fear in his eyes. He was young, just a boy. Too young to wear that mask. Lioren’s blade stilled.

  Do it.

  No. She hesitated.

  Finish it. No mercy.

  Shut. up.

  You are not a killer.

  Something in her split, sharp and bright and terrifying. Her fingers tightened on the hilt.

  The boy lunged.

  She dropped him before he even got close. Her dagger was buried deep in his skull, thrown like a bolt of lightning.

  He never even made a sound.

  Lioren turned to the sound of coughing and wheezing as the leader pushed herself up on her hands. Lioren walked over to her and knelt down, her short sword barely kissing the woman’s throat.

  “I should have recognized you from the start.” She grunted, wobbling slightly as her sword hand wouldn’t take her weight.

  “Yea, you should have.” Lioren agreed before driving her sword into the woman’s throat. A wet gurgling sound was all the night allowed. Lioren pulled her blade free and wiped it clean on the woman’s cloak before standing up and retrieving her dagger.

  That’s my girl.

  Lioren clenched her eyes shut, hoping to shut out the memory of the voice as the smell of blood hung like a heavy perfume in the air. Her breaths were deep and a tremble vibrated in her chest and then slowly migrated throughout her whole body. Her eyes opened to see a painting of red amongst fallen shadows. Silver light glinted off the pools of dark liquid that were forming underneath each body.

  The urge—once a rising wave of dread—was now a blissful hum behind her eyes. She trembled, but not from fear, or revulsion. But from the sweet, sweet chaos.