The group led by Katia slipped between the trees like a collective shadow. The air was thick, saturated with the stench of decay and damp earth. The demons lurked further ahead, but their presence betrayed itself through subtle details: a branch snapped too cleanly, a tuft of gray fur caught on the bark, the hoarse whisper of a breath that didn't belong to the forest.
Sokar, perched above, made a quick gesture. Meaning: "Three figures to the right. Motionless."
Katia tilted her head in acknowledgment.
She froze, listening: a scrape. A muffled growl. Then—
Laughter.
Hyena laughter.
Gurgling, hysterical, echoing among the trunks.
"The scavengers."
She recognized their profile now: demons with hunched shoulders, emaciated limbs, and deformed heads—half-human, half-hyena. Their jaws hung slack, drooling blackish saliva, and their eyes burned with a sickly yellow glow. They crouched in a circle around something—a carcass? A trap?
