Chapter 363: Within Whistle Distance

Miles tapped Holly. "Are we going to practice, or are you going to remain lost in thought, growling at Sophia?" he asked her.

Holly snapped out of her thoughts. "What?"

"You were staring at Sophia. The menacing energy coming off you was even giving me the creeps," he told her.

She waved him off, pretending. "I was thinking about something else."

Joren gave her a look. He didn’t believe that. He turned to Sophia, who shook her head. She wasn’t going to affect the others because Holly had an issue with her. The issue between her and Holly would be resolved between the both of them.

Although, honestly, to Sophia, the only issue was that she was with Orion and Holly was bitter about it, even though she should be moving on.

"Let’s continue," Holly said with a fake smile.

The others gave her a look, and she gestured at them to continue. The atmosphere was tense and uncomfortable, but they obeyed, choosing to continue what they were doing rather than address the obvious menace Holly was radiating when it came to Sophia.

They practiced the signals quietly, each of them taking turns until the rhythms were locked into muscle memory.

The forest swallowed the sounds, but they still echoed just enough to be heard within a reasonable distance.

"Good," Sophia said. "Now that we have that..."

She took a breath.

"We separate."

Joren frowned instantly. "You want us to scatter?"

"I want us to scout," Sophia replied calmly. "We can’t cover enough ground if we stay together. And we are already wasting time as it is."

Holly rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath. "I wonder why that is."

Everyone heard it, but they ignored her.

Uther hesitated before speaking. "Separating increases the risk, don’t you think?"

"It does," Sophia agreed. "But staying together means we might never find anything at all. And if Ethan told us to bring back a Tidebreaker, then he expects us to be able to locate one first."

Bianca nodded slowly. "So we spread out, but stay within whistle distance."

"Exactly," Sophia said. "We need to locate where the beast could be, and we need to move fast."

She glanced at Joren just as his ears twitched again, more sharply this time.

"There’s water," he said.

"Water?" the others asked.

Uther tried to hear the sound of flowing water, but he didn’t hear anything.

"It’s not close, and my ears are sensitive. They can pick up things far away. It’s a flowing body, but I don’t know how large it is," Joren informed them.

Sophia’s eyes sharpened. "That’s important."

Miles nodded. "Tidebreakers move both on land and in water, and if there’s water here, they could be around that side."

Sophia looked back at the group. "Joren, you head in that direction."

He nodded without hesitation.

"The rest of us go in different directions," Sophia continued. "Note that we’re not just looking for water. We’re looking for signs of the beast itself."

Holly crossed her arms. "And what if there’s another water source somewhere else?"

Sophia turned to her. "Then we still focus on the beast, not the water."

Holly scowled. "You just said—"

"We’re using water as a reference point," Sophia interrupted calmly. "Because Tidebreakers move on both land and water. But that doesn’t mean they only stay in rivers or lakes. I’m sure you know that, so just stop with the fucking interruptions, please."

She paused, then added, "And also, I need you guys to be careful, because sometimes this beast may not look like what we expect."

That caught everyone’s attention, even Holly, who was glaring at her.

"What do you mean?" Bianca asked.

Sophia’s expression tightened slightly. "They’re good at disguising themselves."

Everyone stared at her.

"Disguising?" Miles repeated.

"That’s not in any of the training manuals," Uther said slowly.

"It’s not in the books," Sophia admitted.

Holly narrowed her eyes. "Then how do you know? You just came up with it like—"

Sophia didn’t hesitate to interrupt her. "Orion told me."

Holly’s jaw clenched, but she didn’t speak.

"According to him, they can remain completely still for hours," Sophia continued. "Their skin blends with rocks and snow. Especially in places like this."

She gestured to the forest floor. "Black stone. White frost. Dark shadows. Their bodies already have black and white streaks across them, so the snow actually helps them more than it exposes them."

Bianca muttered under her breath, "That’s... unsettling."

"It gets worse," Sophia said quietly. "If Ethan is confident enough to tell us to bring back a body, then I doubt this is just a passing hunting ground."

Uther’s eyes darkened. "You think they live around here."

"I think they’ve made this place part of their habitat," Sophia said. "Which means there will be signs. Broken rocks. Disturbed snow. Unnatural patterns."

"And more than one pack," Miles added grimly.

Sophia nodded. "Possibly. And the fact that there’s a body of water nearby just confirms that this may actually be their best bet. But I don’t want to jump to conclusions. It’s just a feeling, after all, and until we finish scouting, we won’t know."

Miles let out a slow breath. "This test just keeps getting more and more difficult. Now I’m doubting I can even pass it."

Sophia turned to him immediately.

"Don’t say that like you’re already preparing to fail."

Miles stiffened. "I didn’t mean—"

"One thing I won’t accept," Sophia said firmly, "is anyone giving up before we even start."

Her gaze swept across all of them.

"No one on this team is giving up," she continued. "We already know that the test is going to be hard, but just because it is doesn’t mean that we will give up, even if there’s one person on the team who would rather see us all rot."

Joren coughed to hide his laugh.

Bianca’s lips twitched. The rumours were true after all—Sophia wasn’t one to back down from things. "Agreed."

Uther nodded. "We finish this together."

Joren smiled faintly. "Wouldn’t have it any other way."

Holly said nothing.

Sophia turned to her slowly.

"Holly."

Holly lifted her chin, meeting Sophia’s eyes with defiance and something sharper beneath it.

"Will you be able to put aside your dislike for me and finish the test?"

Holly gave her a look, her eyes twitching a bit.

"Yes," she croaked out.