Return of the General's Daughter-Chapter 363: The Survivor

Lara froze.

Her name, spoken not with hostility, but familiarity, hung in the air like the scent of the grass after the rain. She looked up slowly, studying the stranger’s face.

He looked familiar, but she could not remember him. His eyes were gentle but piercing. Something was unsettling in how he looked at her, as if he was seeing someone he thought lost. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

"You... know me?" she asked, voice cautious but calm.

Alaric, who was helping Layka, was displeased. Who was the man? How did he knew Lara?

The man acknowledged with a slight nod. "Two years ago, at Mount Hainai, you treated my broken leg and left me with supplies." He shifted slightly, wincing as the stitches pulled at his skin. "You have given me those crutches, and they saved my life a few times."

For a moment, he seemed lost in thought. Perhaps he remembered something from the past.

Alaric stepped forward and stood beside Lara. He did not like the way the hunter looked at her.

"Logan?" Lara asked uncertainly.

The hunter raised his eyebrows as if he was surprised that Lara remembered.

Lara looked him over again. There was a quiet steadiness in him, the kind born of hardship and long days alone in the wilds. She didn’t trust easily, but something in his demeanor—and more importantly, the way he had shielded Yohana without hesitation—made her pause.

Yohana clutched Lara’s sleeve. "Please, Sister... he helped me. Don’t send him away."

Lara softened. "He won’t be going anywhere. Not yet."

Logan gave a grateful nod. "Thank you." He did not want to leave yet. Now that he had found her again, he wanted to stay by her side and show his gratitude for her saving grace.

Alaric wasn’t satisfied. "What are you doing here?" He narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized the hunter. His clothes were faded and coarse, but he was ruggedly handsome and young, too.

"I am a hunter, Sir. This is the area that I normally hunted." He said in a respectful tone for Alaric’s aura was radiating a show of respect.

Alaric remained thoughtful before shifting his gaze to Agilus."

Lara turned to Agilus, who was still rubbing his back and muttering curses. "You alright?" She asked with a sincere concern.

"Other than a bruised spine and wounded pride? Never better," he said, giving Logan a nod of gratitude. "Thanks for stepping in."

Logan shrugged. "I didn’t do much."

"You protected Yohana, and it was enough!" Lara reminded him.

She moved to Layka next, checking her over with quick hands. "Any cuts? Bruises?"

Layka shook her head, still shaken but unharmed. "They came out of nowhere. Like ghosts."

"Not ghosts," Agilus muttered, "just rats who learned to walk on two legs."

Alaric’s eyes were already scanning the treetops and the forest path beyond. "This place is no longer safe. The fighting has moved too close. We need to move before another group discovers the trail."

"I know a way," Logan offered quietly. "There’s an old poacher’s trail through the Great Ravine of Gaden. The path twists back and forth so sharply that even scent hounds lose the trail. It’ll be slower... but safer."

Lara glanced at Alaric, who was clearly weighing the risk.

He finally nodded. "Show us. But one wrong step, and I’ll kill you myself."

Logan offered no protest. "Understood."

With that, they regrouped. The women and children gathered their scattered belongings. Layka held Yohana close, whispering quiet reassurances. The others formed up—Alaric and Lara up front with Logan, Agilus, and Percival at the center, while Jethru, Orion, and Redon guarded the rear.

They had no choice but to let go of the horses. It was also intended to divert the attention of their pursuers.

As they resumed their journey through the dense, shadowy woods, the sun began to sink behind Mount Hainai’s long silhouette, casting golden light across their path. But that light would not last.

The forest deepened as the sun began its slow descent in the west, casting long, twisted shadows across the trail. Logan led the way now, his steps deliberate and sure, as if every root and stone were etched into his memory. The terrain shifted quickly—trees grew closer together, and the underbrush thickened until even the children fell silent under its looming hush.

"This way," Logan whispered, guiding them toward a nearly invisible opening behind a curtain of vines.

They entered single file, the earth sloping steeply into a narrow ravine choked with moss-covered rocks and the occasional skeleton of a fallen tree. The air was damp, and the gurgling of a hidden stream echoed softly against the stone walls that rose around them like ancient jaws. The deeper they went, the harder the sky was to see.

Percival adjusted the bundle on his back—a three-year-old had fallen asleep clinging to his shoulder. He glanced at Lara. "Why would anyone live near this place?"

"They didn’t," Logan answered without turning around. "Gaden was a cursed poacher. Said to have killed a god’s messenger bird by accident. Every beast he tracked turned on him. He fled into this ravine and never came out."

"Huh? What a myth," Agilus muttered. "You always take your friends through haunted paths?"

Logan cracked the faintest of smiles. "Keeps the unwelcome out."

Lara, meanwhile, moved up beside Logan, her brow furrowed. "This place... it’s not just eerie. The air’s strange and heavy."

"You feel it too," he said quietly. "You’re sensitive. It’s why I knew it was you earlier. Your name... it carries. People whisper it like a prayer."

"I’m no saint," Lara replied. "Just someone who hates watching people die when something can be done."

Logan looked at her sidelong.

"That’s the difference between a healer and a killer. One seeks to stop suffering, the other to spread it." Lara added.

Ahead, the ravine narrowed even further—no more than two shoulder-widths across. Roots tangled over the path, creating a low tunnel they had to crouch to pass through.

Yohana paused in front of it. "Are we going to walk through that? Is that where the ghosts are?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Logan knelt to her level. "If there are ghosts, little one, they’re probably just lonely. We walk with kindness, they’ll let us through."

Yohana nodded solemnly and entered the tunnel first, crawling on her hands and knees with surprising calm.

Lara took the baby from Atalia. Both Atalia and Amnon gave her a grateful nod.

As the others followed, Alaric stayed at the rear for a moment, his ears tuned for any sign of pursuit. All he could hear was the murmur of leaves and the faint breath of the wind.

But then...

There was a shift in the air.

A pause in the rhythm of the forest.

He turned his head sharply.

There was a movement, far above the rim of the ravine.

A figure. No, figures.

He clicked his tongue softly, three times.

Agilus, who had just emerged from the tunnel, went still. His hand rested on the pommel of his blade. Lara looked back. Even Logan stopped mid-step.

"They’ve found us," Alaric said. "But they’re not attacking. Yet."

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