The mission was supposed to be routine.
A missing merchant caravan. Disappeared along the Eastroad trail near the Forest of Hollow Thorns—a place known more for wolves and bandits than anything magical.
But Kaelira was uneasy.
"Something's off," she muttered, checking the edge of her longsword. "Caravans don't vanish without a trace, even in cursed woods."
Myrelion adjusted the straps on his borrowed leather armor. It chafed, but he didn't complain. His real weapons—Nyxfang and Solbite—remained hidden. Kaelira had insisted he train with steel, not depend on "fancy relics" just yet.
They entered the forest just past midday.
It was too quiet.
Birdsong was absent. No rustle of deer or foxes. Just the creaking of gnarled trees and the soft crunch of their boots on dead leaves.
"Myrelion," Kaelira whispered. "Eyes up. Smell that?"
He inhaled.
Blood.
Rotting blood.
They moved slowly, following a trail of broken carts and shredded fabric.
And then they saw it: a merchant wagon, torn open like a crushed fruit. The horses were dead, their bodies dried and blackened, as if life itself had been drained.
And in the center…
A pulsing cocoon of flesh, breathing unnaturally.
Kaelira cursed. "Hellspawn magic. Get behind—"
The cocoon burst.
Out leapt a creature that twisted the senses—vaguely humanoid, but with bone spears for limbs and a jaw that opened like a blooming flower, ringed with tongues and teeth.
"Back!" Kaelira shouted.
She met the monster head-on, sword clashing with its jagged bones. Sparks flew.
Myrelion watched the patterns. Its limbs were fast but predictable. His mind processed its movements like a ghost of his ninja past.
He darted left.
The creature slashed. He rolled beneath it and slashed its tendon with his short sword.
It screeched.
Kaelira took the opening and decapitated it with a clean strike.
The body twitched and collapsed, leaking black ichor.
Myrelion stood slowly, breathing hard.
Kaelira looked at him with new eyes. "You didn't freeze."
He shook his head. "I saw its rhythm."
"…Huh."
She ruffled his hair roughly. "You've got a predator's eyes, kid. You're learning."
They burned the remains and marked the area for the Guild.
But as they left, neither noticed the shadow watching them from deeper within the forest—eyes glowing violet.
Something ancient… had awakened.