The air was thick with the smell of blood, and the ground was churned up by the battle that had just occurred. The massive beast—still alive but wounded—had lost interest in the knights, its yellow eyes fading into the fog as it retreated into the deeper shadows of the forest.
The knights stood in a loose formation, still wary, their weapons raised just in case the monster turned back. But it didn’t. The creature was gone, its roars fading with every passing second, leaving only an eerie quiet behind.
“Did you see that?” one of the knights muttered, his voice hoarse, but full of awe. “That monster—did it just… leave? We’re alive because of it.”
Another knight, shaking his head, still in disbelief, added, “That thing was going to tear us apart. And then, suddenly, it just… backed off.”
Ser Alric, ever the calm leader, looked around. His sharp eyes scanned the clearing, resting on the marks of battle—scratches and gouges in the trees, claw marks in the earth. “It didn’t kill us,” he said slowly. “But it didn’t leave out of kindness.”
The others nodded, but their expressions remained uncertain. None of them had seen a creature like that before, and they were all unsure what to make of it.
“I don’t understand,” one of the younger knights spoke up, wiping sweat from his brow. “We were moments from being torn to pieces. Then that… thing attacked the beast, distracted it long enough for us to regroup. But did it do it on purpose?”
Elara, standing a little farther away from the knights, her gaze fixed on the shadowy trees, said quietly, “We owe it, yes. But I don’t think it did it for us.”
Stolen novel; please report.
Her voice was calm, but the undercurrent of caution was unmistakable. She wasn’t as quick to trust the creature’s intentions. Her eyes lingered on the spot where the beast had once stood, now silent. “It was just a fleeting distraction. It wasn’t saving us—it was saving itself. It hurt the monster, just enough to make it back off. But why? What does it want?”
Ser Alric turned to her, his eyes narrowing. “So you think it saved us on accident?”
Elara shook her head. “No. It may have saved us, but not for us. We were in its way. And the moment it realized that, it moved on. It has no loyalty to us. Whatever it is, it’s here for something else.”
The knights were silent, looking between each other. They didn’t know what to think. The creature was a monster, sure, but it had made its intentions unclear. Was it simply a force of nature, like the beasts they fought in the forest? Or did it have something else in mind?
Ser Alric spoke again, more decisively this time. “We owe it our lives, for now. But we need to find it. We need to know what we’re dealing with before it decides we’re more of a threat than a nuisance.”
The younger knight, his face still pale, looked toward the thick forest where the creature had disappeared. “Do you think it’s still out there?”
“It’s a hunter,” Ser Alric replied. “And hunters don’t stay in one place for long. If it’s wounded, it’ll be tracking us, or maybe something else. But we need to find it first. We can’t afford to wait.”
Elara watched them all closely, her brow furrowed. “Then we’d better hurry. That creature isn’t going to let us just walk away.”
The Search Begins
The knights set off, their pace quickening, but there was something unsettling in the air. The forest felt even darker now, as if it were watching them, and every snap of a twig underfoot sounded louder than the last.
As they moved deeper into the trees, Elara stayed toward the back, her hand on the hilt of her dagger. She could feel the tension growing among the knights. They were nervous—not just from the battle but from what they didn’t understand.
She glanced back, toward the path they had taken. There was something primal about the way the beast had fought. And in that moment, Elara couldn’t help but wonder: What had that creature been after?
Somewhere out there, Vorgrimm—if it was even him—was waiting. Injured, likely, and alone. But what did he want? And why had he saved them?
