"Definitely dangerous."
They had been moving back toward the outer trails for less than twenty minutes when the forest began making noise again.
Not one sound. Many.
Branches snapping. Leaves tearing. Heavy feet. Light feet. Something screeching. Something else answering.
Etzel stopped. DK stopped at the exact same instant.
The sound grew louder. Coming from their left. Fast.
Etzel looked at the slope beside them. A low ridge rose through the trees. "Up."
DK nodded. They climbed. Etzel's ribs complained, but less than before. The Recovery Potion had done real work. Not miraculous work.
They reached the top just as the first creature burst onto the trail below.
Etzel crouched. DK remained standing behind a tree.
One creature became three. Then five. Then more.
Etzel stared. "That is not normal."
Below them, a loose stream of monsters rushed through the forest. An Ashhorn Runner. Two smaller quadrupeds Etzel didn't recognize. A broad-backed scavenger with pale quills. Something birdlike moving in violent hops. A Hooktail Grazer. Another creature with scaled forelegs and too many teeth.
Eight. No. Nine. Different species.
Some of them should have been attacking each other. Instead, they ran.
Not together. That distinction became obvious now. There was no formation. No cooperation. No shared instinct. They simply happened to be moving in the same direction at the same time.
Driven by the same fear.
Etzel watched the Hooktail nearly collide with the quilled scavenger. Neither attacked.
"They shouldn't tolerate each other like that," Etzel said.
"They don't," DK said.
Etzel glanced at him. DK watched the movement below.
"They are not moving together." A pause. "They are being moved together."
Etzel's stomach tightened. There it was. Proof. Not theory anymore.
He followed their direction. The trail curved south. Toward the maintained paths. Toward—
A shout cut through the forest.
Human.
Etzel froze. Another shout. "Move!"
Then the crash of something heavy striking wood.
Etzel was already running downhill. DK was beside him.
"You are injured."
"I know."
"Etzel."
"People."
That ended the argument. They broke through the trees.
Three figures stood in the middle of the wider forestry path ahead. Two men and a younger woman. Not Hunters. Etzel knew that immediately. No combat gear. No manifested equipment. No stance.
One man held a woodcutting axe. The other had what looked like a long pruning blade. The young woman clutched a gathering basket in one hand and a short emergency spear in the other.
All three were backing away. They had seen the stampede.
The monsters had seen them too.
Panic changed direction. Not all of them. Three creatures veered away. Two crashed through brush. But several remained on the trail. Heading directly toward the civilians.
Etzel did the math. Too many. Too fast.
"DK."
"I know."
The answer came before Etzel gave the order. DK moved.
That was the first moment Etzel realized how different their bond already felt. No command. No explanation. No "protect them." DK had seen what Etzel saw. And had made the same decision.
Silver armor flashed down the path. The civilians noticed him. For half a second, relief appeared. Then confusion. Understandable. A fully armored stranger materializing out of nowhere tended to complicate emotional responses.
The first creature reached DK. A low, six-legged thing with a plated skull.
DK did not kill it. He slammed his shield into the ground directly in front of it.
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Metal struck dirt. The impact cracked through the forest. The creature jerked sideways. Changed direction.
Etzel saw what DK was doing.
"Don't kill them!" Etzel shouted.
One of the civilians looked at Etzel as if he'd lost his mind. DK didn't. He shifted again. Another monster approached. DK moved into its path. Sword still sheathed. Shield high. The creature saw the silver wall and turned.
Etzel ran toward the civilians. "Off the trail!"
The older woodcutter stared. "What?"
"Get behind the trees! Not straight back—right side!"
"Who are—"
"Later!"
The young woman reacted first. She grabbed the older man's sleeve. "Move!"
They ran. Etzel looked toward the stampede. This wasn't a fight. That became clear instantly.
If they tried to kill everything, they'd create bodies in the path. Bodies became obstacles. Obstacles made panicked creatures scatter. Scattering sent them toward the civilians.
Wrong solution.
He looked at the terrain. Trail. Slope on the left. Dense thorn growth on the right. Fallen trees farther ahead.
A narrow gap between two large trunks.
Etzel's mind started arranging pieces. Not enemies. Pieces.
"DK!" The knight redirected another animal with a shield strike. "Yes?"
"The gap ahead!"
DK looked. Saw it.
"Funnel them!" Etzel yelled.
DK understood instantly. He brought his sword down—not into a creature, but into a fallen log. The blade split it completely. Wood exploded across the trail. Every nearby monster recoiled.
Etzel stared. "That was unnecessarily dramatic."
"They changed direction."
"They did."
Three creatures veered toward the narrow opening. A fourth followed. Then the Hooktail.
Yes. It was working.
Etzel moved along the flank. He shouted when one drifted too far right. DK blocked the left. Together, they created pressure without touching most of them. A moving corridor.
The creatures followed the path of least terror. Away from the civilians.
Through the gap.
And out the other side.
Etzel tightened his grip on the hatchet, watching the last of the scaled creature disappear into the deeper woods.
Silence returned to the immediate area.
The civilians were pressed against the thorn growth, breathing hard. The young woman lowered her spear. The older woodcutter stared at DK's shining armor.
Etzel walked over. "You okay?"
The man nodded slowly. "We... yes. Who are you?"
"Hunters," Etzel said. It wasn't a lie, technically. "You need to get back to the outer perimeter. Now. Don't take the main trail. Stick to the ridge."
The man looked at the forest. "What was that?"
Etzel looked at DK. The knight's hand was resting on his sword hilt. His eyes were fixed on the deep woods.
"I don't know," Etzel said. "But whatever it is, it's pushing them toward you."
The civilians didn't need to be told twice. They gathered their tools and hurried toward the ridge.
Etzel stood beside DK. The forest was quiet again. But it wasn't the peaceful silence of the morning. It was the silence of a held breath.
"They're fleeing," Etzel said.
DK's eyes remained fixed on the trees. "Yes."
Etzel's grip tightened around his hatchet. "From what?"
For several seconds, DK said nothing.
Then—
"I don't know."
The forest beyond them was silent. Too silent.
Etzel stared into it. Yesterday, he would have wondered what was in there. Today, he knew enough to ask a better question.
What could make the monsters run?