Chapter 711: Heading East
By the time morning fully settled over the forest, the rocky outcrop had already lost most of the stillness it carried through the night.
Not because anything had attacked or because the forest had suddenly become loud either.
But because Liam had started moving.
Inside the hollow chamber hidden within the outcrop, the small fire he had used through the night had already been reduced to a low bed of dying embers. Thin lines of smoke curled upward from the pit before slipping toward the narrow crevice entrance, disappearing into the pale morning light outside.
Liam crouched near the coldest corner of the chamber, silently sorting through the supplies he had managed to gather yesterday. The makeshift water container rested against the stone wall, sealed tightly enough to prevent spills. Beside it were the remaining two out of the three smoked fishes and the deer meat wrapped in broad leaves and tied with vines.
The medicinal pouch remained close by as well, holding the herbs and roots. Even though his punctured wound had been healed, Liam knew the herbs could still serve a purpose in case something happened again.
Liam checked and inspected everything they were going to carry along and began packing them into Charlotte’s dimensional storage.
Charlotte herself sat not too far away from him, leaning against the chamber wall while watching him with quiet amusement.
She had already eaten earlier, and now she looked far too relaxed for someone who had just agreed to follow him toward the same region she had fled from the day before. One knee was raised, one arm rested loosely across it, and her golden eyes followed Liam’s movements with a familiar teasing glint.
"You know," she said eventually, "watching you prepare is starting to feel like watching an old man organize his house before a storm."
Liam didn’t look at her.
"That old man would probably survive the storm."