The fun lingered a little longer, hanging in the air like the smoke from Victor's fire tricks. The last of the bottles clinked empty, crumbs brushed from beards and hands. Slowly, the fun tapered off. Ragnar stacked the crates back onto the truck bed. Wills kicked dirt over the embers of a fire pit.
"Alright, boys. Party's over." Gaur said as he stepped into the centre, his shoulders squared, his expression hard as stone. The man who'd laughed and who'd cheered and handed out beer was gone. In his place stood their boss. "Time to get to work."
The Hunters answered with nods and short grunts. Around him, the Hunters wasted no time. They moved with practised efficiency, hauling equipment from the trucks and setting it in neat, purposeful rows: pickaxes, hoes, heavy drills, the handheld lux measurers, iron casings, and the crates for storing captured Echos.
Once everything was in place, Gaur raised his voice. "Gloves on, everyone!"
A ripple of motion followed as the team pulled on their thick, insulated gloves. Gaur handed a pair to Devvyn. "Yours too, little thief. Can't have you bonding by accident."
Devvyn tugged them on, flexing his fingers against the stiff padding.
"Alright," Gaur said, nodding toward him, "let's see what your little toy can do. Start sweeping."
"It's not a toy," Devvyn said as he slung the Echo Locator's strap over his shoulder, powered it on, and began calibrating it for the terrain. The device gave a low hum, the glass screen flickering as it synced. Then the radar flared to life. Dozens of tiny points pulsed softly across the display.
"Each glowing point is an Echo," he explained, angling the screen toward Gaur.
Gaur bent closer, his eyes narrowing as he counted. "…Fifty." For a heartbeat, neither spoke. Then Gaur's face split into a grin, and a booming laugh escaped him. "Fifty!"
Before Devvyn could react, Gaur swept him up off the ground and spun him around.
"Little thief," he roared, still laughing, "I owe you my damn life! That's more Echos than we've ever been able to pick out here."
The other Hunters looked over at the commotion, grinning faintly at the sight. Devvyn, dizzy and caught between embarrassment and pride, could only hold onto the Echo Locator and hope Gaur didn't drop him.
Gaur's booming voice cut across the Basin. "Boys, gather round!"
The clinking of metal tools ceased as the Hunters dropped their pickaxes and drills, forming a loose circle around Gaur and Devvyn.
Gaur turned to Devvyn. "Show 'em how your magic box works."
Devvyn straightened, holding the Echo Locator like a prized artefact. "Right. So, the Locator is designed to detect Echos using their elemental resonances. Once that resonance is detected, the device triangulates the signal using aetheric inference patterns powered by embedded runes, and then projects a two-dimensional—"
He stopped. The Hunters were staring at him like he'd just started reciting an ancient prophecy in reverse.
Gaur clapped him on the back hard enough to nearly knock the Locator from his hands. "English, little thief. Something the common man can understand."
"Oh. Right." Devvyn cleared his throat. "It finds Echos and shows them on a map." He tapped the projection button, and a faint blue map hovered in the air above the Locator. Dozens of glowing points pulsed across the display.
"See those dots? Each one's an Echo."
One of the Hunters whistled low and turned to Gaur. "Boss… that's more Echos in one area than we've ever seen."
Gaur's grin spread slowly and wide. "With this, we'll put every other hunting group out of business. Let's get to work. Devvyn will call the shots on where to dig."
The circle broke apart into quick, purposeful motion. Devvyn began pointing to spots on the map, directing Hunters to clusters of signals. In minutes, the Basin was alive with the sound of shovels, hoes, axes, and drills biting into the earth.
Victor Marrowind returned to him barely three minutes later, a small iron casing in one hand. "Found one. Listen, if you ever branch out and start your own hunting crew, I'd leave Gaur in a heartbeat."
"I heard that!" Gaur growled from nearby.
Devvyn grinned. "Good to know, sir."
Victor snorted. "Seventeen, remember? Not a sir." He carried the casing to a waiting Hunter who fed it into the lux-measuring device. A faint hum rose as the reading began. Victor returned, brushing dirt from his gloves. "Alright, little boss, give me another spot."
Devvyn pointed to a pulsing dot near the Basin's edge. "Here. And… mind if I tag along this time? Want to see how you work."
Victor's grin was all teeth. "Sure. Just don't get in the way."
