"The first thing I''m going to do when we get back," Evangeline murmured, her voice raspy with exhaustion and hunger, "is march into a restaurant and order everything I love."


    “I want roast duck, spicy fried chicken, a hearty stew, a rich tomato soup..."


    She was fantasizing, picturing steaming hot dishes appearing before her. They had been traveling day and night for what felt like an eternity. At first, they could catch a fish or two from a nearbyke, but as they ventured deeper into the wilderness, the water sources vanished.


    With nokes, they were reduced to foraging for wild berries. Some days, they found nothing at all, and the gnawing ache of hunger became their constantpanion.


    Lost in her daydream, Evangeline felt as if the food was truly there. She swallowed hard, her mouth watering, and instinctively reached out a hand.


    Her foot caught on something.


    "Oof."


    She lost her bnce and tumbled to the ground.


    After several days, Soren''s fractured leg had healed enough that he could walk without too much trouble. Seeing Evangeline fall, he instinctively moved to help her.


    But Finn was faster. He was already at her side, helping her to her feet.


    "Are you okay?” Finn asked, his brow furrowed with concern.


    Thudding onto the ground had snapped Evangeline out of her daze. A sharp, searing pain shot through her knee. But knowing there was no doctor for miles, she knewining was useless. She shook her head. "I''m fine. Let''s keep going."


    Finn, however, ignored her, crouching down to lift the hem of her long skirt. The sudden movement startled Soren, who was a few feet away. For a second, he thought Finn was about to do something inappropriate and opened his mouth to stop him.


    But Finn stopped at her knee. Her legs, long and pale, were covered in scratches from their journey through the underbrush. But the worst wound was on her knee.


    It was a bloody mess. A sharp branch was embedded deep in the flesh.


    an


    Soren felt a jolt of rm. "Are you idiot, Evangeline?” he snapped, a mixture of anger and worry in his voice How can you say youre fine when you''re hurt this badly?"


    Finn looked up at her, his eyes filled with a pained sympathy. Evangeline felt a flicker of guilt. "It doesn''t really affect my walking, it''s not a big deal," she mumbled.


    Just as she was about to say more, her gaze fell on something in the distance, and her eyes lit up. "Look..."


    Finn and Soren followed her pointed finger. All they saw was the same dense forest stretching out before them.


    "Look at what?" Soren asked, confused.


    Ignoring the pain in her knee, Evangeline limped over to a tree and pointed to a mark on its trunk. “See this gash? Look how clean the cut is."


    "So what?" Soren said.


    But Finn seemed to understand immediately. "It''s a clean cut,” he observed, "made by a sharp de. Someone''s been here."


    Evangeline nodded eagerly. "And the wound on the tree is fresh. They must have been here recently."


    "No more than two days ago,” Finn added. He gave her a small, approving smile. "You''ve learned well these past few days."


    Evangeline smiled back modestly. "You''re a good teacher."


    Soren listened to their exchange. Though he had grown ustomed to being the outsider over the past few the easy Swatchin camaraderie between them, he felt an unexinable sense of loss.


    Just then, an unfamiliar voice cut through the air.


    "Hey! Who are you people? What are you doing here?"