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I reached for Nykos's mind the way I always did, a familiar shape sitting at the edge of mine even when neither of us was trying. Reaching further took more effort. I nudged once, testing whether he'd notice.

Nothing happened for a moment.

Then the resistance eased, like a door someone opened and his presence sharpened.

"What."

"Get Corian on this."

A pause, longer than the first one.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

I felt him reach outward, the same faint pressure stretching until it touched a third point I recognized as easily as my own name. Corian.

"What is it?"

"Jade and I are taking the morning off. Both of us."

"Why?"

I could have made something up. Neither of them would have believed it.

"I'm showing her how to be more than just a soldier."

Nykos didn't answer, but something in him settled, the same quiet way it always did when one of us did something he approved of without wanting to say so out loud.

Corian's reply came a beat later. Amusement came with it, plain enough that I didn't need to hear him laugh.

"Alright. We've got the camp covered. Reach out if you need anything."

The link thinned, then let go, and my own thoughts sat alone in my skull again.

I glanced back and found her following.

"This still counts as the route," she said.

It did for another hundred paces.

The jungle closed around the channel as we traveled. Broad leaves overlapped above us, turning sunlight green before it reached the ground, while vines hung low enough to brush my back. Water moved over polished stones beside the bank with a constant muted rush. The sound changed as we approached the bend, deepening until it no longer belonged to one shallow channel.

Jade noticed at the same time I did.

"There's a larger water source ahead."

The Kelvarin tracks disappeared into a curtain of hanging vines.

Jade stopped.

I moved past the plants first, pushing my head through the damp leaves before easing my shoulders between them. Cool air met my face. The rock beyond the vines opened into shadow, and the channel slipped beneath an arch only a little higher than my back.

The Veylith could fit.

Jade might have to duck.

I backed out and waited for her to understand.