I opened my eyes ,
The creature was gone.
In its place, black dust drifted through the air, scattering across the ground like burnt ashes.
And standing in front of my horse—
was the Northern Prince.
His sword was still raised, its blade faintly glowing in the darkness. Shadows curled around his
boots where the creature had stood only seconds ago.
The soldiers stared in stunned silence.
The prince lowered his sword calmly, as if killing monsters in the middle of the night was nothing
unusual.
My hands trembled as I stared at him.
That thing… had almost reached me.
And he had destroyed it in a single strike.
The prince glanced back at the dark forest, his expression hard.
"Stay alert," he ordered.
"Something is hunting us."
We continued moving, this time with more caution.
No one spoke.
Every rider stayed alert, eyes fixed on the darkness around us. Swords were already drawn,
ready for another attack.
And I was terrified.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking as the horse moved beneath me. Every shadow looked alive.
Every sound made my heart jump.
The forest no longer felt like a forest.
It felt like a trap.
It hadn't even been twenty minutes when it happened again.
Something moved in the trees.
This time, everyone saw it.
A creature burst out, even more horrible than the first. Its body twisted unnaturally, its mouth
stretched too wide, filled with sharp teeth. Its red eyes burned with hunger as it charged toward
us.
But the soldiers were ready.
Before it could reach us, one rider charged forward, his sword flashing in the dark.
The blade sliced clean through the creature.
It let out a horrible shriek before its body crumbled into black dust, scattering across the ground.
No one celebrated.
No one relaxed.
The soldiers only tightened their formation.
And we kept moving.
Because deep down, I knew—
Those things weren't done with us yet.
We hadn't gone far when I saw them.
More creatures.
Dozens of shapes moved between the trees, their red eyes glowing in the darkness. They
crawled and leapt through the forest in a pack, faster and angrier than the ones before.
The horses panicked, rearing as the creatures' shrieks tore through the night.
Soldiers shouted, raising their swords, but this time…
There were too many.
They were already closing in.
Too close.
My heart dropped.
We weren't going to survive this.
Fear swallowed me whole. I squeezed my eyes shut, clutching Lisa's shawl, waiting for claws,
for screams, for death.
But instead—
Everything went silent .
A strange warmth spread across my chest.
My pendant burned against my skin.
Then a burst of light exploded around us.
A powerful wave shot outward, throwing the creatures back as if struck by an invisible force.
Their bodies slammed into trees and the ground, shrieking in pain.
The soldiers stared in shock as the monsters writhed, badly injured, some turning to black dust
where they fell.
The forest fell quiet once more.
My head spun.
My heart pounded in my ears.
I didn't understand what had just happened.
The last thing I saw was the soldiers staring at me in disbelief…
Before darkness swallowed everything.
And the world went black