Two days.
Two days they'd hunted through the forest, the air thick with the smell of blood. Two days since they faced death in the face and the day vell was yet again changed.
He was stronger, faster, and the way he moved, was like a beast, and sometimes, the look in his eyes made Yenna's breath catch in her throat.
"Stop." He raised his arm, his predator eyes scanning further than they ever had. The others froze. Wren's ears twitched, her nose testing the air. The twins huddled close to Yenna, their small bodies trembling, not from cold, but from the the dangerous mana all around them.
"Do you smell that?" he whispered, his gaze sweeping the trees, his senses heightened, sharper than any blade.
Yenna inhaled deeply, the scent of pine and damp earth filling her lungs. Then, beneath the familiar smells, she detected something else. Something acrid, metallic, the scent of blood, but not the clean, sharp scent of a fresh kill. This was old, stagnant, laced with something… dark.
