The canopy of leaves acts as a cover as we shelter from the stares of the shifters. Sunlight streams through the gaps in the leaves, creating a patchy light on the planes of Elex's face as he watches me walk towards them off the path. His posture is tense, eyebrows pulled together, forming a deep wrinkle in the center.

I try to avoid his gaze as Casimir steps aside to make room for me. "What did he want?" he asks.

"Huh?"

"Killian." He clenches his jaw. "He grabbed your arm."

"Oh, nothing." I glance over my shoulder as if expecting to find Killian standing on the beaten path back to the carriage. "I don't think he trusts me. What I said I'd do."

"And why should he?" Elex says. His voice is low and calm, but even I can hear the rage in his tone. "What you're saying, Freya, what you agreed to, is blasphemous."

"To who? The deserters? King Ereon?" I shake my head. "I hold no loyalty towards either group."

If he's offended by my dismissal of the deserters, he doesn't show it. "Maybe you don't. But we don't all have that luxury." His gaze shifts from me to Casimir. I don't miss the softening around his mouth, the desperation in his eyes. "Casimir, you know Trina will take this as a betrayal. Whether or not you are her son."

"I know."

Elex shakes his head, grabs Casimir's arm. "She'll never welcome you back."

"I know. Elex, you saw the cloud. What it can do. As much as I wish she wasn't, Freya is right. Everything the deserters have done, all we've worked towards our whole lives, none of it will matter if we're all killed by the cloud."

They stare at one another with an intensity that makes me feel like an intruder. Elex's voice is so quiet I barely hear his next words. "She's your family."

"Family is the most important thing in the world to me," Casimir says softly. He turns his head to look at me, a sad smile tugging at his lips. "But Trina isn't my family, she never has been."

I reach out the grab his hand, wrapping it in my own. Casimir's one of the strongest people I know, but that doesn't stop his hands from shaking when he squeezes mine back.

Elex's shoulders drop, his eyes glassy. "Nothing will change your mind, will it?" Casimir shakes his head, jaw locked. "So that's it, then. You're going with the shifters."

"We're going to stop the cloud," I say, but it's like I haven't even spoken from the way neither of them can drag their gazes from each other. I squeeze Casimir's hand one more time. "I'll wait for you by the carriage."

Neither of them speaks as I turn around and walk back the way we came, a lump in my throat. I force it down, digging my nails into my palm as I reach the stream. Following the curve of the bank, Killian and Lei's murmured voices drift towards me. They fall to a lull as I emerge from the trees, only Killian visible outside the carriage.

He turns, glancing over my shoulder. "Good, you're back."

"Is something wrong?"

"We might need your help."

Lei pulls the sheet to the side constructing the cabin door. A grin marks her face, but there's nothing humorous about it as she holds her arm towards me, scratched up. "For such a tiny human, she's got some claws."

My heart skips a beat. "Cadence?"

A whimper is the only response. Lei jumps from the carriage, giving me a full view of the interior. Cadence huddles on the ground, raising her head slightly at the sound of my voice.

"Frey?"

"Hey." I creep closer. "It's me, Cas is here too."

She glances over my shoulder, eyes wide. "T-he shifters they... they were after me. They were attacking me."

"It's okay. You're safe. Killian and Lei saved us from those shifters, okay?"

She looks at Lei doubtfully over my shoulder. "W-where's Raven?"

Bile rises in my throat as I try to speak, but no words come out. "She didn't make it. The King's men got to her," Killian says, stepping behind me. "I'm sorry."

Silent tears stream down her cheeks. I stare at the ground, my stomach churning. "I want to go home," she whispers, pulling her knees to her chest. "Please take me home."

I nod, reaching forward to squeeze her hand. She draws away, tucking it in between her legs. I try to ignore the sting, turning back around and blinking the glassiness from my eyes as Casimir emerges.

He glances at Cadence behind me before nodding his head. "Let's get moving."

He's alone.

"We can't take this carriage, it's too obvious," Lei says.

Killian moves quickly, unlatching the horse from the carriage connector. "We leave the carriage and take the horse. We can steal another couple from Veymaw for the rest of us to make it back to camp."

I look back at Cadence. She quietly draws herself from the cabin, sensing the movement, to stand awkwardly at its foot, her arms wrapped around herself.

"Cadence," I whisper, grabbing her hand. This time, she lets me take it. "You can ride on the horse. Casimir will help you. Keep resting."

She nods numbly, letting me lead her to the horse. Casimir meets us, running a steady hand down the mare's neck. He helps Cadence mount before putting his hands to the saddle.

I place my hand on his shoulder, forcing him to meet my gaze. "Casimir," I whisper. "I'm sorry."

He puts a gentle hand atop mine. "We all have to make sacrifices."

I step away, letting him mount onto the horse's back behind Cadence.

I think of when I first met Elex, and the warmth in which he gazed at Casimir. I remember the softening in Casimir's voice as he addressed Elex, the longing looks across the room in the underground hideaway. I'd teased Casimir about it during the Moon Festival, only to almost immediately be shot down. Casimir was an informant. Elex wasn't. Their lives were too separate, filled with too many lies.

