Serenei didn’t move at first. She was crouched near a body—a tenday old, already bloated and still in that particular way death clung to things. Not fresh enough for the spell to work. At least not without risk. Her fingers hovered briefly over the jaw, as if listening with more than ears.
Now, come on, we got places to be.
There was a time she might’ve flinched at that kind of urgency. Orders. Movement. Forward, forward, always forward, like momentum could drown the blood on your hands. But Serenei didn’t flinch anymore. Not much. She stood, bones stiff, voice even softer than usual, one brow lifting in that particular Serenei way—half disapproval, half dark amusement.
“Do we?” she asked. “Because this one isn’t talking, and I was hoping for something useful before we rush off to get impaled by whatever's waiting over the next hill.” Her boots crunched softly over the grass as she crossed toward Ryn.
Still, she didn’t argue. She just brushed a lock of silver-streaked hair from her face, her tone shifting to something drier, laced with an edge that never quite dulled—not anger, exactly. Just exhaustion that had learned to wear armor.
She looked at the wonan a moment longer. Took her in. Golden hair, proud jaw, that eye—draconic and burning with something Serenei recognized too well: the fury of someone who had been shaped, tested, and still wasn’t done fighting.
“Remind me again—are we chasing something, or are we just really bad at staying still?”