It takes a few hours of movement before we're well outside the city and into the sporadic development of the surrounding suburbs. I keep my thoughts to myself as the three of us meander along side streets and past houses that only differ from each other by color. Dogs occasionally bark as we pass, and we speed up our pace at those particular houses. It's later in the evening and the vast majority of the homes we see either have all of the lights off or only the faintest flickering glow of a television playing somewhere deeper in the homes.

We jump across a small drainage ditch at the very end of a road that says "No Outlet" and find ourselves crossing squat fencing that is mostly taken down by the harmless-to-us but incredibly destructive kudzu plant, which coats several of the trees and forest entrances around here. Once we're sure that we're pretty much away from the spotty residence coverages and are heading further and deeper into the hills leading to the Appalachian mountains, Aria pulls out a blade from her pack and hacks vines and branches out of our way.

"I'm going to take a suggestion I was given and try to focus the most on scent, guys. I know it sounds weird, but if there's a huge host of fey out just at the base of the mountains or something, they'll have a lot of mouths to feed. Might get some whiffs of cooking food on the wind or blood from animals trapped or hunted."

"I'll make sure not to fa–"

"–Khalil, man. Anyway, I'll still use my other senses, of course; I just wanted to let you guys know I'm focusing on something a little different this time."

Khalil laughs and then lapses into silence again, not adding anything. Aria looks back at me for a moment in silence, the darkness doing nothing to hide the moon-aligned changes that cause the reflective black of her now shark-like eyes. We continue, picking up the pace when we can and letting Aria clear underbrush when we can't.

A few hours into our trek, I pick up the scent–no, scents–of a large host of animals. I make a short little noise with my lips, and both Aria and Khalil stop, letting me carefully crouch down and take the lead. Our pace slows glacially, but each step I take is measured, and Aria and Khalil fall into stepping exactly where I do without needing me to suggest it to them. All three of us are serious now, jokes left behind.

I carefully pull myself onto a low-hanging branch thick enough to support my weight. Quietly, I move a little higher into the tree until I can see what is offending my heightened sense of smell. It doesn't take long at all. I see the scurrying of the tiny and the stomping of the large as they root around on the ground. I shake my head and slowly lower down to the ground.

"It's a big group of wild hogs. Large enough that we couldn't likely scare off the old boars and get the pack running without wasting a lot of time. We should just go around them. I'd get us one for a meal, but we still have food in our packs and probably want to keep going."

"Normally I would disagree, Orion, but in this case I agree. Keep moving."

Khalil doesn't add anything to the conversation, and the three of us return to moving through the forest, this time moving to give the wild animals a very wide berth. We get back to our careful trekking, which is slow going, but with everything we've done for what feels like weeks to get us to this point, there isn't a reason to speed along. We stop to rest briefly at a stream when I hear it gurgling along our way. Aria gives us two weird-looking, fat, straw-like things from her pack that she must have gotten at the market, and Khalil and I peer at them like we're unsure what to do.

"This is not the Wilds; if you scoop water here, drink it through this, not out of your hands. We'll boil water when we stop for a longer rest."

That saddens me, but she's right. Even if there weren't any pollutants in the water sources, we're just not used to whatever might be in the water biologically. All three of us use the water-cleansing straws to get rehydrated, and then once we're good to go, we set out again.

A mechanical noise starts in the distance and rapidly draws near, so I crouch down, wondering what on earth could be coming so quickly through these relatively densely packed trees. There isn't the sound of cracking twigs or shrubbery being displaced, which confuses me until I realize the sound is coming from above and not at the ground level where we are. I place my hands over my ears to protect my hearing, as I don't want to waste the energy of releasing my powers only to restart them. I cringe and curl down to the ground as the small plane flies overhead in the darkness, lower to the trees than I'm used to seeing. Thankfully, it passes by quickly, and the roaring noise of its engines fades away just as quickly as it arrives.

"Dude, you alright?"

The ringing sensation is still trumpeting in my ears, so I hold up a hand while I try to clear my head. After a few minutes, I finally muttered that I was good, and we set off once again through the trees and shrubbery. We were well out into the wilderness of the Appalachians now, and any traces of humanity we came across were old and dilapidated or rusted out and collapsed. I check the sky every so often, orientating us and making sure we're more or less continuing east. As we continue to move, the inclines of the ground we pass over seem more regularly upwards, so I can tell we're getting to the edges of what most would consider "the valley." The next rise in elevation requires that we climb up a relatively short cliffside, so I gesture for them to wait behind me. I move forward, my hands digging into holes and breaks in the small cliffside. It's an arduous climb, but I pull myself up carefully and quietly and then roll over the cliff's top a few minutes later. Shrugging off my pack, I pull out the rope I picked up at the market and tie one end to a tree before tossing the rest over the side and down to Aria and Khalil below.

