Chapter 100: You Motherfucker!

“Watch out!”

The moment Kaelis shouted the warning to Ricardo’s family, Ezra sensed it too.

A faint flash.

A small streak of light cutting through the air.

An arrow.

“Duck!” Ezra shouted as he ran forward, hoping to intercept it or knock it aside.

But Ricardo reacted quickly. He twisted his body and pulled his daughter down with him.

The arrow struck the ground just beside his foot.

“Oh my God,” Lanie cried as she stumbled back.

Ricardo stared at the arrow buried in the dirt, his voice shaking. “Where did that come from?”

Ezra and Kaelis were already scanning their surroundings.

“Run,” Kaelis ordered sharply. “Run now. Into the forest.”

“We’ll be right behind you.”

“Inside the forest?” Ezra asked, confused. “Why inside—”

“Go!” Kaelis snapped.

Ricardo didn’t question it. Neither did Lanie.

Each of them tightened their hold on their daughters and immediately started running.

Kaelis followed right after them.

“Ezra,” he said quickly, “keep an eye out. I couldn’t see the attacker, but they’re here.”

Ezra ran behind him.

“Which is exactly why I don’t understand why we’re heading into the forest,” he said. “It’s darker in there.”

“It’s darker,” Kaelis replied, breathing evenly as they ran, “which means they won’t be able to see us clearly either. It won’t just be us who are blind.”

Ezra frowned.

’That still feels wrong,’ he thought. ’But… it makes sense in a strange way.’

He continued scanning their surroundings as they ran.

The forest quickly swallowed them. Tall, thick trees blocked most of the weak light that filtered through the already dark sky.

Ezra searched the branches. The shadows between trunks. Any movement.

Nothing.

No archers.

No figures.

No sign of where that arrow had come from.

“Do you see anyone?” Kaelis asked quietly.

Ezra shook his head. “No. Nothing—”

He stopped mid-sentence.

Footsteps.

Soft at first.

Then more.

Kaelis had heard them too.

Ezra focused.

’One… two… three… four… five…’

The sound spread around them.

Behind them.

To the side.

Everywhere.

’…six… seven…’

His stomach dropped.

’Fuck. There’s no end to them.’

People were chasing them.

A lot of them.

But Ezra couldn’t see a single one.

The trees were too thick. The shadows are too deep. And the dark sky above made the forest even harder to see through.

“It’s a group,” Kaelis whispered, watching Ricardo and his family ahead of them. The couple still had no idea what was coming. “A big one.”

Ezra’s eyes stayed on the family.

Mostly on the two little girls.

“Should we fight?” he asked quietly.

“Not yet,” Kaelis answered.

Ezra frowned.

’Not yet?’ he thought. ’Then when?’

They could attack at any moment.

However, they continued deeper into the woods despite Ezra’s concerns.

Branches scraped against their clothes as they pushed through the undergrowth. The ground became uneven, thick roots twisting beneath their feet. The forest swallowed what little light remained.

Behind them, the footsteps continued.

Ezra listened carefully.

They weren’t getting closer.

But they weren’t falling behind either.

They kept the same distance. The same pace.

Always there.

Ezra’s eyes narrowed.

’That’s not normal.’

He subtly adjusted his pace, just enough to test them.

The footsteps adjusted too.

Same rhythm.

Same distance.

A chill crept down Ezra’s spine.

They weren’t simply chasing them.

They were surrounding them.

Hunting them.

And the way they moved…

Ezra frowned.

All of them were running in perfect rhythm.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Not a single misstep. Not a single uneven breath.

Even trained knights didn’t move like that.

’What in Aurethys are these people?’

Ezra glanced sideways at Kaelis.

“They’re moving together,” he whispered.

“I noticed.”

Ezra shook his head. “No. I mean really moving together. Same pace. Same timing. It’s… unnatural.”

Kaelis didn’t answer right away.

They continued running behind Ricardo and his family.

Ricardo held Larnie tightly against his chest while Lanie carried Ranie, both of them pushing forward as fast as they could.

Ezra lowered his voice even further.

“We should warn them,” he said. “Tell them to break away and run the other direction. One of us can lead them somewhere safer while the other goes for help. Your Highness, not even knights move like this.”

Kaelis shook his head immediately.

“We can’t.”

Ezra frowned.

“Why not?”

“Because we’re already too deep.”

’No shit,’ Ezra thought. ’I still don’t understand why we came here in the first place—’

He opened his mouth to argue.

Then Ricardo screamed.

“YOUR HIGHNESS, CAPTAIN!”

Lanie’s voice followed immediately after.

“NO, NO, GOD, PLEASE—”

Both of them stopped running.

Ezra and Kaelis froze.

And then they saw why.

Figures.

Dozens of them.

Standing silently between the trees.

Black robes draped over their bodies, blending with the shadows of the forest. Their hoods covered their heads completely.

Silver masks caught the faint light filtering through the branches.

They blocked the path ahead.

Ricardo stumbled back a step.

“Oh God…”

Lanie clutched Ranie tightly, her breathing shaking.

The girls buried their faces against their parents’ chests, completely silent.

Ezra and Kaelis slowed to a stop behind them.

’We’re outnumbered.’

Ezra’s grip tightened around the hilt of his sword.

More footsteps echoed behind them.

Ezra didn’t need to turn around.

He already knew.

They were surrounded.

’Shit.’

The robed figures stood perfectly still.

No movement.

No whispers.

Just silent silver masks staring at them from between the trees.

They didn’t speak.

They didn’t whisper.

No sound at all.

And somehow that made it worse.

The forest seemed to grow even quieter, as if the world itself was holding its breath.

Ezra glanced sideways at Kaelis, expecting to see some kind of signal. A command. A plan.

But instead he saw something else.

Determination.

And something that looked a lot like shame.

“Finally,” Kaelis said, his voice carrying through the silent forest. “After years. Years of wondering who started this. Years of searching, investigating, chasing scraps of information.”

His eyes moved across the masked figures.

“And now you finally made the mistake of showing yourselves.”

Ezra blinked.

Oh.

That was it.

Ezra slowly turned his head toward him.

“Your Highness,” he said quietly. “Don’t tell me the reason we came into the forest wasn’t to escape them.”

Kaelis glanced at him.

Then he nodded.

“Yes.”

His voice dropped lower.

“It was to bait these bastards into showing themselves.”

Ezra stared at him, baffled.

’You motherfucker.’

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