Title: Dark Beast
Chapter Three: The Howl Beneath the Moon
The forest was no longer quiet.
It had been three days since the creature last fed, and every living thing could feel its hunger in the air. A thick fog clung to the trees like a cold breath exhaled from something ancient. Birds didn't sing. Animals stayed buried deep in their dens. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
In the heart of the woods, beneath a dead oak split by lightning, Kael knelt beside a trail of crimson smears. Blood. Fresh. Still warm.
He pressed his palm to the soil. It vibrated faintly—too faint for a normal man to notice. But Kael was no normal man.
"It's close," he muttered, rising to his feet, his hand tightening around the hilt of his obsidian-forged blade.
Behind him, Mira stepped into view, her boots silent on the damp forest floor. "You keep saying that, but we haven't seen it. Are you sure it's not leading us in circles?"
Kael turned, his eyes flashing a silver glow for just a heartbeat. "It's not running. It's hunting."
They both knew what that meant.
The Dark Beast was not a mindless animal. It was cunning—almost human in its malice. It didn't just kill to survive. It killed to torment. To dominate. To punish.
Mira glanced at the crescent moon barely peeking through the treetops. "Then we need to find it before the moon is full."
Kael nodded. "Or more villages will burn."
Suddenly, a distant scream pierced the stillness—a sound so raw, so guttural, it silenced even the crickets. Kael and Mira bolted toward it, leaping over roots and pushing through thick underbrush.
They arrived in a small clearing moments later. The scene was horrific.
A cart lay overturned, its wooden wheels splintered and soaked in blood. Horses lay disemboweled. And nearby, a man—what was left of him—twitched as if trying to hold on to life for just a few seconds more.
Kael knelt beside him. "Who did this?" he asked, though he already knew.
The man's eyes widened, tears and blood mingling on his face. He managed one word before the darkness claimed him.
"Shadowfang."
Mira looked at Kael in disbelief. "You said it was just a legend."
Kael stood slowly, eyes darkening. "Legends... have a way of waking up."
From the trees behind them, something growled—low, deep, and hungry.
The Dark Beast had found them.
To be continued..