Morning in Valdarin no longer felt like morning.
The sun had risen above the eastern hills as it always did, casting pale gold light across the rooftops and towers of the city. Birds still circled above the distant river, and the merchants of the southern districts had cautiously begun reopening their shops.
From a distance, the city might have appeared almost normal.
But the illusion broke the moment anyone looked up.
Because the sky was still wounded.
The long black fracture stretched across the heavens like a scar carved through the world itself. Even under the daylight it remained visible, its edges shimmering faintly with a dim violet glow that swallowed the surrounding blue sky.
People could not stop staring at it.
Children pointed.
Old men whispered prayers.
And everyone felt the same uneasy weight pressing down on their thoughts.
Something had changed in the world.
And no one knew how to fix it.
---
Deep within the eastern forest, the air was colder than usual.
Tall ancient trees blocked much of the sunlight, leaving the forest floor covered in shifting patterns of shadow and gold. Moss grew thick across the trunks, and the scent of damp earth lingered heavily beneath the canopy.
Kael Renar moved silently through the undergrowth.
Despite his large frame, the shapeshifter stepped with the quiet ease of a hunter who had spent most of his life inside forests just like this one.
Behind him, the small academy expedition followed carefully.
Two guards carried spears.
Another held a crossbow.
And at the center of the group walked Arian Falther, his silver eyes scanning the forest with focused attention.
They had been tracking the creatures for nearly an hour now.
The signs were everywhere.
Broken branches.
Strange claw marks carved deep into the bark of trees.
And occasionally the faint black residue left behind when one of the creatures had briefly rested.
Kael crouched beside another mark in the soil.
He ran his fingers through the dirt, examining the strange pattern left behind by the creature's twisted feet.
"…Four."
Arian stopped behind him.
"Four?"
"Four creatures passed here."
"How can you tell?"
Kael shrugged.
"Experience."
He pointed at the ground.
"See the depth of the tracks?"
"Two heavier ones."
"Two lighter."
Arian studied the marks more closely.
"You've done this before."
"Tracking monsters?"
Kael smirked.
"No."
"Tracking things that want to kill me."
---
They continued deeper into the forest.
The further they walked, the quieter the woods became.
The normal sounds of wildlife had disappeared entirely.
No birds.
No insects.
Even the wind seemed hesitant to move the branches.
Arian felt it too.
"…This place is wrong."
One of the guards glanced around nervously.
"Wrong how?"
Arian hesitated.
"It feels like…"
"…like the forest is holding its breath."
Kael snorted.
"That's because the animals already ran away."
"Smart creatures."
The guard frowned.
"And we're still here."
Kael grinned.
"Less smart creatures."
---
After another ten minutes of walking, the group reached a narrow clearing.
Sunlight poured down through the open space between the trees, illuminating a patch of disturbed ground at the center of the clearing.
Kael stopped immediately.
"…Don't move."
Everyone froze.
Arian stepped forward slowly.
"What is it?"
Kael pointed.
At first Arian didn't see anything unusual.
Then he noticed the ground.
The soil in the center of the clearing had been torn open.
Not like an animal digging.
The earth had split apart in a jagged circle nearly three meters wide.
Dark cracks ran through the exposed dirt like broken glass.
And inside the center of the fractured ground…
The air shimmered.
Arian's breath caught.
"…Another tear."
Kael frowned.
"A what?"
Arian stepped closer, carefully avoiding the edge of the cracked soil.
"It's similar to the fracture in the sky."
"But much smaller."
The academy guards exchanged uneasy glances.
"You're saying the sky crack is spreading?"
"…Yes."
Kael folded his arms.
"Well that sounds terrible."
Arian crouched near the edge of the fracture.
Cold air drifted upward from the crack.
Not wind.
Something else.
Something that felt heavier.
Like standing near deep water and sensing the endless dark beneath the surface.
"…This is where they came from," Arian whispered.
The guards stiffened.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
The broken ground showed clear marks where creatures had climbed upward from the tear.
Scratches in the soil.
Claw marks.
Footprints leading away into the forest.
Kael scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"So they're not just wandering out of the woods."
"They're climbing out of holes in reality."
"That's… creative."
---
A faint sound echoed across the clearing.
Everyone froze.
Kael's head snapped toward the trees.
"…Did you hear that?"
The sound came again.
A low scraping noise.
Like claws dragging slowly across stone.
One of the guards raised his crossbow.
"Something's moving."
Arian stood slowly.
The air above the fracture trembled slightly.
Then—
A gray hand reached out from the darkness inside the crack.
The fingers gripped the edge of the soil.
And another creature began pulling itself into the world.
Kael sighed.
"…Of course."
The creature dragged its thin body out of the tear, its black eyes scanning the clearing.
Then another hand appeared behind it.
A second creature.
Then a third.
Arian stepped back.
"…They're coming through faster."
Kael drew his knife.
"Well."
"Looks like the investigation part is over."
The first creature lifted its head.
Its empty eyes locked onto the group.
And it screamed.
A terrible sound that echoed through the silent forest.
Then the creatures attacked.
The scream of the creature tore through the clearing like a blade dragged across glass.
It was not the cry of an animal.
Animals screamed with pain, fear, hunger.
