They walked for hours.
The forest didn't change. No monsters. No sounds beyond the rustle of leaves and the occasional birdcall, which somehow made everything worse.
It was too quiet. Too… prepared. Like they were being watched. Like the Queen already knew they were coming and wanted them to arrive.
Fin noticed it first—the tension shifting. It wasn't about the monsters anymore.
It was him.
Arachne walked beside him in silence, her posture hunched and unsteady. But her silence was not submission. She wasn't afraid of the woods.
Just the people behind them.
"They're going to kill you," she said suddenly.
Fin didn't look at her. "Shut up."
"I mean it." Her voice stayed low, steady. "They're planning it. I've seen it before. Dozens of times. Humans turning on the strong one when they're no longer in control."
"You don't know anything about them."
