Ilona's hand shot up, silencing them all as a twig snapped somewhere in the darkness beyond the fire's light.
"Down," she hissed, kicking dirt over the flames.
Kane dropped low instantly, blade ready, Talyn and Ottilie fanning wide into the surrounding brush. The forest went dark and silent except for the distant rustle of movement circling their position.
"Concord scouts," Ottilie whispered, crouched near a fallen log. "They followed one of us here."
"Or they followed me," Ilona said grimly, "the way they've followed every conversation I've had since agreeing to work within their ranks."
A shape emerged from the treeline, and Talyn cut him down before he could raise an alarm, the fight erupting fast and brutal as three more scouts converged on their position.
Kane engaged the neares
