The forest moved.
Lyren felt it before he heard it—a deep, rolling shift that vibrated through the ground like a warning pulse. The air tightened again, sharper this time.
"Get up," Lyren said quietly.
Aerin tried.
His legs trembled beneath him, muscles refusing to cooperate. "I—I can't yet."
Lyren cursed under his breath and pulled him upright, half-supporting his weight.
That was when the sound came.
A low growl.
Not close.
Not distant.
*Everywhere.*
Lyren's eyes snapped to the trees. Shadows shifted unnaturally between the trunks, shapes moving without fully revealing themselves.
"This isn't normal," Lyren said. "They shouldn't be this coordinated."
Aerin swallowed hard. "How many?"
Lyren didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
The first monster stepped into view.
A massive creature, its hide thick and scarred, eyes glowing a dull amber. A **Direhorn**—a territorial beast that normally attacked anything that crossed its domain.
It stopped.
Just like the others had.
But this time, it didn't retreat.
It lowered its head slightly—not in submission.
In warning.
More shapes emerged behind it.
Shadowfangs.
A twisted crawler clinging to a tree trunk.
Something larger moving deeper in the dark, its presence pressing against Lyren's senses like a weight.
They weren't hunting.
They were reacting.
"They're not here for us," Lyren said slowly. "They're here because of you."
Aerin's chest tightened. "I didn't mean to—"
"I know," Lyren said. "Listen to me."
The Direhorn pawed at the ground once.
The sound echoed like a drumbeat.
Every monster froze.
Lyren felt it then—a sharp, instinctive fear that didn't belong to him.
*Their instincts are screaming.*
"Whatever you did," Lyren said, voice low, "you shook something older than their fear of humans."
The Direhorn snorted, breath steaming in the cold air. Its gaze never left Aerin.
Not hostile.
Assessing.
Then, slowly, it took a step back.
Another monster followed.
Then another.
One by one, they withdrew—never turning their backs, never breaking eye contact until the trees swallowed them whole.
Silence returned.
Thicker than before.
Aerin sagged against Lyren. "They… left."
"Yes," Lyren said. "And that's worse."
Aerin frowned weakly. "How is that worse?"
Lyren stared into the forest where the Direhorn had vanished.
"Because monsters only retreat like that when something changes the rules," he said. "And they don't forget."
Far away, deep within the forest, a howl rose—not of rage…
…but of warning.
Lyren tightened his grip on Aerin.
"Move," he said. "Now."
Behind them, the forest watched.
And ahead of them—
Something had learned.