The Hunters worked well into midday, digging until every glowing point on Devvyn's map was gone. Fifty Echos in total, dug, sealed in iron casings, and stacked neatly in crates.
"That's all of them," Gaur said with a satisfied nod. "Now we head into the forest and see if we can find more."
They drove the trucks out of the basin, parking them at the forest entrance they came through, and began hauling crates, tools, and the heavy iron casings toward the opposite tree line.
Devvyn slipped the Echo Locator into his satchel, bent down, and lifted two crates.
Victor trudged beside him, grunting under the weight of three. "I hate this part," he muttered. "Trucks can't go in, so it's all carry-and-haul on foot."
Devvyn smirked. "Good thing you've got me here to help."
They followed Gaur into the Shroud, where the trees thickened and the air grew humid. The light dimmed to a greenish haze under the canopy. After some time, Gaur stopped in a patch where the trees thinned and sunlight filtered through in pale, dusty shafts.
"This'll do," he said.
Devvyn set down his crates and pulled out the Locator. He pressed the activation rune and waited but nothing came up on the radar. Frowning, he shook the Locator and tried again.
"What's wrong?" Gaur asked.
"It's not turning on," Devvyn replied, tapping the side of the device.
Gaur's jaw tightened, but he quickly turned to the others. "Alright, work the old-fashioned way. Devvyn, see if you can get that thing running."
The Hunters split into pairs, looking for Echo signs. Devvyn crouched in the sunlight, flipping open the Locator's panel. The runes looked fine, the crystal nodes intact. Then a thought struck him that it might be the canopy of trees, blocking the signal.
"I'm gonna head back out to the Basin," he said. "Test something."
"You know the way?" Gaur asked.
"Yeah," Devvyn answered absently, still fiddling with the controls.
"Alright, go."
As he started walking, Victor called after him with a crooked grin, "Don't let the Shroud creatures get you!"
On his way back to the Basin, Devvyn's pace slowed as the Shroud's strange flora caught his eye. He slipped the Locator into his pocket and knelt to examine a flower shaped like a tiny skull, its petals bone-white and curling inward. He kept going and a few steps later, he saw a massive green trap snapped shut on a darting insect, a Venus flytrap the size of his hand.
Then he spotted a bush heavy with dark red berries that shone even in the dim light. He reached out, curiosity pulling him closer.
"You'll be seeing the Primordials within minutes if you touch or eat those," a voice said beside him.
Devvyn jumped, yanking his hand back. A Hunter carrying an empty crate strode past, nodding once.
"Thanks," Devvyn said with a nervous smile.
The Hunter grunted and left, quickly disappearing into the trees. Devvyn turned his attention back to the Basin, moving at a brisker pace. When he stepped out into the open crater, the sunlight felt hotter and harsher after the cool shade. He powered on the Echo Locator, and its runes flared to life instantly.
"Thought so," he muttered. "The forest's too dense. I'll need to recalibrate the bearings, but…can't do that now."
Pocketing the device, he headed back toward the forest. But after several minutes, the trees looked unfamiliar. He turned left, then right, trying to spot the small clearing where the Hunters had been. The air suddenly felt heavier, and sweat clung to his back and forehead.
"Gaur! Victor!" he called.
He turned around to try retracing his steps but everything looked unfamiliar. He stopped walking to get his bearings first. That was when he heard a slow hiss, followed by a sharp, dry clacking. The whistle hanging from his neck grew icy cold. The chill spread through his skin and deep into his bones, followed by a wave of fear that wasn't his own. It was as if the whistle itself was warning him.
The hissing came again, closer this time.
Heart pounding, Devvyn bolted. Branches tore at his sleeves, his boots pounded the damp earth, and then the ground vanished beneath him. He plunged down into darkness.
The whistle was warming again, the icy dread from before fading into nothing.
Devvyn groaned as he pushed himself up, Echo Locator still clutched in one hand. Dirt clung to his clothes, and when he brushed it away, a sharp sting shot through the inside of his elbow. His thigh throbbed too. He must have landed on a rock. But then he looked up, and the aches vanished from his mind. His jaw slackened.
He was standing in what could only be described as an underground throne room. The ceiling arched high above, carved from dark stone and lit by a faint golden glow that seemed to have no source. Four massive chairs dominated the chamber, each cast from gold so bright it looked molten. On the back of each throne gleamed a unique insignia—one for each of the Four Primordials.
