The roar echoed through the eastern forest like a living shockwave.

Branches trembled violently overhead as loose bark and dead leaves rained down from the canopy. The sound itself felt wrong up close. It wasn’t simply loud. It carried pressure behind it. Like rage and hunger. Something instinctive enough to unsettle the body before the mind even had time to fully process it.

Charlotte immediately lowered herself slightly, her golden eyes darting toward the darkness ahead.

"Yeah, no," she muttered quietly. "I officially hate this place even more now."

Smoke’s growling deepened.

The shadow wolf remained low to the ground, every muscle tense while all four glowing eyes stayed fixed toward the direction the roar had come from. His claws pressed lightly into the dirt beneath him, ready to launch at any second.

Liam stood still between them.

Calm, almost too calm.

And that was exactly what Charlotte found disturbing right now.

Most people would have reacted differently after hearing something like that from this close. She expected to finally see at least fear, unease, or hesitation from the dark mage. Even the smallest flinch would have been normal.

Instead, Liam looked focused.

Clearly interested.

Like the roar had confirmed something for him.

The forest around them remained eerily still afterward as there were no more movements, shifting figures between the trees, or glimpses of dark shapes passing through the canopy.

That alone made the atmosphere even worse somehow.

Charlotte slowly looked toward Liam.

"Please tell me you aren’t smiling right now."

"I’m not."

"Don’t bullshit me, bae."

"I feel you are rather bullshitting yourself, Charlotte," Liam said insanely calmly. "Why would I smile in a situation like this?"

Charlotte looked at him with a surprised, skeptical expression.

’Is he trying to gaslight me right now?’ she thought as she stared at him in almost annoyed silence.

Liam, however, scanned the surrounding forest carefully.

The glowing red eyes from moments ago had disappeared completely, but the sensation of being watched still lingered heavily around them. It pressed against the back of his neck, crawled across his skin, and settled in the space between one breath and the next.

And now that the roar had happened, Liam understood something important.

The creatures surrounding them earlier hadn’t been hunting them.

At least, not directly.

They had been observing them, and whatever had roared just now was what they answered to.

Charlotte crossed her arms tightly, though her posture remained ready to move.

"I’m really missing your cozy cave even more now."

Another low rumble echoed distantly through the forest.

Farther away now.

Moving.

Liam listened carefully, letting the vibration of the sound pass through the trees before fading into the thicker shadows ahead.

Then his eyes shifted eastward.

"It’s moving deeper."

Charlotte immediately narrowed her eyes.

"You are not about to follow that thing right now."

"I didn’t say I was."

"You were thinking it."

Liam remained silent.

Charlotte pointed at him immediately.

"See? That silence means I’m right."

Before Liam could respond, Smoke suddenly shifted again, drawing both their attention.

The shadow wolf’s ears twitched sharply. Not toward the direction of the roar this time, but toward the darker trees surrounding them.

There were several movements around, and they didn’t sound like circling movements like before. These movements were approaching, and they were approaching fast.

Liam’s expression sharpened slightly.

Charlotte felt it too.

Her nose flared once, then her eyes narrowed as she stared into the surrounding darkness.

"They’re coming," she said quietly.

Smoke released a deeper growl, and the shadows around his body stirred faintly.

Liam didn’t need to ask what she meant.

The figures that had been watching them were moving now.

The first one hit the ground ahead of them with a heavy, violent thud.

Then another dropped from the branches to their left.

A third emerged from behind a tree to the right, its claws scraping through bark as it lowered itself onto all fours.

Then the fourth and fifth appeared almost together, slipping from different angles like shadows becoming flesh.

Five demons which were clearly Advanced Horrors.

They all stood on four limbs, with each one nearly the size of a fully grown horse, but their bodies were leaner, uglier, and far more grotesque. Their limbs were long and corded with unnatural muscle, ending in hooked claws that dug into the ground with each slow movement. Their spines protruded beneath dark gray flesh, lined with jagged ridges that twitched faintly as they breathed.

Their heads were narrow and stretched, with wide mouths full of layered teeth. Their eyes glowed a faint, dirty red beneath their brows, not as dark or intelligent as the eyes Liam had seen moments ago, but close enough to feel related.

Worse still, their Myst felt wrong.

It was not purely their own.

There was something beneath it. Some kind of residue and distortion.

The same heavy, metallic scent Charlotte had described earlier. The same heated blood and sharpness in the air. The same pressure that had followed the roar, only weaker and scattered among them.

Charlotte swallowed softly.

"Those aren’t normal Advanced Horrors."

"No," Liam said calmly.

The demons lowered their bodies almost in unison, jaws parting as wet, clicking breaths slipped between their teeth.

They weren’t rushing immediately. They were measuring them.

That alone told Liam they were more intelligent than ordinary Horrors.

"Smoke," Liam called quietly.

The shadow wolf didn’t look back.

"Full size."

The darkness beneath Smoke’s feet surged outward.

