"Get away!!"
Deep within the forest, branches shattered and roots split as a deer like demigod tore through the undergrowth at a terrifying speed. Its hooves barely touched the ground, yet every breath burned. Panic flooded its wide eyes as instinct screamed only one truth. It was being hunted.
The crossbow was not even the worst of it. Nor the medallion hanging at the hunter's waist, seeping sickness into the air like an invisible rot. Far behind, yet impossibly close, was something else. A presence wrapped in living darkness. Its energy pressed down on every cell in the creature's body, making its blood churn and its muscles scream in rebellion.
"I can't let this chase continue. If I do, I'll run until there's nothing left of me."
It forced more power into its limbs, lungs tearing as it surged toward a distant clearing. Beyond it lay stone roads and rising smoke. Civilization. Salvation.
A city stood there, not far from Rune City. A sister city, though nothing alike.
