The horse vanished into the valley.
Its terrified whinnies echoed through the forest before fading into silence.
No one moved.
Every pair of eyes remained fixed on the tree line.
The wind died.
Leaves stopped rustling.
Even the insects disappeared.
Captain Darius slowly unsheathed his sword.
"Shields forward."
Ellis and Garron obeyed immediately, stepping to the front while Lyra and the wardens nocked arrows.
Rowan narrowed her eyes.
"Whatever scared that horse..."
"...is still here."
Uriel's hand rested lightly on the hilt of his sword.
His pulse remained steady.
The mask was quiet.
Too quiet.
Nox.
I know.
Can you sense it?
A little.
It's hiding.
A branch snapped.
Everyone turned.
Nothing.
Then another.
Behind them.
Captain Darius spun.
"Show yourself!"
Only silence answered.
Another crack echoed from the left.
Then the right.
It circled them.
Fast.
Too fast.
Ellis swallowed.
"I don't like this."
"You don't like anything," Garron muttered.
"I like breathing."
"So do I."
Without warning—
A shadow exploded from the trees.
Lyra loosed an arrow instantly.
The shaft flew true.
It struck—
A deer.
The animal collapsed before sliding across the dirt.
Everyone froze.
Ellis exhaled.
"It was just—"
The deer's body suddenly jerked.
Once.
Twice.
Then it rose again.
Its neck twisted far beyond what bones should allow.
Its eyes were completely black.
Maera stepped backward.
"That's..."
"Impossible."
The thing opened its mouth.
A shrill, inhuman scream burst from its throat.
Not the cry of an animal.
Not the voice of a person.
Something else.
Then it charged.
"Down!" Captain Darius roared.
Garron's axe split the creature in two before it reached them.
The body crashed into the ground.
It stopped moving.
Ellis wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Dead."
"No," Rowan whispered.
"Look."
Black strands seeped from the corpse like smoke.
They slithered across the earth before disappearing into the surrounding forest.
Uriel watched them vanish.
"What was that?"
Rowan shook her head.
"I've never seen anything like it."
Liar.
Uriel blinked.
Nox?
She has.
She's just never survived it before.
Before he could ask another question—
A horn echoed through the valley.
One long blast.
Then another.
One of Rowan's wardens turned pale.
"Our western patrol."
"They're calling for help."
Captain Darius pointed ahead.
"We move!"
The company sprinted through the trees.
Branches whipped against armor and faces.
Loose stones slid beneath their boots.
The horn sounded again.
Closer now.
Then—
It stopped.
Abruptly.
No final note.
No struggle.
Just silence.
The group burst into a clearing.
Three wardens stood in a defensive circle.
Or rather...
Two stood.
The third knelt beside them, clutching a bleeding shoulder.
Around them lay five dead wolves.
Each corpse bore deep claw marks.
Not sword wounds.
Not arrow wounds.
Claws.
Captain Darius rushed forward.
"What happened?"
One of the wardens answered between heavy breaths.
"It came from nowhere."
"What did?"
"I..."
He hesitated.
"I never saw it."
"You fought something you didn't see?"
"It wasn't invisible."
"It was..."
He searched desperately for words.
"...too fast."
A scream erupted from the trees.
Lyra looked up.
"Above!"
Everyone reacted too late.
A dark shape dropped from the canopy.
It slammed into one of the wardens, throwing him several meters across the clearing.
The creature landed on all fours.
Roughly the size of a bear.
Its body was lean rather than bulky, covered in black-grey fur that seemed to absorb the light around it.
Its forelegs ended in long hooked claws.
Its face...
Had no eyes.
Only a smooth bone-white skull stretched over its head.
The only features were rows of jagged teeth that flexed as if tasting the air.
Ellis whispered,
"What..."
"...is that?"
The creature tilted its head.
Listening.
Not looking.
Listening.
Nox's voice became unusually serious.
Don't speak.
Uriel immediately understood.
"It hunts by sound."
Captain Darius caught the warning at once.
He raised a closed fist.
No one made another sound.
The creature prowled slowly around the clearing.
Its claws scraped across the rocks.
Its head turned from one warrior to the next.
Searching.
Listening.
A wounded warden groaned involuntarily.
The creature lunged.
Uriel exploded forward.
Steel met claw with a deafening crash.
The impact sent both of them skidding across the clearing.
The creature recoiled.
Not from the sword.
From the mask.
It hissed violently before retreating several steps.
Its eyeless face remained fixed on Uriel.
For the first time...
It seemed afraid.
Interesting.
Nox sounded almost amused.
It recognizes you.
Uriel didn't have time to ask what that meant.
The creature let out a piercing shriek.
The sound echoed across the valley.
Then...
More shrieks answered.
One.
Three.
Five.
Ten.
From every direction.
Captain Darius's face hardened.
"We're surrounded."
Rowan drew another arrow.
"No."
She stared into the darkening forest.
"Worse."
Branches began shaking all around them.
Dozens of unseen shapes moved through the trees at impossible speed.
The first creature wasn't alone.
It had called the others.