Once the pair join me, I retrieve the rope, mentally amused at the old movie line that comes up in the back of my mind, which Terri with an 'i' would have definitely said right then. Once we're up on the cliffside, I give the area around a good look. It looks almost like there's a clearing about a half-mile to a mile or so further out from where we are, so I gesture in the direction for Aria and inquire if she thinks we should head that way. She agrees, so the three of us set out on foot again.

About halfway to the clearing–and I can absolutely see that it is, in fact, a clearing–we have to cross some rusted barbed wire fencing set along old wooden posts, likely marking some old land claim. It's a bit of an annoyance since it's done in a few passes, so we have to weave our way through the rusted lines and try not to get caught too often. Only Khalil's pack gets caught, and we're able to untangle it and pull it free without too much trouble and keep it from getting torn up.

A few minutes later, once we're past that obstacle, I come to a dead stop and crouch down. Aria and Khalil immediately follow my change in demeanor and action.

"I smell… something. Hold on, I'm trying to place it." I scent the air again, breathing deeply through my nose and closing my eyes to help me process what I'm smelling.

"It's rotten, like old meat. Maybe an animal kill or something, but I don't know. It's strange and kind of coming from everywhere ahead of us."

"The clearing?" Aria inquires.

"No, much closer than that. We should check it out. Ugh, it's foul."

And with that last little complaint, I start leading our trio again, but delicately now. My footfalls are carefully placed, and we move at about half-speed because of it. Still, there are no complaints, and I know that Khalil and Aria trust me not to lead them directly into danger without a warning. The scent grows more potent, and I have to stop and breathe through my mouth twice–the second time even requires me to try not to retch as the rotten, molding, meaty scent permeates everything in my sinuses.

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Aria carefully moves in front of me, using the blade she's holding to move a few bushes out of the way. Then, she carefully flattens it to the ground and scoops up a fish's rotting, skeletal remains. She turns to show it to me and Khalil.

"The fuck?" Khalil exclaims quietly.

"There's no water sources around that I've seen or heard…" I murmur to Aria.

She nods her head and then gestures for us to follow after her. Not a minute later, she scoops up another small fish that looks to be in the same old, dead, and rotting shape. I slowly cover my mouth with a hand and wipe it down in thought. These aren't fish that have been eaten–well, eaten by insects and the like, yes–nor hunted for food by people. I carefully focus my eyes in the same direction as my nose tells me the strongest scents are coming from, and that's where I see the littering of tiny fish scattered throughout the forest floor.

"I think I know where these came from, guys."

Aria nods, flinging the skeletal, rotting remains of the second fish off her blade before cleaning it off on some leaves. Khalil gave me a little look, expecting me to explain.

"Remember our trading run at the river?"

"Oooh, yeah, where there wasn't any fish or anything, and the mules wigged out."

"I think we just found the fish. I suspect the birds flew off when reoriented, but the fish were stuck here."

"Damn, dude. Poor fish."

"We must be getting close now. How far from the village was the river?"

"Uhhh, maybe an hour or so with the trade wagon?"

"That's a huge fucking seam, you guys. What the everliving hell?"

Aria leans forward to join the whispered conversation. I pause, fighting off another wave of nausea from the smell while also trying to listen to her speak.

"Perhaps it was not a seam, but something different and yet like a seam. We have assumed it was a seam this entire time, but those have boundaries, and the size of what you suggest is unfathomable. Nothing that large has happened in an age."

"But it has happened before?"

"During the fighting of the bad times. A rare few could make large armies of fey, creatures, and others move rapidly if given enough time and materials to prepare. However, all of the faeries that knew this information were slain to the knowledge of the Aurora and Strond. They were hunted down."

"How do you know they were all caught, Aria?"

"I did not say they were caught; I said they were slain. I know because I was young and part of the hunting parties. It was a requirement of the peace treaties between the Aurora and Strond for both sides to participate."

"Oh. Peace through more killing, classic." I quietly mumble.

"Dude, this sounds bad. This is bad, right?"

"Yes, Khalil."

"But why move them here into the human divide?" I quietly ask, my mind racing with too many thoughts to sort through all at once.

"I do not know, Orion. It does not make sense to me."

"Dunno, dude, maybe it was an accident? Maybe that guy on that wiretail expected something else to happen." Khalil shrugs his shoulders as if that were his only input.

"Suppose it doesn't matter, right?" I murmur.

"No. Not at the moment." Aria quietly answers.