His body expanded immediately, growing larger and heavier as shadow gathered around him like smoke being pulled into bone and muscle. His already dangerous frame stretched until he stood nearly the same size as the Advanced Horrors surrounding them. The spikes along his back sharpened, his jaws widened, and all four glowing eyes burned brighter in the dark.

Charlotte glanced at the shadow wolf despite the situation.

"Okay," she muttered. "That’s still creepy."

The first demon moved.

It dashed low to the ground, cutting through the space between trees with terrifying speed while two others shifted simultaneously from different sides.

They were trying to split them.

Liam moved before they could complete the formation.

His dagger appeared in his right hand as he stepped forward, and a thin layer of flame crawled along the blade’s edge.

The first Advanced Horror lunged at him, jaws opening wide.

Liam slipped sideways at the last second, letting its maw pass inches from his shoulder before driving his dagger down into the side of its neck.

The blade bit into flesh, but not deep enough.

The hide was too tough. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

’As expected.’

Liam pushed off the demon’s shoulder and released a short burst of flame from beneath his heel, forcing distance before the creature could twist and snap at him again.

At the same time, Smoke collided with another demon head-on.

The impact shook the forest floor.

Both massive creatures dug their claws into the dirt as they tried to overpower one another. The Advanced Horror snapped at Smoke’s face, but Smoke twisted his head aside and drove his jaws into the creature’s shoulder. Shadow-coated teeth sank deep, tearing through muscle and armor-like hide.

The demon shrieked and slammed its body into Smoke, forcing the shadow wolf backward several feet.

Charlotte moved when the third and fourth demons came for her.

She didn’t enter her beast-dominant form.

Instead, her claws extended from her fingers and her golden eyes sharpened, her human-dominant transformation strengthening her body just enough for combat without draining her reserves too quickly. Dark fur traced along portions of her forearms and calves, while her movements became sharper, quieter, and more feline.

One demon lunged low.

Charlotte twisted away, claws flashing across its face. The strike cut through one eye and sent black blood splattering across the roots beside her. The demon snarled and snapped blindly at her, but she ducked beneath the bite and kicked off a tree trunk, flipping backward to avoid the second demon charging from the side.

She was fast, very fast. But she was holding back.

Liam noticed it immediately.

It wasn’t because she lacked courage, but rather, it was because she was conserving herself.

The fifth demon had yet to commit.

It circled just beyond the nearest trees, watching for an opening.

That was the problem.

These things weren’t fighting like animals, they were actually working together.

Liam’s eyes shifted briefly toward Charlotte just as one of the demons fighting her feinted a retreat. Charlotte moved after it for half a step, then stopped.

But the second demon had already begun moving from her blind side.

Fast.

Too fast for her to turn fully.

"Charlotte!" Liam called out.

She reacted to his voice, but her body was a fraction too late.

The demon came from behind her left side, jaws wide and claws aimed for her ribs.

Liam vanished from where he stood in a controlled burst of flame.

He appeared between Charlotte and the attacking demon with his left arm already raised. His dagger met the creature’s claws in a brutal clash, sparks and flame scattering outward from the impact.

The force pushed Liam’s boots back across the dirt, while Charlotte’s eyes widened slightly behind him.

The demon opened its mouth to bite.

Liam’s right palm lifted toward its chest.

A small orb of flame formed instantly at the center of his hand.

A miniature sun at low output.

"Move," Liam said calmly.

Charlotte threw herself backward.

The orb shot forward.

It struck the demon directly over the core area and detonated outward with a sharp, concentrated burst. Fire drilled through flesh and hardened bone-like plating, punching into the chest cavity with enough force to make the demon’s body seize mid-lunge.

At the same instant, Liam’s dagger flashed upward.

The flaming blade cut clean through the demon’s neck, causing its head to separate from its body as the core ruptured inside its chest.

The corpse collapsed heavily between them.

Charlotte landed several feet away, golden eyes fixed on Liam.

For once, she didn’t immediately tease.

Smoke snarled as he tore a chunk from the shoulder of the demon he was fighting and slammed it into the ground. Another Advanced Horror lunged toward him from the side, forcing him to leap away before it could clamp down on his flank.

Four remained.

Liam glanced at Charlotte.

"Run."

Charlotte blinked.

"What?"

"Run, you need to conserve the remaining Myst you have," Liam repeated, eyes still fixed on the remaining demons. "I’ll hold them off. Just go."

Charlotte stared at him for barely half a second.

"Don’t die, Baedyguard," she said, already turning.

Then she ran.

Fast.

She dashed back through the direction they had come from, moving low through the trees with quiet, fluid strides. Within seconds, her figure began fading into the darkness between the roots and trunks.

One of the Advanced Horrors tried to chase her.

Liam intercepted it immediately.

He appeared in its path and drove his dagger straight toward its eye. The demon twisted away, avoiding the killing thrust, but that alone stopped its pursuit.

Smoke lunged into the opening and crashed into the demon’s side, dragging it away from Charlotte’s escape route.

"You’re staying here," Liam muttered.