The forest was different now.
They hadn't walked far—maybe a quarter-mile from the clearing—but something had changed. Aiden felt it first in his skin. Not a sound, not a sight. A pressure. Like the trees were too close, the space between them too tight, the air too… shallow.
Bones moved ahead of them, no longer trotting but gliding low to the ground in long, cautious strides. His ears twitched constantly, body tense like coiled wire.
Farren trailed just behind Aiden, eyes locked on the back of the Gravehound.
"He's not acting like before," the boy muttered. "This isn't tracking anymore. This is… patrolling."
Aiden swallowed and kept his voice low. "What's the difference?"
"One ends in a kill."
Kael pushed aside a low branch, scanning the trees. "He's not wrong. Something's close. The birds stopped."
Aiden hadn't noticed it until Kael said it—but now it was deafening.
No birdsong. No insects. Not even wind. Just silence.
"Bones," Aiden called softly, "you smell something?"
Bones didn't answer—he just froze, one paw hovering mid-step. His head tilted.
The Miresit—the little green-furred creature from earlier—darted into view from the underbrush ahead and skittered to Farren's shoulder, quivering.
Farren blinked. "He found me again… why's he shaking?"
The trees rustled once, sharply. Then everything stopped again.
And Aiden felt it.
A slow, cold crawl from the base of his spine up into his shoulders. Like the world had blinked and something was now in it that hadn't been there a moment ago.
A flicker of light hit the corner of his vision. A notification box slid in, icy blue and silent.
[New Quest – UNKNOWN THREAT DETECTED]
Objective: Survive and eliminate the forest predator
Threat Classification: Not catalogued
Danger Level: ???
Reward: Data analysis pending
Accept Quest? [Y/N]
Aiden's breath hitched. He didn't even hesitate.
"Yes," he whispered.
The box vanished instantly.
Kael's hand went to his sword. "You feel that?"
"Yeah," Aiden muttered. "It's watching."
The forest suddenly felt deeper than it should've. Like they'd walked into a place that didn't quite exist on the map anymore. The roots underfoot twisted at odd angles, some too clean, others too sharp. The light bent wrong—like something was just a few steps away from being real.
Bones snarled.
Then leapt forward.
The monster came from the side—not from the front where Bones had been focused, but from the edge of vision, the way nightmares always do.
A shape hit Bones mid-charge.
Aiden didn't see claws. Or teeth. Just a smear of silver-black motion, all twisting limbs and shimmering angles, like wet glass stretched too thin. It struck Bones like a hammer, slamming him sideways.
Bones hit the ground, snarling, and rolled to his feet. He turned fast, jaws wide, and bit deep into the thing's midsection.
For a moment, he had it. A full grip. Teeth sank into flesh—or something like it.
Then it melted.
A sickening hiss echoed out, not from its throat but from everywhere at once. The creature dissolved into thick, oily mist that splashed over the forest floor like spilled ink.
"Wha—" Farren staggered back. "Did it just—?!"
Before anyone could answer, the mist recoalesced.
Behind Kael.
"Kael—MOVE!" Aiden shouted.
Kael twisted just as the thing re-formed midair, a spear-like limb striking down like a snake. He didn't flinch. The sword came up in a brutal upward slash—steel meeting shadow with a burst of cold light.
The blade tore through part of the thing's torso.
It screeched, but not like an animal. Like wind through a broken chimney. Like static in a dying radio.
Its long limb struck out and caught Kael across the chest.
He flew back into a tree.
The impact cracked bark and dropped him to one knee.
Bones roared.
Aiden had never heard it before—an actual roar. It shook the clearing, dust falling from the canopy above.
The creature hesitated, turning to face the Gravehound.
"Okay," Farren said, panting. "What the hell is that thing—what the hell—"
Aiden didn't answer. He was watching the thing twist.
Its form wasn't stable.
One moment it had arms. Then spines. Then jagged blade-limbs. No mouth. No eyes. Just shifting, transparent textures over a black body that bent light inward. Like looking at a tear in a painting.
Bones leapt again.
The creature vanished before he landed—and reappeared behind Farren.
Farren turned, too late.
A tendril snapped out, aiming for the side of his head—
—and Aiden moved.
He didn't think. He didn't speak.
He just shoved Farren aside and stepped into the arc of the strike.
The limb pierced through him, sharp as thought.
The world went silent.
Aiden didn't feel pain—just cold. Like he'd been turned to glass and filled with ice water. The strike had gone through his left side, just under the ribs. Something popped. Something tore.
He couldn't breathe.
The creature yanked back and flung him aside like a discarded rag.
Aiden hit the ground, rolled once, and stopped flat on his back.
The sky was broken by tree branches.
Everything else was fading.
Far away, someone was shouting.
Kael?
Farren?
He couldn't tell.
Bones was howling—something guttural and furious, like it wanted to tear the forest apart.
But Aiden couldn't feel him anymore.
He couldn't feel anything.
Not the dirt under him.
Not the blood spreading out across his hoodie.
Just the weight. The silence.
And the cold.
Aiden lay still.
He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
But the world hadn't gone quiet—not completely.
There were footsteps. Heavy ones. Muffled like they came through water.
Then lighter ones. Scrambling.
Farren.
"Hey—HEY!" The boy's voice cracked. "Aiden! Are you—?!"
Farren dropped beside him, hands fluttering uselessly over the wound.
"Shit—oh gods—okay. It's bad. You're bleeding. Kael!"
There was no answer.
Aiden's mouth moved, but no words came. His lungs weren't working right. His body was frozen, numb and cold like it had been dipped in winter.
He managed to tilt his head.
Bones stood between them and the trees, growling low and constant. Not barking. Not charging. Just holding.
Holding back the thing that had done this.
And it was still there.
Barely visible.
It shifted between the trees like it didn't belong to any plane. Limbs flickered in and out—first six, then two, then none. Its shape flickered like a broken reel of film. There was no center. No face. Just that hollow shine, that bending shadow.
It moved closer.
Aiden wanted to scream.
His body didn't listen.
Farren stood, half-spread in front of him, blade drawn—though it shook in his hand.
"Get back!" he shouted. "Get the hell away from him!"
The creature paused.
Only for a moment.
Then it began to move again.
Farren didn't run.
Aiden saw it. Saw the boy who had been cold, bitter, prickly—but who was now standing like he meant to die on his feet if it came to that.
And something in Aiden cracked.
Not in his ribs—though those were definitely broken.
Not in his lungs—though they burned with each second.
But deep inside. Past the blood. Past the pain.
A whisper.
A heat.
Not physical. Not magical.
Just there.
It pulsed once.
Then again.
And the world shifted.
Everything around him dimmed. The pain receded—not gone, but drowned out. The air thickened like molasses, and his heartbeat stopped sounding like panic and started sounding like purpose.
He didn't understand it.
But he felt it.
Something inside him had opened.
And whatever it was—
It was waking up.