He'd said a similar thing then, too. We all make sacrifices for the cause.

But as I stare at Casimir atop the horse and feel the weight of his sadness, I find myself wondering why sacrifices always seem to feel like punishments.

~

We travel in near silence. The occasional sniffle from Cadence leads our path through the undergrowth as the morning sun gives way to the afternoon.

The horse moves at a slow speed to match me, Killian and Lei, though there are times when I wonder if they're all slowing their speed to match just me. Casimir, supporting Cadence on the horse from behind, offers to trade places with me multiple times, to which I decline. I barely know how to ride a horse myself, let alone support Cadence upon one.

Killian travels at the head of the pack, guiding the path back to Veymaw. Lei and I stay in the rear.

At least with the horse, I'm not the only one creating noise as we brush through the bush. It's hooves tread softly against the forest floor, crunching crispy leaves and fallen branches and making me seem quiet in comparison.

I swipe a hand across my damp forehead. Despite the crisp air going into winter, there's not even a whisper of a breeze beneath the thick canopy above. And after hours of walking, my clothes feel damp and hot.

The trees have grown more dense away from the cliffs, the vegetation more familiar. We're coming from the opposite direction to the forge, but I know the forests surrounding Veymaw like tha back of my hand. We're getting close.

The thought makes my stomach tighten.

I climb over a fallen log, the edge of my boot catching on a raised root and causing me to stumble. Righting myself, I shove the hair back from my face and take a deep, nervous breath.

"Watch your step," Lei murmurs from behind me.

"Thanks," I mutter dryly.

"You need to be more conscious of your surroundings. You wander through the forest as if your mind is somewhere else entirely."

I frown at her words, keeping my gaze trained on the ground. Whether or not she intends it to, her comment stings. But as much as I wish she wasn't, she's right. In the silence of the forest, with only my thoughts to fill the empty space, my mind wanders to places that scare me; places I wish it wouldn't go.

I think of Ereon, the cloud, Elex, Killian. Raven. Her mangled body burns into the back of my eyelids, waiting for me with each blink.

"There are so many places for my mind to wander," I say honestly.

"A luxury not all of us can afford."

I halt, turning around to stare at her. When we'd first met, she'd been nothing but kind to me. A little blunt, sure, but there was never this undercurrent of ice. She never stared at me with bitterness before.

"You don't need to be so rude all of the time, you know."

She scoffs. "Because you were so kind when you first met me. After we'd saved your ass from Ereon, too."

"You don't understand, Lei. From my perspective, with what I knew, you kidnapped me. Killian, someone I'd grown to trust, was the complete opposite of who I thought he was. And you wouldn't let me go home. I can't imagine you'd be all hugs and butterflies if that happened to you, either." She clenches her jaw but doesn't respond. "Can you really blame me for wanting to escape?"

"Perhaps not." Her eyes rake across my face, na calculating gaze. "But that doesn't mean I have to trust you."

"I never said you had to."

We stare at one another, the sounds of the horses hooves growing more distant as the distance between us grows. "We should keep moving. We'll be there soon."

"I'm doing the best I can, Lei," I say. "I didn't ask for any of this to happen to me. To any of us."

She glances over my shoulder, an indication to keep walking. I sigh and continue forward, picking up my pace to catch up to the others again, only slowing at the swish of the horse's tail through the bushes.

My eyes prick, but I blink the tears away. Their unwavering faith in my ability to help is a burden that weighs heavily on my shoulders.

"You did the right thing, you know," Lei says. I keep walking. "Not telling your friend, I mean."

Cadence. The reminder comes with a bitter taste in my mouth. "She'll never forgive me if she finds out."

Lei doesn't say anything for a long while. I tune into the sounds of the forest. There are no azu songs floating through the trees; it's too close to winter. But the rustling of the trees as we brush through, the crunching of leaves--they're a welcoming band back into Veymaw territory.

"Would you want to know?" I ask. "If it were you?"

"I've seen how that kind of information can destroy a person."

I glance at her over my shoulder. Her lips press in a firm line, eyes cast to the ground.

"I'm lying to her."

"You're protecting her. Sometimes, the truth is too much to handle. Even for the strongest of people."

She glances over my shoulder, her gaze so fleeting that if I weren't hyper-aware of Killian's presence a couple of feet ahead, I might not have noticed. But it's too late, her gaze draws me to him.

My mind reels as the weight on my chest compresses down. Is she talking about Killian? Before I can press the matter any further, the horse stops moving. Casimir drops down, grabbing the reins to keep it from wandering further ahead. I peer through the gaps in the trees, my stomach twisting with nerves as I eye Myers abandoned cabin nestled amongst the trees.

Ahead, Killian turns back. His eyes find mine as Lei's words run through my mind. I hate the way his gaze provides me with a feeling of comfort.

"Are you ready?"

No.

"Yes."

He walks through the trees and knocks on the door.