Lucius couldn't win.
He knew it.
The Forestborn was nearly three meters tall, with bark-thick limbs and a body stitched together by centuries of mana. Its steps shattered tree roots. Its breath stank of decay.
Lucius had a dagger.
And a child to protect.
So he planned.
He ran.
He let the beast chase him, keeping just ahead — close enough to tempt, far enough to survive.
His mind worked like a blade.
Trap it. Blind it. Delay it.
He turned sharply between two moss-covered stones, ducked into a narrow ravine he'd scouted earlier. A wolf couldn't have followed.
The Forestborn did.
Its mass forced it to wedge through sideways, snarling, breaking rocks as it pushed.
Exactly as planned.
Lucius darted up the embankment, where he'd already loosened the earth. He reached the top, slammed his heel into the slope, and sent half a cliffside crashing down.
The Forestborn roared, half-buried in stone and mud.
Still alive.
But trapped.
Lucius didn't wait.
He leapt down the other side, found the hollow root where he'd hidden the cat-girl. She was still in her feline form, ears flattened in fear, body trembling.
He scooped her up, holding her to his chest.
"You're alright," he said softly. "I'm alright."
Behind them, the Forestborn shrieked — a sound more fury than pain.
Lucius grimaced.
The trap wouldn't hold for long.
He made his way back to the others with the girl hidden again in his cloak.
Rowan met him at the ridge, scratched and breathing hard. "Still alive, huh?"
"Wasn't trying to be," Lucius muttered. "Where are the knights?"
"Still circling. One's injured. That thing didn't go easy."
"It's pinned," Lucius said. "But not dead."
Rowan frowned. "You fought it?"
Lucius didn't answer.
Rowan followed him back toward the makeshift camp. "…You're bleeding."
Lucius blinked. Looked down. Small gashes on his arm. Bark-shrapnel from the trap.
He hadn't noticed.
"Feels nostalgic," he said dryly.
Rowan gave him a sideways glance. "You're odd."
"I'm tired."
They didn't speak again as they reached the campfire.
Lucius sat down slowly, the cat curling beside him once more. No words. Just a soft purring against his side.
He stared into the fire.
Still weak. Still locked.
But alive.
And for now, that was enough