Dominicus grimaced, nose wrinkling at the memory. “I’d rather not relive that experience, thank you.” He shook his head before gesturing over his shoulder, where the others were emerging from the trees. “As for why I did this, I wanted to see how perceptive you were.”

  He glanced at Eleanor, raising an eyebrow. “I thought for sure you’d hear us coming from leagues away, thanks to Henry’s armor. But apparently not…”

  His gaze settled fully on her. “These two are painfully new to combat, so it isn’t surprising—but even you?”

  Eleanor flushed and rubbed the back of her head. “Perception isn’t my strong suit. Strength and endurance are. I’ll have to work on that while we travel.”

  Henry smiled at the sight of Maya still curled against Eleanor and bent down to gently lift the girl into his arms. In a hushed tone, he scolded Dominicus, “Not everyone has advanced hearing, my friend. And being a Chosen doesn’t make you perfect. We all have things to improve—including you.”

  Dominicus tilted his head. “If I sounded condescending, I apologize. That wasn’t my intention. I just… expected Light to be as strident as Fate when it comes to her Chosens and their stats.”

  I hummed, intrigued. “What, did Fate put you through boot camp before making you their Chosen?”

  He winced but nodded. “In a way, yes. But that’s not important. We’ll all improve as we travel. More importantly, we have information.”

  At that, I straightened, catching a glimpse of Time doing the same from the corner of my eye. “Alright, what’s the damage?” Then, looking at the siblings, I added, “And I forgot to ask earlier—why did the assassin seem to know you?”

  Novak sighed, stepping forward. “When we first took human form, my sister stumbled across the famed assassin’s guild. She thought joining them was a grand idea—until she realized she didn’t approve of some of their methods. But by then, it was too late. They don’t let their members leave easily.”

  Astra flushed under his pointed stare, shifting her weight between her feet. “I learned valuable skills that’ve helped us.”

  Novak hummed. “Yes, but at the cost of being hunted.” Shaking his head, he turned back to me. “But there’s no use griping about it. We can’t change the past.”

  I barely held back a quip. Are you sure about that?

  Of course, he was. The only one who could change the past was standing a few yards away, and I doubted he’d appreciate me outing him over a stupid joke. Swallowing the thought, I nodded instead.

  “Alright. And you heard Henry was being targeted, so you tried to stop the attack—for the sake of the resistance.”

  Astra grunted, eyeing me sourly. “And got thorns in very uncomfortable places for my trouble, yes.”

  I threw my arms up. “I said I was sorry! How long are you going to hold that against me?”

  Novak didn’t miss a beat. “Forever. She holds grudges like no one’s business.”

  Astra shot him a glare, but he merely crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. “Am I wrong?”

  The silent standoff lasted a beat before she dropped her gaze, grumbling, “No… but that doesn’t mean you’re not an ass for pointing it out.”

  He shrugged, entirely unbothered. “You’ll live.”

  Dominicus cleared his throat, steering us back on track. “We confirmed Nikolas’s suspicion—the general paid for the assassination. That means we have an information leak to deal with once we reach Dawnmoor. For now, it doesn’t change our goal.” He grimaced. “It does, however, complicate things. If the generals know where we’re going, we can expect ambushes ahead. Nikolas?”

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  I hummed to show I was listening.

  “I’d like to train you in melee combat. You can’t rely only on mana, especially once we start facing more dangerous opponents.”

  I was already nodding halfway through his sentence. “I planned to ask you or Henry for help anyway.”

  He relaxed slightly. “Glad to hear it. But on top of that, I want to train you in honing your senses. As a beastfolk, you should have heard us coming long before you did. That’s not a slight against you—it’s just a fact. If you want to face the generals and survive, you need every advantage you can get.”

  Heat crept up my neck, and I coughed, nodding. “Fair enough. Is that all?”

  His lips curled in amusement. “Yes—unless Henry has something to add?”

  Henry hesitated, then looked at Time. “I know you plan to stay in Latica, avoiding most of the fighting, but perhaps you should train with them?”

  Time grimaced, shooting Dominicus a glare. “I would rather not spend my days being badgered with questions or glared at with suspicion.”

  Dominicus met his glare evenly. “If you weren’t so painfully suspicious, I wouldn’t need to do either of those things. Nikolas is in the same position as you, yet I don’t question him, do I?”

  Tension thickened the air between them.

  Before I could cut off the brewing argument, Henry stepped in. “Then perhaps I can teach you? It’s dangerous for even one person in this group to be unable to defend themselves.”

  Time reluctantly broke his glare, nodding. “Fine. But I am forbidden from taking a mortal life. Monsters and creatures are within my abilities, however.”

  Silence fell as everyone stared at him.

  It was Dominicus who finally spoke. “Does your oath prevent you from killing?”

  Time made a so-so gesture. “In a way. That is all I can say on the matter for now.”

  Dominicus’s expression shuttered. “I take it this somehow ties into what the spirit of Light said?”

  I nodded, giving him an apologetic look. “Yeah. Sorry.”

  He sighed, shaking his head. “There’s nothing to apologize for. Though I’m curious—why don’t you have the same oath, given that you’re both Chosens of Karma?” He paused, frowning. “You killed the king. So you can’t have that oath… right?”

  I shook my head. “Killing is a last resort for me, but no—I don’t have an oath against it. I just… really don’t want to. I’m a healer, and that means something to me.”

  Dominicus relaxed fully then. “There are far worse things in the world than hesitating to take a life. If we had more kings or generals like that, maybe Nexus wouldn’t be in the sorry state it is.”

  Novak hummed in agreement. “That’s true. But we should rest for the night. Dawnmoor is quite a distance away, and we have a long journey ahead.”

  I blinked, caught off guard. “Wait… you two are coming with us?”

  His lips curled and he made a so-so gesture. “Astra and I will be flying ahead to survey Dawnmoor and gather intelligence. We'll meet with you all in Latica afterward.”

  Henry nodded, backing him up. “It was agreed upon after the interrogations. They’ll be paid like any of my soldiers would. We need all the help we can get when it comes time to face the general. And eyes on the inside of that mess will be invaluable.”

  Novak leaned back against a tree, Astra settling at his side as he hummed. “With the king gone, all that’s left is to take out his generals. Maybe then, Nexus can begin to heal…”

  He shook his head. “But only time will tell. Let’s rest—we’ll need our strength for whatever tomorrow brings.”

  Everyone split off into their own spots, and I settled next to Time. With this many people around, we couldn’t risk searching the books for the Tomes of Mana.

  That was fine with me. It meant we could finally get some sleep.

  Ignoring the uncomfortable sticks and rocks digging into my back, I flopped onto my bedroll with a sigh. Assassination attempts, cursed shadowlands, and animals that turned into humans—my trip to Nexus was already insane.

  And something told me it was only going to get worse.

  Still, I couldn’t wait to talk to Karma. She’d probably love hearing about our new companions—especially if Astra kept glaring at me like that.