Chapter 184 — Closer Lines

The hour Vale had given us did not last a full hour.

Forty minutes in, Seraphina lifted her head.

"They changed pattern. One of the search lines cut west and is moving faster. They will reach this stretch of trees sooner than we thought."

Vale crawled to the edge of the overhang and looked out through the roots. She stayed still for a long time, then pulled back.

"She's right. They found something further down the slope. Blood, maybe, or broken branches from when we passed. They are following it."

No one needed to say the rest. Our borrowed time was getting shorter.

Elizabeth's shoulder was still pressed against mine. I felt her breathe in and hold it for a second before letting it out.

"How long?" she asked.

"Twenty minutes if they keep this speed," Vale said. "Less if they call the second line to join them."

Greta's voice came soft and lazy, like she was stretched out somewhere comfortable while we sat in dirt and blood.

"I can push the other wills a little harder for a short while, but I will not fight a whole clan's search party for you. When the soldiers get close I will step back. What you do after that is your problem."

Feng Lan opened her eyes. The collected mark in her body made her movements careful.

"Then we need to move again before they box this place in."

Lydia tried to push herself up and hissed through her teeth when her bad arm took weight. Seraphina moved to help her without a word. Vale checked the edge of the overhang one more time, then nodded toward the deeper trees on the north side.

"There is a dry stream bed that way. It runs between higher banks for a while. If we stay low we can use it to break the line of sight. It will not hide us forever, but it is better than waiting here."

We gathered what little we had left. No one was in good shape. Every step was going to cost. The mark under my skin pulsed harder when I stood, like it knew we were about to spend more strength and wanted to remind me it was still waiting.

Elizabeth felt it through the bond. Her hand brushed the back of my wrist for a second, steady and brief.

"Hold it," she said quietly. "Not yet."

"I know."

We left the overhang in a low, careful line. Vale first, then Seraphina supporting Lydia, then Feng Lan, then Elizabeth and me at the back. The dry stream bed was exactly where Vale had said. The banks were high enough to keep us out of easy sight if we stayed bent and quiet.

We moved as fast as injured people could move. The search line behind us kept coming. Every now and then we heard voices or the crack of someone pushing through brush. Greta's presence stayed with us, cool and steady, but I could feel the other wills pressing against her hold like water against a thin wall.

After a while the stream bed widened and the banks lowered. We would be more open soon. Vale raised a hand and we stopped under a thick stand of trees that leaned out over the bed.

"This is as far as the good cover goes," she said. "After this it opens into lower forest. Easier for them to see movement."

Seraphina closed her eyes and listened to things none of the rest of us could hear.

"The faster search line is about ten minutes behind. The second line is still wider but turning this way. Greta's hold is starting to thin. She is not pushing as hard as before."

Elizabeth looked at me. The same question was in her eyes that had been there under the overhang.

The mark answered it with a slow, heavy beat that I felt all the way down my spine. Seed control flickered for a second, a small gap opening and closing again. I clenched my jaw until it passed.

"We keep moving," I said. "Find the next place that can hide us for more than a few minutes. We are not strong enough to fight them in the open, and we are not ready to answer the claim while they are this close."

Feng Lan's voice was quiet but clear.

"Agreed. If the claim pulls too hard while we are under attack, it will cost us more than we can pay right now."

We started moving again.

The lower forest was harder. The trees were thinner and the ground was more open. We stayed low and used every bit of brush and fallen wood we could. Behind us the voices grew clearer. Someone shouted. Another voice answered. They were close enough now that a single mistake would put them on us.

Greta's presence shifted. It felt like she was leaning in, interested again.

"They are almost on you," she said, almost cheerful. "I can give you one more short push to keep the others off your back, but that is all. After that I want to see what you do when both sides are free to come at you."

"Do it," I said.

The cool weight of her hold strengthened for a few breaths. The other wills were shoved further back. It bought us enough time to reach a denser patch of forest where three large rocks had fallen together and made a rough triangle of shadow.

We pushed into the space between the rocks and dropped again. Lydia's face was white with pain. Vale's shoulder had started bleeding through the rough binding she had made. Seraphina sat with her back against stone, breathing carefully. Feng Lan leaned on one of the rocks and closed her eyes. Elizabeth stayed beside me, close enough that I could feel the heat of her skin and the raw edge of the bond.

The mark pulsed, slower than before but deeper. It was not trying to break free yet. It was waiting. It knew Greta's help was almost finished.

Elizabeth's fingers found the edge of my sleeve and held it.

"Soon," she said under her breath. "But not while they can still hear us breathe."

I nodded.

Outside the rocks, the search line reached the stream bed we had left and began to spread. Voices called to each other. Someone was giving orders. They had not found us yet, but they were close enough that the next clear track would bring them straight here.

Greta's hold began to thin again, slowly this time, like she was deciding how much longer the show was still interesting.

We sat in the shadow of the three rocks, hurt and quiet, listening to the soldiers move through the trees, while the claim under my skin kept its patient, hungry beat and Elizabeth's shoulder stayed pressed against mine.

The borrowed time was almost gone.

What came next would not be quiet.