Chapter 9 – Into the Darkwood
The Darkwood stood before them like a wall of endless night. Even under the pale moon, its trees seemed to swallow all light. Branches twisted together so thickly that the forest looked less like a place and more like a waiting mouth.
Karl Draven tightened his fists, staring into the gloom. His chest still ached from the last battle, but the mark they'd found in the courtyard kept flashing in his mind. The answer to it was in there—he knew it.
"This is a mistake," Lira whispered, clutching her satchel of glowing runes as though they might protect her. "The Darkwood isn't forbidden for fun, Karl. Students have disappeared in there."
Karl shook his head. "If the Void King's creatures are moving here, that's where we'll find proof. And if they're looking for me…" He flexed his hands. "…then I want to look them in the eye."
Jax grinned nervously, adjusting the lantern he carried. "Well, if we don't come back, at least I'll finally have an excuse for not doing homework."
Karl smirked faintly. "Glad you're keeping priorities straight."
The three of them stepped past the treeline, and the world changed.
---
The forest air was colder, heavy and damp. It clung to their skin like fog, carrying the smell of moss and old earth. Their lanterns cast small halos, but the shadows pressed in, restless and watchful.
Karl felt the weight of it in his bones. Something was alive here—not just trees and birds, but something aware.
"Stay close," Lira whispered. Her fingers traced glowing patterns in the air, soft runes hovering near her shoulders for protection.
Jax tried to whistle, but his tune cracked halfway through. "You two feel that, right? Like we're… being sized up for dinner?"
Before Karl could answer, he heard it—low growls, circling them in the dark.
Purple eyes blinked open between the trees. One pair. Then two. Then five.
"Shadow hounds," Karl muttered.
The first leapt.
Karl moved without thinking. His fist met its jaw midair, and the beast burst into drifting black mist. Two more charged him from the side; Karl caught one by its scruff, swung it like a sack of flour, and flung it against a tree. It shattered into smoke.
The other lunged at Lira, but she flung a rune at its chest. The air flashed with white light, and the hound dissolved with a yelp.
"Behind you!" Jax yelled.
Karl ducked, spun, and drove his elbow into another beast's throat. The impact sent it tumbling into the undergrowth before it melted away like fog in sunlight.
The clearing fell silent again, broken only by Karl's heavy breathing. He scanned the trees, every nerve on edge.
"They're not ordinary summons," Lira said, voice unsteady. "They're being drawn here by something stronger."
Karl followed her gaze—and saw it.
Not eyes this time, but a glowing mark burned into the trunk of an oak. Jagged lines and circles twisted into a rune that pulsed with violet light.
Another Void Mark.
And it was alive.
---
The three crept closer. Even from a distance, Karl felt the mark's energy humming in his chest like a second heartbeat.
"It's not just a signal," Lira whispered. "It's a gate. Whoever carved this is trying to open a passage."
Karl clenched his fists. "Then we stop it."
But the shadows around the mark stirred, peeling away from the trees. They swirled and thickened until they formed the outline of a figure cloaked in black.
Only its eyes were visible—bright, cruel, glowing with the same light as the mark.
"The fracture walks willingly," the shadow said, its voice like stone grinding. "The Void King will be pleased."
Karl stepped forward. "I'm not anyone's fracture."
"You will be," the shadow hissed. "Or you will break."
The mark behind him flared. The ground shook, branches rattling as something forced its way through.
Claws—larger than any hound's—pierced the air.
Lira gasped. "It's not summoning a beastling this time. This is bigger."
The shadow raised a hand, tendrils of darkness snapping toward Karl like whips. Karl grabbed one mid-strike and yanked with all his strength. The shadow staggered, caught off guard that raw force could disrupt it.
Jax hurled a knife. It passed through harmlessly, but the distraction gave Lira time to throw a rune of pure light. The flare struck the shadow's chest, making it recoil with a snarl.
Karl didn't hesitate. He lunged, driving his fist into its center. The shadow's form cracked like glass under the blow, ripples breaking across it.
But the mark still pulsed, brighter and brighter.
From it emerged a wolf-like creature taller than Karl himself. Its jaws stretched too wide, its body armored in black haze, its eyes burning with void-fire.
A doomfang.
It leapt, its roar shaking the ground.
Karl braced and met it head-on. The beast's teeth clamped against his arm, but he shoved back with sheer force, driving it into the dirt. It writhed and snapped, claws raking the ground. Karl's muscles burned, but he held on.
"Lira, now!" he shouted.
Runes blazed in her hands, sweat beading her brow. The mark flickered as she forced light into its lines.
The beast thrashed harder, nearly throwing Karl aside. He roared, digging deep, using every ounce of his strength to wrench it back. His arms felt like they were tearing, but he refused to let go.
The mark split with a sound like shattering stone.
The doomfang shrieked and dissolved into mist, sucked back into the collapsing rift. The shadow figure wailed and unraveled with it, fading into nothing.
Then—silence.
Karl fell to one knee, chest heaving, every muscle trembling.
Lira dropped beside him, drained, her hands shaking from the spellwork. Jax just stood frozen, lantern dangling from his hand, his mouth open in awe.
"…I can't decide if that was terrifying or the coolest thing I've ever seen," he muttered.
Karl didn't answer. He stared at the charred earth where the mark had been. He didn't feel cool. He felt hunted.
The whisper came again, threading into his skull like smoke:
"Fracture. You cannot resist forever."
Karl clenched his fists, his jaw set.
"Watch me."