Liam and Smoke quietly moved through the shadows within the forest as they searched for whatever they had sensed.

Walking through the forest, there was almost no sound of any demon or wildlife nearby, though faint traces of living creatures could still be sensed from far away within the deeper parts of the woods. The only thing that disrupted the oppressive silence was the occasional chirping of crickets hidden somewhere beneath the undergrowth.

And of course the lingering scent they were searching for.

Moving through the shadows and going deeper into the forest, Liam was beginning to pick up the scent with his own nose without needing to link his senses with Smoke anymore.

As he did, the myst signature he was sensing became increasingly familiar. However, there was something mixed into it, something strange and difficult to identify, which made it nearly impossible for him to understand why the scent felt so recognizable to him.

Still, they continued moving through the shadows until Liam suddenly felt an annoyingly strange sensation. One he had already experienced once before during the academy evaluation before the academic year began.

’We’re being hunted,’ he thought immediately and ordered Smoke to stop without even speaking.

Liam’s eyes instantly darted around their surroundings as he tried to pinpoint exactly where whatever was hunting them was coming from.

However, he couldn’t pick up anything except for the scent from earlier, which was most definitely the thing stalking them.

And that made Liam understand one very important thing. Whatever this was, it was just as stealthy within darkness as he was. And the possibility of it also being capable of seeing perfectly in the dark was extremely high as well, making whatever he was about to deal with a genuine pain to fight against.

’Should’ve just stayed back at the outcrop,’ Liam thought with mild irritation as he let out a quiet sigh.

Then he stood up on Smoke’s back.

"Just keep tracking the scent," he said only for Smoke’s ears. "I’ll watch from above."

The shadow wolf grunted slightly in understanding.

Liam then pushed himself off Smoke’s back and ascended upward through the trees, remaining concealed within the shadows as he moved from branch to branch.

Meanwhile, Smoke remained focused on the task exactly as he had been instructed.

Liam then summoned his twin daggers and carefully made sure the blades did not catch the moonlight filtering through the canopy, which could easily expose his position within the darkness. Immediately afterward, he activated his Assassin’s Veil dark magic spell to conceal his presence and myst signature almost completely.

Even though the spell required Myst to maintain, it did not release the Myst being used to cast or sustain it into the surrounding environment. Meaning that, as of now, Liam was no different from another shadow hidden within the forest despite reducing the Myst output to nearly fifty percent of what the spell normally required.

’To think I have to use another dark magic spell,’ he thought with annoyance, knowing fully well the academy authorities would now become aware of this ability too.

And worse, it meant using even more Myst.

’Well, at least the restored Myst is what I’m depending on here.’

He then linked his senses with Smoke’s and kept track of everything the shadow wolf was also sensing around them.

For a while, the only thing either of them continued picking up was the scent. But eventually, the faint sound of movement reached Smoke’s ears and immediately transferred over to Liam through their connection.

The shadow wolf halted for a moment before turning its head toward the direction of the sound.

It was coming from the eastern side of the forest.

Smoke immediately faced east and began moving carefully in that direction. And as he did, the scent gradually became stronger.

Meanwhile, Liam also followed quietly through the shadows above, watching the surroundings from different angles while remaining alert for even the slightest movement.

However, after only a few more steps toward the eastern side of the forest, Smoke halted once again, his ears twitching sharply toward another direction after picking up another sound.

The shadow wolf slowly turned its head that way.

But just as he prepared to head there, another sound emerged again.

Then another.

And another.

All around the forest, Smoke was now picking up continuous movements. Through the trees, across the ground, somewhere above the branches, and within the darkness itself.

The shadow wolf immediately lowered its stance and began growling deeply as he remained in place, scanning every direction carefully.

’This thing is fast,’ Liam thought from where he remained hidden above. ’I almost can’t keep up with its movements.’

Unlike Smoke, Liam finally managed to catch glimpses of what was hunting them. Though even then, its actual form remained impossible to make out clearly due to how absurdly fast the creature was darting through the forest.

Still, Liam managed to observe the way it moved.

It was moving in an almost circular pattern around Smoke, as though it was carefully cornering him while waiting for the perfect moment to attack.

And that told Liam something important immediately.

The creature couldn’t perceive him. Meaning he could catch it completely off guard once it committed to attacking Smoke.

With that in mind, Liam remained perfectly still within the shadows as he tracked the creature’s rapid movements. He now held both daggers in a reverse grip while waiting patiently for the exact moment the creature decided to go in for the kill.

And only mere seconds later, Smoke suddenly sensed danger approaching from behind him.

The shadow wolf immediately spun around to see a dark figure with glowing golden eyes erupting from the shadows with terrifying speed.

And that was the exact moment Liam launched himself off the branch toward the creature.

His left dagger descended in a clean arc aimed directly for the creature’s neck.

However, just as Liam thought the blade was about to slice through its throat, the creature vanished from where it had been.

Liam’s eyes narrowed slightly and, in the very next millisecond, his senses flared violently as he felt an incoming attack from his blind spot.

He instantly twisted midair and used the dagger in his right hand to deflect the incoming strike, causing bright embers to spark violently within the darkness.

However, that alone wasn’t enough.

The creature still slammed directly into Liam with tremendous force and both of them went crashing down toward the forest floor, sending dirt, leaves, and debris exploding outward upon impact.

As the debris slowly cleared away, Liam could be seen pinned beneath a furry humanoid creature.

A very, very humanoid-looking creature.

Dark fur covered almost its entire body except for portions of the face, where the fur thinned enough to reveal smooth skin beneath. And absurdly enough, it possessed long dark wavy hair flowing wildly around its shoulders, with some portions partially furred near the roots.

Even stranger, despite the obvious predatory appearance, the figure possessed an unmistakably feminine structure.

Yet at the same time, there was nothing truly human about it either.

Sharp claws extended from both its hands and feet. A long tail swayed slowly behind it. Golden eyes glowed intensely within the darkness while animalistic instincts radiated from its body with overwhelming clarity.

The figure had one clawed hand pressed tightly against Liam’s neck, the tips of its claws nearly piercing through his flesh. At the same time, one knee was planted directly against Liam’s already injured thigh, forcing a sharp pulse of pain through his leg. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Meanwhile, Liam hadn’t simply allowed this to happen.

He too had one dagger raised in a reverse grip with the blade tip resting mere millimeters away from the figure’s throat, while his second dagger hovered dangerously close to severing the arm around his neck completely.

Even though both of them could have gone for the kill immediately, they both froze as they properly took in each other’s faces.

Recognition crossed both of their expressions almost instantly.

"Charlotte?"