The forest seemed to hold its breath, as if time had frozen after the first monster exploded. But Kael knew. That was only the beginning. The magic that lingered in the air was not an echo—it was a harbinger.
And then, the ground shook.
Coming from all sides, shadows crept, dripping like paint from the trees, taking shape. Each one a different aberration. Tall, short, with too many limbs or mouths where they shouldn't be. Kael's eyes narrowed.
He rolled his shoulders, twisted his wrists, and smiled crookedly.
"Let's go. Let hell begin."
The first creature leaped from the left, made of tendons and sharp claws. Kael swung his ice sword in a horizontal motion, decapitating it with surgical precision. The blood that spurted out evaporated before it touched him, frozen by the blade's cutting trail.
