Chapter 15 | Part 6

The Coatly found them on the second day.

Drusniel heard the shrieks first—that hunting cry that had become terrifyingly familiar. Elion’s head snapped toward the sound, body already shifting into combat readiness. Srietz made a small, desperate sound.

“They tracked us.” The goblin’s voice was tight. “They’re patient. They always track.”

Drusniel’s magic surged instinctively, ready to defend—

“NO.” Srietz grabbed his arm with surprising strength. “What did Srietz say? Magic is beacon. Magic brings more.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

Srietz was already digging in his pack—a small, battered thing that seemed to hold far more than its size suggested. “Alchemy. Not magic. Different signature. Harder to track.”

He pulled out a vial. Clear liquid that caught the dim light strangely.

“What is that?” Elion asked, eyes still fixed on the approaching shapes.

“Smoke. Dense, choking, disorienting. The Coatly hunt by ultrasound and magic. Smoke breaks the ultrasound. Confuses them.” Srietz’s hands were shaking slightly. “This is Srietz’s last prepared compound. Took three weeks to make. After this, Srietz has nothing.”

“Use it,” Drusniel said.

“You understand? Srietz spent ingredients that cannot be replaced. Srietz sacrifices resources—”

“Use it!”

Srietz threw the vial.

It shattered against a rock formation, and smoke exploded outward—thick, white, swallowing everything. The Coatly’s shrieks turned confused, disoriented. Drusniel heard them crashing into each other, into trees, into stone.

“RUN!” Srietz was already moving, smaller form disappearing into the chaos.

They ran. Through the smoke that stung their eyes and caught in their throats. Through the confusion of hunters that couldn’t find prey. Through territory that wanted to kill them and a sky full of creatures that couldn’t see.

The obsidian caves appeared as a darker shadow in the landscape—a wound in the earth that promised shelter.

They dove inside.

The Coatly didn’t follow.

For a long moment, there was only breathing. Harsh, ragged breathing from three exhausted survivors.

“It worked,” Srietz said finally. He was staring at the empty vial case in his hands. “That was the last one. Took Srietz three weeks to make.”

“Thank you,” Drusniel said.

Srietz looked at him—really looked, as if measuring something new. “Srietz’s resources for your protection. That was the bargain. This is how bargains work.”

“This was more than the bargain.”

“Yes.” The goblin tucked away the empty case. “Srietz remembers that too.”

Around them, the obsidian caves glittered with reflected light—exactly where Elion had said they would be. Safe. Defensible. Real.

Three days of running. One impossible memory. One goblin who counted costs.

They had survived. For now.

“Where do we go from here?” Srietz asked.

Drusniel looked deeper into the caves, toward whatever waited in the darkness ahead.

“East,” he said. “Always east.”

End of Chapter 15.6 —> 16.1: The Seer’s Warning: The Weight