I exhale deeply and then inhale just as deeply. I immediately regret it. The scent of rotting and old dead fish overwhelms my senses. My concentration on my senses immediately breaks, and I turn away from Khalil and Aria to retch, puking up the water and little food items in my stomach. After about half a minute, I get control over myself, and Khalil quietly whispers.

"You okay, brother?"

"Ugh. Yeah. That was my bad. Stupid. Give me a few seconds to recover, and then we move on again." I put my hand up to my face and brushed off the beads of sweat that my coughing up made appear.

This time, carefully slowing my pulse and trying to will myself back to calm, I reach out again with my senses. A part of me wants to deaden my sense of smell, but I fight off the urge, instead using sheer willpower to overpower my urge to get sick again. Once everything in the forest appears, sounds, and smells vividly to me again, I carefully make my way to lead us away from the spot.

We bypass plenty of dead fish that have long since been scavenged down to scales and bones by creatures and insects of the forest. It's something that looks just a little "off" that draws my attention as we creep ever closer to the large clearing in the forest that Aria and I both saw. I hold up a hand and gesture both to quietly follow me. I lead them until we reach a tree stump with axe marks. I raise my eyebrows at them but say nothing. Trailing my fingers along the tree stump, I carefully look where the impact of the tree landed and then find where the heavy log would have been drug or cut up into smaller portions for firewood or seating.

Sure enough, there's a heavy depression in the dirt and clay where the fallen tree was moved. It's directly in the direction of where the clearing should be. With a little rising hope in my chest, I follow the trail until we lose it over rocky terrain. As we draw closer and closer to the clearing, more and more signs of people's activities are clear. Many trees have been stripped of lower limbs, likely for shelter building. Other stumps occasionally exist, suggesting the trees were carefully felled, not just clear-cut. Finally, I stop just about twenty yards from what I can tell is a large glade.

"I can smell old remnants of habitation here. It's gross, but some latrines were done on the other side. And some old smell of blood, maybe from cleaning and dressing animals."

Aria nods her head and gestures for me to focus on a spot.

"Yeah, it looks like a large fire pit, but, strangely, they didn't take care to break it down when they moved–"

I suddenly cut myself from speaking, and Khalil takes the chance to inquire.

"Ori?"

I close my eyes, focusing on what I hear distantly but coming closer.

"A motor. Distant, coming this way. Definitely on the ground, I can hear branches breaking. Coming from the direction of the mountains."

Aria and Khalil turn but stay crouched, trying to see in the direction I mentioned.

"They stopped," I murmur after a few minutes. "I don't hear anything now."

"Aria, dude. What's the call?"

"Prepare. But we wait and see what comes from that direction. Speak no more words after this and watch. I will signal."

Khalil and I nod in response to Aria's words and slowly and carefully spread apart from one another. I haven't lowered my senses yet, wanting to get a good look at who was heading this way. I carefully remove the compound bow from the pack on my back, remove the excess arrows from the side pocket, and carry them in my free hand. I carefully set down my backpack next to where Khalil deposited his and then creep away towards a thicker and obscuring copse of trees where we are. I carefully set down the arrows in front of me, just behind the tree and shrubbery I'm using to block sight lines from where I heard the motor rumbling.

Slowing my breathing, I calm myself, knowing that being too overcome with adrenaline will affect my accuracy something awful. My eagle-like eyes carefully sweep the trees on the other side of the glade, and I loosely use one of the arrows on the ground to take a ready stance with the compound bow. I know Aria and Khalil are nearby and likely doing the same thing. Internally, I curse at myself for not testing the range accuracy of the weapon before now–a rookie mistake for sure–but I can do nothing else but wait and hope it's been tweaked and aligned before it was put up for sale at the market.

Minutes pass, and no noise comes from the forest save for the usual sounds of insects and night critters. I started to think it may be just a fluke or that there was some cabin ahead that the owners were returning to, but then the silvery ring on my finger started to pulse slowly. It initially confused me as I hadn't seen anyone, and it was the first time I'd felt anything from my new ring, so I maintained absolute stillness and only shifted my eyes from left to right.

That's when I see it with my hawkish, preternatural vision: a faint outline of a man moving along the trees on the other side of the glade, hunched and taking short spurts of movements to take in his surroundings carefully. But he doesn't look even close to right. His skin and clothing mottles, almost like an octopus, taking on camouflage from the surrounding trees and shrubberies to himself. This unknown man is supernatural, and he is clearly hunting for us. Knowing that Khalil and Aria likely have not seen the creature, I carefully draw back my bow and nock the arrow I'd been holding loosely at the ready.