They reached the wide, torchlit road, its flickering lights casting dancing shadows on two steep mountain slopes that framed the thoroughfare. Even in the darkness, Eujal could see throngs of travelers—wagons and tired figures hauling bundles as if it were broad daylight. And yet, the presence of Asir soldiers gave the scene too much tension to bare.


    He recognized the brown dusters, the black feather plumes on their hats, and the unmistakable curved blades and steel tipped javelins that seemed to reflect every flicker of fire. Memories flickered, too—one of the few skirmishes his old mercenary band had won, though barely. Now, there were far too many soldiers to stand and fight. It would be suicide.


    Worse still were the navy-blue greatcoats lined with gold. These men carried no visible weapons yet patrolled like they owned the place, occasionally stepping in to help the Asir soldiers inspect a traveler. Something about them set Eujal''s nerves on edge.


    Ezra raised a hand, stopping them. "Damn it," he muttered, dark-pink eyes tightening with worry. "We can''t use the main road."


    Hillel edged around Caladeus, gaze fixed on the navy-blue uniforms. A flicker of recognition crossed his features. Eujal noticed it and asked, "You know them?"


    Hillel nodded slowly. "Yes… that uniform...I recognize it."


    Eujal wondered how that was possible, given Hillel''s amnesia. Hillel knew things that he didn''t. He recognized things that he didn''t. Perhaps, before he was placed in that coffin, he had lived a life where he had experienced or saw many of these things. That was the only possible explanation that made sense to him. But Eujal also acknowledged how Hillel didn''t recognize the names of Khardouth or the Asiran Kingdom, from their earlier conversation. Could he be from somewhere else, far away from these lands? There was no way to be sure.


    But Caladeus interrupted his thoughts, voice tight. "They''re called enforcers. They work for the World Authority." He spat the words like they left a foul taste.


    "Why avoid them?" Hillel asked, eyes still locked on the crowd.


    Ezra exhaled. "We''re wanted men. If those enforcers so much as suspect who we are—" He trailed off, pressing his lips into a thin line.


    Caladeus attempted a laugh. "We got past that other checkpoint fine. Bet we could manage again."


    "Don''t be an idiot," Ezra snapped. "I''d rather not bloody my hands tonight. Let''s find another way."


    "What other way?" Eujal asked, glancing at the towering slopes. The possibility of climbing them in the dark seemed ridiculous.


    "We won''t climb," Caladeus said, swinging his gaze toward Ezra. "He can just teleport us past. Right, boss?"


    Ezra gave a noncommittal shrug and drew a dagger from his sack. He stepped onto the rocky edge, gauging where to throw. Then, in one swift motion, he sent it whistling through the air. Eujal barely saw the blur. But almost immediately, something leapt from the crowd below and knocked the dagger off course, sending sparks flying.


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    "What the—" Caladeus grunted, craning his neck.


    Ezra''s jaw clenched. "Someone intercepted it. We need to move. Now."


    "So… we''re running from the road?" Hillel asked, voice trembling.


    "Hell no, we''re pushing right through!" Caladeus spat.


    Eujal''s stomach twisted. Their easy path had vanished in an instant. "Maybe we can wait them out—"


    Ezra cut him off with a glare. "No guarantee of that. They intercepted the dagger. Sooner or later, they''ll intercept us, too."


    Caladeus nodded in agreement. "Our best bet is to sprint close to the slope. They might be too busy with all these travelers to pin us down."


    Eujal eyed Hillel''s skeletal frame. "He''s exhausted… I''m not much better off."


    Ezra didn''t hesitate. "I''ll carry him. Caladeus, take the brown haired brat."


    "Wait—" Eujal began, but Ezra had already scooped Hillel up. Caladeus swept Eujal into a jarring hold that knocked the air from his lungs.


    "Brace yourself," Caladeus said, giving him a crooked grin. "It''s gonna suck."


    And then they bolted. Ezra sped along the rocky boundary of the road with Hillel in his arms, moving faster than Eujal thought possible. Caladeus followed, each stride jostling Eujal so hard his teeth clacked together.


    Almost instantly, Asir soldiers noticed them and raised the alarm. Firelight glinted on their blades, and Eujal glimpsed navy-blue enforcers hanging back, watching intently. Then javelins came whistling overhead. Ezra ducked and weaved, impossibly quick. Caladeus tried to dodge, but carrying Eujal slowed him down.


    The first spear grazed Caladeus''s shoulder, tearing cloth and flesh. Blood spattered the ground, only to vanish in a hiss of red sparks. The second struck him dead in the gut. Caladeus roared, flames licking the wooden shaft and burning it to cinders as his skin knitted back together.


    A third javelin—thrown from a higher vantage point—speared his back, continuing through to impale Eujal''s shoulder. White-hot pain ripped a scream from Eujal''s throat. He felt Caladeus stumble, but somehow the man stayed upright.


    Ezra, further ahead, slid past another barrage of spears with ease, Hillel clinging to him. The road became a chaos of alarmed travelers, clashing steel, and the flicker of torchlight. Under Eujal''s weight, Caladeus staggered, flames crackling around the embedded spear.


    Dizziness clouded Eujal''s vision. He felt the heat rising against his own skin, terrified it would consume him. Caladeus rasped out, "Don''t… move… I''ll shift it… focus on you—"


    Before Eujal could protest, he felt fire surge over his wound, agony blooming into something so intense it nearly made him pass out. Then abruptly, the pain dulled to a lower burn. Caladeus was healing him—but it had cost them precious seconds. Enforcers in navy-blue coats now closed in, bounding along the rocks as if they weighed nothing. One swung his hand, fingers turning into a whirring metal drill, gouging a crater in the stone inches from Caladeus''s face.


    "Shit!" Caladeus barked. But before the enforcer could strike again, a severed limb still dressed in navy fabric slammed into his chest with a wet thud, knocking him aside.


    Ezra blinked into view, crouched on that dismembered arm. In a single motion, he flung Hillel at Caladeus, his pink eyes blazing with urgency. "I''ll carve a way," he snarled.


    Reeling, Eujal managed to glance up the slope. In the sputtering torchlight, he glimpsed a large number of mangled bodies—blue and brown uniforms alike—tumbling down toward the road below in a bloody, mutilated mess. His stomach lurched. The gore was too much to process. Caladeus''s broad hand clamped over Eujal''s eyes.


    "Don''t look," he said, voice harsh and trembling.


    All Eujal heard next was the scrape of steel on stone and the ragged breathing of his companions—then a slow, terrible sound like metal dragging across rock. It grew louder and louder until everything went dark.