Page 45 of Thexan

He was attempting to force a response.

I shifted immediately.

“He’s trying to draw us out,” Brynn said.

“Yes.”

“Then we don’t give him both.”

“No.”

I moved first.

Not toward him, but across the ridge, breaking the line he had begun to establish. The motion was deliberate, controlled enough to register without revealing the full position.

He reacted instantly.

His focus snapped toward the movement, his trajectory altering as he committed to pursuit.

“Got him,” Brynn said.

“Yes.”

“Where do you want him?”

“Forward,” I said. “Keep him moving.”

She didn’t hesitate.

Brynn shifted along her side of the ridge, displacing loose stone in controlled bursts, creating a staggered line of movement that suggested retreat without fully committing to it.

The hunter followed.

Not blindly.

But decisively.

He increased speed, closing distance while maintaining enough control to adjust if necessary.

I moved to intercept.

The angle was tighter than before, the margin for error was reduced. There would be no clean descent, no unobserved approach.

He saw me.

The reaction was immediate.

His weapon came up in the same motion his body pivoted, the response precise, practiced.

I did not slow.

The first shot passed within a narrow margin, the energy discharge striking the rock behind me as I closed the distance. The second followed before the first impact had fully dissipated.

He was faster than the first.

More cautious.

More dangerous.