Jack followed the trail without breaking stride, his pace steady as the marks in the ground grew more defined rather than fading. The further he moved from the farm, the clearer it became that this had not been a single group passing through in panic, but something more deliberate. Additional tracks merged into the path at irregular intervals, reinforcing the same direction, the same spacing, the same controlled movement. Whoever had taken them had not been rushed, and they had not been concerned about being followed.
That detail settled quietly in the back of his mind as he continued forward.
The terrain shifted gradually, the broken stretch of road narrowing before giving way to a more enclosed section where trees pressed closer together on either side. The trail cut through it cleanly, leaving no room for doubt about where it led. Jack did not need to slow to keep it. He let his awareness extend instead, Blood Sense spreading ahead in a measured, controlled layer that filtered the world into patterns rather than noise.
At first, the signals remained faint and scattered, no different from what he had been sensing since leaving the valley. Low-level creatures moved at the edges of his perception, their patterns simple enough to ignore. They did not intersect with the trail, and they did not matter.
That changed.
It came gradually, not as a sudden spike, but as a shift in texture. Something entered his awareness that did not match the hollow aggression of the creatures he had been ignoring. The signal was uneven, layered in a way that resisted simple categorization, and it carried a density that suggested more than one source overlapping in the same space.
Jack slowed without stopping.
His attention narrowed, the outward spread of Blood Sense tightening into something more precise. He let the signal resolve instead of pushing toward it too quickly, separating the layers until the distinction became clearer.
Human.
Not one.
Several.
Close enough that distance was no longer the issue.
The pattern still didn’t settle into anything clean. It wasn’t structured like the clustered signals he had begun to associate with organized groups, but it also wasn’t scattered. It shifted too quickly, overlapping and breaking apart in ways that suggested movement without coordination.
Then the sound reached him.
At first it was nothing more than a distortion in the quiet, something that didn’t belong in the steady absence that had defined everything since he left the Citadel. Then it clarified, carrying through the trees in uneven bursts.
Voices.
Raised.
Not in conversation.
Not in coordination.
Rough, unfiltered, driven by something that didn’t need to be interpreted to be understood.
Jack adjusted his path, stepping off the trail and into the tree line without hesitation. The cover broke his outline as he moved, his pace slowing just enough to ensure that each step placed him exactly where he intended. He did not rush blindly toward the sound. He let it guide him, angling his approach so that he would see before he was seen.
The voices grew clearer as he moved, resolving into individual tones that overlapped without order. There was laughter in it, sharp and uneven, cutting across something else that strained against it.
Resistance.
Jack’s grip on the scythe settled naturally, not tightening, not loosening, but aligning with the shift in his focus. His breathing remained steady, his awareness expanding just enough to confirm what he already knew.
Multiple human signals.
Close together.
No creatures nearby.
No external pressure.
Which meant the situation existed on its own.
He stepped through the last line of trees and into a position where the view opened just enough to see movement between the trunks ahead. Shapes resolved, partial at first, then clearer as he adjusted his angle.
Three.
Positioned around one.
The pattern snapped into place without needing further thought.
Jack did not pause.
He moved.
Not with hesitation, not with the measured pace he had used to approach, but with direct intent, the distance closing in a straight line as everything unnecessary fell away.
The situation ahead no longer required observation.
Only action.