The forest darkened as Althea, Keal, Lyssa, and the omegas pushed deeper into Roland. Shadows stretched like reaching fingers, and the wind carried a faint metallic whisper, as if the trees themselves were holding their breath.

  Althea slowed her steps.

  Something felt… different.

  “Why is it suddenly so cold?” Lyssa murmured, her silver hair trembling with the chill.

  Keal scanned the trees, tense. “We crossed into another part of the ridge. Old Roland. Nothing good survives here.”

  Althea tried to joke, “Great, that makes me feel so much better.”

  But no one laughed.

  A faint pulse flickered near her fingertips — a tiny glow of blue light. Her barrier magic, responding to something unseen.

  Keal noticed.

  “Your magic’s reacting again?”

  “I don’t know why,” she whispered. “It feels like… like something’s watching us.”

  Keal’s eyes darted upward. “Not something. Many somethings.”

  Before Althea could respond, a soft crackle echoed overhead.

  Lyssa grabbed her sleeve. “Up there!”

  Three dark shapes drifted through the treetops — silent, gliding, almost invisible. Their bodies shimmered like ripples of smoke, and faint silver masks flickered beneath their hoods.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Not beasts.

  Not corrupted scouts.

  Something far more precise.

  Keal’s voice dropped.

  “Watchers.”

  Althea tensed. “What are watchers?”

  “Scouts from… somewhere above,” he whispered. “Even we don’t know exactly where. They only appear when something important is happening.”

  “That’s comforting,” Althea muttered. “So we’re being stalked by mystical ghost ninjas.”

  Keal blinked. “Nin…what?”

  “Never mind.”

  One watcher tilted its head toward her — slow. Calculating. Almost curious.

  Lyssa pulled the younger omegas closer. “Keal, they’re studying her.”

  Another watcher floated lower, pausing a few feet above Althea’s head. She felt a cold pressure in her chest, like someone was trying to read her thoughts.

  Keal stepped forward sharply, placing himself between Althea and the masked figure.

  “Back off.”

  For a moment, the watcher simply hovered, its mask expressionless.

  Then—

  It vanished.

  Simply dissolved into the air like smoke pulled away by the wind.

  The others followed, flickering out of existence as silently as they had appeared.

  The forest exhaled.

  Life returned to the soundscape.

  But the group remained frozen.

  Lyssa whispered, “Why were they looking at her?”

  Keal didn’t answer. His expression tightened — as if he knew a truth he wasn’t ready to share.

  Althea swallowed. “Are… are they dangerous?”

  Keal hesitated.

  “Only if the world decides you’re a threat.”

  That did not help.

  They continued forward, but the forest felt different now — heavier, as if the watchers had left unseen marks on the path ahead.

  Every few steps, Althea brushed her fingertips together, watching sparks of barrier magic flicker faintly.

  Lyssa noticed. “You’re scared.”

  “I’m not scared,” Althea said.

  She was very much scared.

  But also angry.

  “Everyone keeps acting like I’m something I don’t understand,” she muttered. “The forest reacts to me. The monsters react to me. Now… watchers.”

  Keal walked beside her, voice softer.

  “You’ve changed things, Althea. Just by being here.”

  “I didn’t ask for that.”

  “No one asks to become something important,” he replied. “It just happens.”

  They reached a clearing, and Keal motioned for the group to stop. The others collapsed onto fallen logs, exhausted.

  Althea sat beside Lyssa, who leaned against her shoulder despite her usual wariness. The smaller omegas huddled near Keal, tired but safer than they had been before.

  For the first time since this world swallowed her, Althea felt like she belonged somewhere.

  Not fully.

  Not permanently.

  But enough for now.

  Then—

  A faint hum echoed through the clearing, so quiet Althea barely noticed.

  Far above them, invisible to their eyes, another watcher drifted behind a cloud, sending a silent signal upward.

  To Aetherion.

  To the Eight Councilors.

  To the Bureau.

  Target located.

  Trajectory confirmed.

  The outsider proceeds deeper into Roland.

  Prepare for Phase Two.

  Althea lifted her head, sensing nothing — only an odd flutter in her chest, like a forewarning.

  Keal watched her carefully.

  Lyssa clung closer.

  The world around them shifted unseen.

  Something had begun.

  And none of them were ready.