The warriors swept the entire territory from border to ridge, from ravine to riverbank, but they returned empty handed. Nothing. No tracks. No scent. No sign of the shadow that had followed us out of the quarry. Nothing but silence and cold wind.
Nathan paced the front steps of the packhouse, shoulders tight, jaw locked.
“They found nothing,” Leah said, rubbing her hands together as she stepped up beside us. Her voice was thin with exhaustion. “Not even a partial print.”
Nathan let out a low breath. “I should not have brought you back until we knew.”
“It is not your fault,” I said. “Maybe it was just an aftershock. We woke up an entire corruption node. That could mess with everything.”
“Aftershock or not, something watched you,” he murmured.
“Then we deal with it when it shows itself
