The first howl shattered the dusk.
It wasn't like any ordinary wolf's call…this was low, guttural, and soaked in an ancient kind of malice that chilled the spine.
Then came the second, then a third, until the very air around the hilltop camp quivered with their approach.
The Hounds had arrived.
Black shadows poured in from the treeline like smoke made flesh, monstrous creatures with eyes that glowed like burning coals and bodies that seemed to melt in and out of the darkness. They were canines in only the most basic form.
Each was at least twice the size of a regular wolf, with spiked ridges running down their backs and saliva that sizzled against the earth. They were the Council's dogs of death, summoned only when exile or punishment wasn't enough.
The screams came next…from the camp behind Autumn and Kieran.
"Run! Run!" a woman shrieked, clutching her toddler to her chest as she stumbled down a dirt path.
