Jake pushed his way through the forest, every step a quiet battle against exhaustion. Branches clawed at his uniform, leaving ragged tears along the sleeves, and dried sap clung to the fabric like old blood. His eyes felt heavy in their sockets, his vision slightly blurred from lack of sleep, and every muscle in his body screamed with dull, unrelenting soreness.
Three days.
Three days since the expedition had set foot on this cursed land.
A small force had stayed behind to guard the ship. Lucy had been among them, her marksmanship deemed too valuable to risk so far inland. That decision left Jake with Luna and Lucas, along with Marquis and the rest of the advance group, trudging through what Jake had come to think of as a malicious forest. Not just dangerous, but actively hateful.
The air was thick, damp, and wrong. The trees grew too close together, their trunks twisted in unnatural spirals. Leaves whispered even when there was no wind, and the ground felt soft beneath his boots, as if it might give way at any moment.
Marquis led from the front, posture straight despite the fatigue evident in the tension of his shoulders. His fingers twitched constantly, sparks of fire magic snapping and fading at their tips like nervous habits made manifest. No one spoke. Everyone knew better.
The plants here were not plants.
A shrill, wretched screech tore through the forest without warning.
Jake barely had time to brace before a thick vine exploded out of the soil, snapping toward the group with terrifying speed. Marquis reacted instantly. With an annoyed sigh, he seized the vine barehanded. Flames roared to life around his grip, racing along the plant's length. The vine shriveled and blackened, releasing a stench of burning rot.
Moments later, an ugly flower burst from the ground at the vine's base. Its petals twitched like flayed muscle, a wet, choked noise bubbling from its center. Marquis stepped forward and cleanly severed it with his sabre. The thing collapsed into ash.
No one commented. They just kept moving.
Eventually, the oppressive density of the forest began to thin. Marquis let out a long, exhausted breath as the tree line came into view.
"Speed up," he called, voice firm but relieved. "We're almost out of here."
Jake forced his aching legs to comply. When they finally broke free of the forest, the change was immediate.
Before them stretched a vast field of blue flowers, swaying gently under pale moonlight. The sight stole Jake's breath. The moons hung high in the sky, bathing the field in silver light, and for reasons no one could explain, the red moon was absent. Marquis had noted it briefly, scribbling something into a small journal, then moved on. Supernatural causes were the only explanation, and those were becoming far too common.
For the first time in days, Jake felt like he could breathe.
And yet, the unease did not fade.
It crept deeper, settling into his bones like ice water. His hands began to tremble. Then his whole body started to shiver uncontrollably.
Luna noticed immediately.
"Jake," she said, stepping closer. "Are you alright? You're shaking."
"I'm fine," he replied automatically, though the words rang hollow even to him. "But something feels of—"
A chime echoed through the air.
Clear. Resonant. Ancient.
It sounded exactly like a grandfather clock striking midnight.
The field ahead shimmered, space itself rippling as if reality were being peeled back. From the distortion stepped a massive white wolf.
It stood nearly fifteen feet tall on all fours, its fur luminous in the moonlight, as if woven from snow and starlight. Piercing blue eyes fixed on the battalion, intelligent and impossibly old. Jake felt his breath leave him.
"Pretty," he whispered before he could stop himself.
The wolf ignored them and tilted its head back toward the sky. It howled, a long, mournful sound that vibrated through Jake's chest and rattled his teeth. Ethereal blue energy poured from its mouth, swirling into the air. The energy arced upward, forming a perfect circle that aligned with the moon.
Then the circle ignited.
The blue light shifted, filling with blazing orange flame.
Magic.
True magic.
Jake barely had time to register the thought before the world erupted in light and heat. His vision went white. The roar was deafening. He felt the fire pass him, close enough that the air itself seemed to burn.
When his sight returned, his body screamed.
Jake turned left.
His arm was gone.
Not burned. Not torn.
Gone.
The pain hit him all at once, a tidal wave of agony that made his knees buckle. He screamed, the sound raw and broken. Where his arm had been was only scorched flesh and cauterized bone. Anyone standing to his left had not even that. They were simply gone, reduced to drifting ash and scorched ground.
A magic creature.
The first one seen in centuries.
Jake's mind raced through panic and disbelief as blood pounded in his ears.
How the hell were they supposed to beat something like this?
And somewhere deep inside him, beneath the pain and terror, something else stirred.