Betrayed By One. Bound To Three-Chapter 69: Run.

As the two brothers walked deeper into the dark forest, the path looked ordinary at first. Tall trees stretched upward, their branches tangled so tightly that little sunlight reached the ground.

The air was cool and damp, carrying the scent of moss and wet bark. The ground was soft beneath their boots and scattered with fallen leaves that had begun to decay.

But the deeper Edris and Kael walked, the stranger the forest began to feel.

The sounds changed first.

The birds disappeared, and the distant rustle of animals slowly faded until the forest felt unnaturally quiet. Their footsteps pressed into the soft soil, and even that sound seemed too loud in the silence.

Kael noticed it before Edris did.

"Do you hear that?" he asked quietly.

Edris slowed his steps and listened carefully.

"Hear what?"

"Exactly."

Edris stood still and listened more closely.

Kael was right.

There was nothing. No insects buzzing, no birds calling, and no movement in the brush.

Only silence.

"The healer warned us," Edris said after a moment. "This forest does not like visitors."

Kael rested his hand lightly on the hilt of the blade at his side.

"Good thing we are not here to make friends."

Edris gave a faint smile but did not reply. His eyes moved slowly across the trees around them.

"I do not like how quiet it is," Kael continued. "Forests should be alive. This one feels like it is holding its breath."

"Then we should not give it a reason to exhale," Edris replied calmly.

They continued deeper into the forest.

The trees grew thicker as they walked. Their trunks twisted at strange angles, and roots pushed through the soil like the backs of buried creatures. The ground became uneven, forcing them to slow their pace and watch where they stepped.

After nearly an hour, Kael stopped suddenly.

"Something is wrong."

Edris followed his gaze.

The path they had been following split into three narrow trails.

That alone was not unusual.

What caught their attention was the way the trees had grown around them. The branches leaned inward over each trail, forming crooked arches as though guiding travelers forward.

Or trapping them.

"Which one?" Kael asked.

Edris studied the trails carefully.

The left path curved sharply into a thick wall of trees where the light barely reached the ground. The right path dipped downward into a hollow where mist clung low across the soil.

The middle path continued straight ahead and disappeared into deep shadow.

"Middle," Edris said.

Kael looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You sound confident."

"I am not," Edris replied. "But the other two feel worse."

Kael studied the paths again before nodding slowly.

"Then we trust your instincts."

"You do not have much choice," Edris teased.

"Well, if we die, at least we will know who to blame," Kael replied.

Edris chuckled softly, a rare smile touching his face.

"Comforting thought."

They stepped onto the middle trail.

The forest seemed to react immediately.

A low wind moved through the branches above them while the air around them remained still.

Kael frowned slightly as he looked up.

"That is unsettling."

They walked several more minutes before the ground beneath them began to change.

The soil grew softer with each step.

Too soft.

Kael’s boot suddenly sank deep into the earth.

He jerked his leg back at once.

"Stop."

Edris froze where he stood.

Kael crouched and picked up a stick from the ground. He pushed it into the soil ahead of them.

The stick sank halfway down.

"Bog," Kael said grimly.

The dark soil looked solid, but it was only a thin crust hiding deep mud beneath it. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"One wrong step and we sink," he added.

Edris scanned the ground carefully and studied the twisted roots spreading across the mud.

"This forest is trying to slow us."

Kael moved carefully toward a cluster of thick roots that stretched across the bog.

"Then we move carefully."

They crossed one step at a time, balancing along the large roots. The mud beneath them shifted and bubbled slowly, releasing a foul smell that made Kael wrinkle his nose.

"This place is worse than a swamp," he muttered.

"Do not look down," Edris advised.

"I already did," Kael replied.

Halfway across, one root cracked beneath Edris’s weight.

The wood split with a sharp sound.

Edris dropped low and grabbed another root before the broken one could give way.

Kael reached out quickly and pulled him up.

For a moment neither of them spoke.

Kael finally let out a slow breath.

"That would have been unpleasant."

Edris exhaled quietly and steadied himself.

"I would prefer not to test how deep that mud is."

Kael gave a faint laugh.

"Agreed."

They finished crossing the bog and stepped onto firmer ground again.

The forest grew darker as they continued forward. The branches above thickened until the sky disappeared completely.

Even the air felt heavier.

Kael wiped sweat from the back of his neck and looked around uneasily.

"Do you feel that?"

Edris nodded.

"Yes."

"Like something watching us."

Kael turned slowly, scanning the trees.

"Or following us."

A twig snapped somewhere behind them.

Both brothers turned at once.

Nothing stood there.

Only trees and shadow.

Edris narrowed his eyes.

"We are not alone."

Kael rested his hand on his blade again.

"Let it come closer if it wants trouble."

Another sound came from deeper among the trees.

A low growl.

The sound was deep and heavy, far too large to belong to anything small.

Kael’s expression hardened.

"That does not sound friendly."

Edris remained calm, though his hand moved to his weapon.

"The forest tests those who enter it."

Another growl echoed through the trees, closer this time.

Branches shifted as something large moved between the trunks.

Kael slowly drew his blade.

"If this forest wants to test us, it chose the wrong men."

Edris reached for his own weapon.

They stood back to back as the shadows around them shifted.

Yellow eyes appeared in the darkness.

Then another pair.

And another.

Kael counted them quickly.

"At least six."

Edris nodded.

"Stay calm."

The creatures stepped forward slowly, their large shapes emerging from the shadows.

They looked like wolves, but far larger than any wolves they had ever seen. Their fur was dark as the forest itself, and their teeth gleamed faintly in the dim light.

Kael let out a slow breath.

"Well," he said quietly, "this should be interesting."

Edris tightened his grip on his blade and kept his eyes on the creatures circling them.

"We cannot waste time fighting them. Selena needs that cure."

Kael glanced briefly at his brother.

"Then we find another way."

One of the wolves stepped closer, its growl rumbling through the ground beneath their feet.

Kael shifted his stance.

"Any ideas?"

Edris quickly studied the trees and the narrow spaces between them.

"Yes."

"What?"

"Run."

The wolves lunged forward.

The brothers turned and sprinted into the trees as snarls and pounding paws erupted behind them.