This sound carried none of those things.
It was raw.
Empty.
A hollow shriek that seemed to vibrate deep inside the bones of anyone who heard it.
The forest answered with silence.
No birds took flight.
No animals scattered.
Everything living had already fled long before this moment.
Only the hunters remained.
And the things they hunted.
---
The first creature pulled itself fully out of the fracture in the earth.
Its gray limbs dragged across the soil as it rose slowly to its feet. Long crooked fingers flexed, claw tips digging into the dirt as though testing the strength of the world beneath them.
Its black eyes settled on the group.
And behind it…
More hands emerged from the darkness.
A second creature climbed upward.
Then a third.
Kael Renar exhaled slowly.
"…Yeah."
"This was a mistake."
Arian stepped backward from the crack, his silver eyes locked on the widening tear in the ground.
"They're coming faster now."
One of the academy guards raised his crossbow with shaking hands.
"How many of them?"
Kael glanced toward the fracture.
"Too many."
The creatures began moving.
Their twisted bodies climbed from the crack in a steady flow, gray limbs dragging against the earth as if they were pulling themselves through thick mud.
But once they reached solid ground…
They moved quickly.
Unnaturally quickly.
The first one lunged.
---
Kael reacted before anyone else.
His knife flashed in the sunlight as he stepped forward and drove the blade straight through the creature's throat.
Black mist burst outward from the wound like smoke from a broken chimney.
The creature collapsed immediately, its body dissolving into dark vapor that scattered across the clearing.
But another one leaped past it.
Claws slashed through the air where Kael's chest had been moments earlier.
He twisted aside and kicked the creature hard in the ribs.
The impact sent it tumbling across the dirt.
"Shoot!" he shouted.
The crossbow snapped.
A bolt tore through the creature's skull.
It collapsed into mist.
But two more were already climbing from the fracture.
---
Arian stepped forward, raising one hand.
The air around his fingers shimmered faintly as threads of pale Aether gathered in his palm.
He had never enjoyed combat.
But understanding energy…
That was something he could do.
The strange black crystal he had taken earlier still rested in his coat pocket.
And the moment he focused, he could feel the connection between that crystal and the creatures climbing from the tear.
Arian whispered quietly.
"…Let's see if you follow the same rules."
The gathered Aether surged outward.
A thin wave of energy slammed into one of the creatures as it emerged from the fracture.
The impact knocked the monster backward.
But instead of killing it…
The creature merely staggered.
Arian frowned.
"…Interesting."
Kael ducked beneath another claw swipe and stabbed upward into the creature's chest.
"Interesting isn't the word I'd use!"
The blade struck something hard inside the monster's ribcage.
A crystal.
The knife cracked the core.
The creature collapsed instantly.
Kael blinked.
"…Oh."
"That works."
He pulled the blade free and looked toward Arian.
"Break the crystal!"
Arian understood immediately.
"The cores are stabilizing them."
Another creature lunged from the fracture.
This time one of the academy guards stepped forward and drove his spear straight through the monster's chest.
The weapon struck the crystal inside.
The core shattered.
The creature dissolved.
---
For a brief moment the clearing fell quiet again.
Kael stood breathing heavily as he wiped black residue from his blade.
"That was easy."
The guard beside him laughed nervously.
"Easy?"
Kael pointed toward the crack in the ground.
"…Look."
The fracture had grown larger.
Not by much.
But enough to notice.
And the darkness inside it was deeper now.
More movement stirred within.
Arian felt the cold pressure again.
"…It's widening."
Kael frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Arian looked toward the sky beyond the trees.
The enormous rift above Valdarin shimmered faintly.
"…It means the barrier is weakening."
Another hand appeared inside the ground fracture.
But this time…
It looked different.
Larger.
The fingers were thicker.
Longer.
And faint purple cracks glowed beneath its gray skin.
Kael's smile disappeared.
"…That one's new."
---
The creature climbed slowly out of the fracture.
It was nearly a head taller than the others.
Its limbs were heavier.
Stronger.
The cracks across its body pulsed faintly with violet light.
Arian felt the energy immediately.
"…Elite."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds bad."
"It is."
The creature lifted its head.
Its black eyes studied them.
Then its mouth opened slightly.
A low rasping sound escaped its throat.
Not a scream.
Something closer to…
Speech.
"…Hunters."
The word echoed strangely through the clearing.
Everyone froze.
The guard holding the crossbow whispered.
"…Did it just talk?"
Kael's expression darkened.
"Oh."
"That's definitely bad."
The creature stepped forward.
The ground beneath its feet cracked slightly.
Behind it the fracture widened another inch.
More shadows moved inside.
Arian felt the pull of the energy growing stronger.
If this tear continued expanding…
Soon dozens of creatures would be able to climb through.
Then hundreds.
Kael tightened his grip on the knife.
"So."
He glanced at Arian.
"You got any clever academy ideas?"
Arian hesitated.
"…Possibly."
Kael sighed.
"Great."
"Those are always dangerous."
The Elite creature began advancing toward them.
Slow.
Confident.
The purple light beneath its cracked skin pulsed brighter with each step.
And behind it…
The fracture in the earth widened again.
The invasion had only just begun.