"How far does the ravine stretch?"

"Far enough to bypass two watch routes," Darin said. "But that isn’t the worst part."

Elion’s gaze narrowed.

Darin hesitated for a moment, then continued. "They found marks. Carved into three trees along the path. Not demonic footsteps but a human trail, and it was fresh."

Alexander went still.

Elion slowly stood up from the wall.

"Human?" Alexander asked, voice colder now.

Darin nodded. "That is what the scouts believe. We suspect one of two possibilities, perhaps it was just a victim who happened to be wandering by, and has already been slaughtered by the demons, or someone may have guided them through."

The silence that followed was colder than the night wind.

Alexander’s face soured.

"Who knows?" he asked.

"Only the scouts, Commander Rallis, and myself for now."

"Good," Alexander said. "It stays that way. Bring Commander Rallis to my quarters quietly, and make no announcements on this."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Darin bowed and disappeared back down the ladder.

Elion looked at Alexander. "A traitor?"

"Possibly."

"You sound calmer than I thought you would be though."

"I am not calm."

Elion believed him.

Alexander’s hands were clenched so tightly that the leather of his gloves creaked.

"If this were a coincidence, then we would handle it," Alexander said, his voice low. "If someone in our own lines is guiding demons through civilian routes..."

His eyes sharpened.

"Then I will find them."

Elion rested Kurogoroshi against his shoulder. "Perhaps you need my help?"

Alexander looked at him for a moment.

Then, despite everything, his lips twitched faintly. "With investigation?"

Elion shrugged, letting a light smile stretch onto his handsome features, "I can glare at people until they confess."

"That might actually work."

"I know."

Alexander let out a tired breath, then turned toward the stairs leading down from the wall. "Come. If we’re lucky, then we are wrong, and this is isolated."

"And if we’re not?"

Alexander’s expression did not change. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Then tonight might have only been the beginning of something we might not like at all."

Elion followed after him, the sheathed sword resting comfortably in his grip. Deep within the scabbard, Kurogoroshi gave the faintest hum, so soft that only he could feel it.

It almost felt amused.

Elion’s brow twitched.

"Don’t you start," he muttered.

Alexander glanced back. "What?"

"Nothing."

The prince stared at him for a second, then looked at the sword.

"...You were talking to it again, weren’t you?"

"No."

"You absolutely were."

"I talk to you, don’t I? Clearly, my standards are already low."

Alexander stopped walking and slowly turned his head.

"Elion."

"Yes?"

"I am too tired to deal with you."

"That has never stopped me before."

Alexander closed his eyes briefly, inhaled deeply, and continued walking.

’This bastard!’ He thought quietly before walking away to make his exit before this got any more tiring than it already was.

Elion laughed lightly and followed him anyway, much to Alexander’s disappointment.

...

They did not get much sleep that night.

By the time morning came, the entire checkpoint already felt different. The demon corpses had been burned outside the walls, the damaged rune pillar had been stabilised just enough to keep the barrier from collapsing entirely, and the civilians were kept under watch until the road ahead could be confirmed safe.

Commander Rallis looked like he had aged five years in one night, but he still carried himself with the strained discipline of a man who knew panic would spread faster than any demon if he let even the smallest crack show.

The matter of the strange human markings had been kept quiet.

Only Alexander, Elion, Darin, Commander Rallis, and the two scouts who had found them knew the full details.

The official report merely stated that the demons had used an overlooked ravine path to bypass the expected watch routes, and that additional patrols would be posted there from now on.

Whether the markings were the result of a traitor, a desperate fool, or something even more troublesome, Alexander decided it was better not to spread that seed of suspicion through the camp without proof.

Elion could understand the choice.

A camp already tense from a night attack did not need whispers of betrayal running through it like poison.

Still, as they prepared to leave, his gaze kept drifting over the faces of the soldiers, the scouts, the civilians, the messengers, and even the tired-looking cooks carrying pots between tents.

Any one of them could have known something.

Or maybe none of them did.

That was the irritating part.

Suspicion made everyone look guilty if you stared long enough.

’Why do I suddenly care so much about these people’s lives now?’ He thought quietly. It wasn’t so much that he cared deeply, but rather that he was suddenly more invested than he usually would have been, and it certainly had nothing to do with acing this trial; he was way past that point already.

’Must be because of Isla,’ He told himself inwardly as he watched Alexander give the final orders before they departed.

He told Commander Rallis to strengthen the northern routes, rotate scouts in pairs, and report anything strange directly to Haven and the forward command. Then, once all of that was done, their mounts were prepared again.

By sunrise, they were back in the sky.

The first half of the day passed quietly, though not peacefully. The land below seemed to grow rougher the farther they travelled from Haven, the villages more guarded, the roads less busy, and the fields less expansive.

Several small settlements they passed had visible barricades, watchfires, and raised platforms with lookouts posted on them.

At one village, Elion saw a group of farmers standing around a half-burned barn while a priest drew pale runes across the ground.

At another, children did not run out to point at the flying mounts as they passed overhead. They simply watched from behind wooden walls, silent and wary.

The reports at the next checkpoint were not much better.

They were not told of any major attacks or a full demon force, but there were frequent sightings of small groups everywhere.

Most of them spoke of shadows moving along the treeline, and scouts vanishing for hours before returning pale and shaken. Strange claw marks found along roads that demons should not have known about.

A merchant caravan had been attacked two nights prior, though the demons had fled before killing everyone, which was odd in itself. Demons rarely struck and left prey behind unless they were interrupted or they had already gotten what they wanted.

Generally, it was one piece of bad news after another. Alexander listened to every report with a gradually darkening expression.