“Not called,” he says quietly. “Asked.”
“Askedwhat?” Rhett’s voice is tight with restrained fire.
“For reinforcements.” Stellan’s eyes meet mine, steady now. “The Void isn’t empty.” He exhales. “It never has been. And some of the things that live here…” He pauses. “Some of them remember me.”
The silence that follows is heavier than before.
Thane’s the first to break it. “You’ve been here before.”
It’s not a question.
Stellan nods once. “A long time ago. Before any of you knew what the Void was. Before Bree.” His voice drops. “I barely made it out. But I didn’t make it out alone.”
“What does that mean?” Wes asks.
“It means,” Stellan says, turning to face us fully, “that I know someone who knows how to navigate this place. I know what hunts here. I know what can be bargained with, and what should be avoided at all costs.”
He looks at each of us in turn.
“And I know who owes me a debt.”
Gray growls again, deeper this time. Insistent.
The horseshoe flashes in my mind, but fainter now—like it’s retreating, waiting. Not a warning. Not luck.
A marker. A path they’ll recognize when the time comes.
“What did you ask for?” I press.
Stellan’s quiet for a long moment. Then: “Protection. Passage. A way to find what we’re looking for without being hunted by everything else in here.”
“And they agreed?” Thane’s voice is skeptical.
“They owe me,” Stellan repeats. “But it’ll come with a price.”
“What kind of price?” Jace asks.
“The kind I’ll pay when the time comes.” Stellan’s expression closes off again. “Not before.”
The weight of that sits on all of us.
Rhett’s fire flickers brighter. Wes straightens slightly, hunger momentarily forgotten. Gray’s massive form shifts, and he lets out a short, sharp bark—the first sound he’s made in weeks that isn’t a growl.
But it’s Thane who speaks, voice cold and measured.
“Then you better hope they remember you fondly.”
Stellan’s mouth curves into something that’s almost a smile. “They will. I made sure of it.”
The silver veins pulse brighter, and I feel the Void shift around us—not threatening, butaware. Like it knows something’s coming.
Like it’s been waiting for this.
“We keep moving,” Thane says, voice cutting through the moment. “Toward Bree. If your reinforcements show up, they can catch us on the way.”
No one argues.
We start walking again, but the silence is different now. Not empty. Not exhausted.
