CHAPTER 183: EXPOSURE

Her eyes darted away:

"Because he laced it with a trap. It burns anyone who tries to interfere with it. I’ve seen it myself—a chosen tried once. The moment he touched the seal, the flames consumed him. He was scorched down to the bone."

I tilted my head slightly, the faintest trace of amusement slipping into my voice.

"Oh... is that so?" I muttered.

She swallowed, clearly unsure if I believed her.

I leaned a little closer, my tone softening but still edged with threat.

"Anything else I should know?"

She hesitated, her lips trembling as if she was weighing whether to lie or stay silent. I didn’t have the patience for either.

With a sharp motion, I swung [Gravefang]—not to kill, just enough to make a point. The blade’s edge clipped her ear, carving a shallow line that drew a thin trickle of blood. She let out a pained gasp, eyes widening as tears welled up from the sting.

"Speak," I ordered, my tone flat but heavy with intent.

That did it. The defiance in her eyes cracked, replaced by the raw instinct to survive.

"You... you can’t get the seal even if he dies," she said quickly, her voice trembling but clear. "His life is tied to it. If Hissra dies, the seal dies with him—but..."

I tilted my head slightly, my gaze narrowing. "But?"

She swallowed hard. "But if he dies before the seal is broken, the curse remains on whoever it’s cast upon. You have to destroy the seal first, or it becomes permanent. That’s why no one’s ever tried to kill him outright."

I studied her for a long moment, watching the way her shoulders shook, the way her breath came unevenly. She wasn’t lying. At least, not about that part.

"So," I murmured, lowering my blade slightly, "if I want my freedom back, I’ll have to take the seal from him while he’s still breathing."

She nodded quickly, the fear in her eyes making it clear that even saying his name carried risk.

"However," she added softly, almost like a warning, "Hissra would never let that happen."

I frowned. What a troublesome item.

Destroying it wasn’t going to be simple. If what Nira said was true, the seal was practically bound to Hissra’s life force—an extension of him. I’d have to make him reveal it, then destroy it before killing him. But getting someone like Hissra to expose something so vital was the same as asking him to hand over his heart. No one with half a brain would do that willingly.

A sharp snap cut through my thoughts, followed by the crunch of hurried footsteps pressing into the forest floor.

I turned my head slightly, instincts kicking in. Through the shadows, movement flickered between the trees.

Hissra.

And he wasn’t alone.

The rest of them—Mavrik, Gork, and even Threl, bruised but alive—were closing in fast, their eyes scanning the forest for any trace of me.

I didn’t panic. Both Nira and I were cloaked under [Stealth], our outlines swallowed by the folds of darkness. To them, the clearing looked empty—just broken branches, churned soil, and a few faint scorch marks left from the earlier chaos.

They slowed as they reached the clearing, weapons drawn, moving in a slow, cautious formation. Hissra’s flames glowed faintly along his arms, casting a dim orange hue across his face as he glanced around.

His voice broke the silence, low and controlled.

"He’s here. I can feel it." Hissra said, his voice sharp and echoing through the clearing as he strode dangerously close to where I stood. The flames coiling around his hands flared brighter with his anger, casting flickering shadows across the trees.

"Is the seal still active?" Threl rumbled, his stone-covered form crunching forward through the dirt.

"Of course it’s active," Hissra snapped back, the heat in his tone matching the fire licking his skin.

"Then he couldn’t have teleported," Threl reasoned, glancing around with narrowed eyes.

"Maybe another skill," Gork muttered, half-drawing an arrow and scanning the treeline. His aim shifted restlessly, his instincts screaming that something was off.

They fanned out in cautious confusion, circling the clearing like predators sniffing for prey they couldn’t see. I could practically feel their unease, the tension crawling under their skin as they tried—and failed—to sense me.

It was almost tempting to strike then, to take one or two of them down while their guard was scattered. [Stealth] gave me the advantage, and if I was fast enough, I could end this hunt before it began.

But just as I let myself relax, Nira moved.

The faintest twitch of her arm was all the warning I got before she twisted beneath me, trying to slip free. I reacted instantly, slamming her back down. The impact thudded dully against the earth, the air rushing from her lungs in a short, pained gasp.

THUD!

The dull, heavy sound broke through the tense silence, reverberating faintly through the clearing. It wasn’t loud, but since everyone was on the edge, it might as well have been thunder. Every head snapped toward the source—toward us.

Their movements stilled, their postures stiffened, and I could practically feel their unease spreading through the air.

"What was that noise?" Gork asked, his voice low, bow half-drawn as his eyes darted from tree to tree.

No one answered. They only exchanged wary glances, weapons drawn tighter, scanning the darkness for a shape that wasn’t there.

Then Mavrik froze mid-step. His eyes widened as something seemed to click in his mind. "No..." he breathed. "No way..."

Hissra turned toward him sharply. "What?"

Mavrik’s throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, his gaze sweeping the empty space in front of them. "Stealth," he whispered.

That one word was enough.

Realization hit them all like a pulse.

The tension broke instantly as instinct took over—Hissra flaring with fire, Threl’s stone armor grinding into place, and Gork leaping back with an arrow already nocked.

They scattered in unison, forming a loose perimeter, every sense sharpened and ready to strike at the first flicker of movement.

Then Druk, the...