The contact never showed, and the first crossbow bolt took Fira's escort through the shoulder before anyone saw the shooter.
"Down!" Kane shouted, pulling Fira behind the rock line as more bolts cut through the clearing.
Cassius, still favoring his healing wound, dropped low with Talyn's help, blade already drawn despite the pain visible on his face. "Positions. Now."
"How many," Talyn said, scanning the treeline.
"Too many for a simple meeting," Ottilie said, having insisted on joining despite Kane's objections, already counting muzzle flashes and shifting shadows through the brush. "This was never a real contact. It was bait."
The strike came fast after that, fighters emerging from concealed positions on three sides, moving with the same disciplined precision Kane had come to recogn
