The first two days were unnervingly smooth. The forest was terrifyingly silent; even the calls of birds and the chirping of insects had vanished. Kaelen ordered that we take turns on watch at night, and no one was to leave the camp for any reason.
On the third night, I had a short nightmare.
I dreamt I was floating in mid-air, looking down on the campsite we had just left that day.
Several dark, twisted figures were searching the embers of our campfire like hounds. Their movements were stiff yet purposeful. One of them picked up a scrap of food we had discarded and greedily sniffed it.
Suddenly, as if sensing my presence, it snapped its head up. From its decayed face, where no features could be distinguished, two hollow eye sockets burning with red flames locked directly onto my gaze!
They… had seen me!
"Ah!"
I jolted awake, drenched in a cold sweat. The image of those abyssal red eyes was still seared into my retinas.
"What is it?"
A low, hoarse voice suddenly sounded beside me.
I jumped, turning to see Kaelen standing at the entrance of my tent. He was wearing only a thin tunic, clearly roused from sleep and having rushed over. In the moonlight, his lightless eyes were fixed on me.
In that same instant, a strange chill shot up my spine. Forgetting his question, I immediately strained my ears to listen.
"There's something… outside," I whispered with certainty.
Kaelen's expression instantly turned grim. He didn't doubt my words but immediately turned and made a warning gesture towards the camp.
I felt… something in the darkness outside the camp was watching us.
Not one pair of eyes, but many.
I listened closely and could hear a very faint shuffling sound, like dry bones scraping against the ground. The sound was barely there, a phantom presence.
"Who's there?!"
Ulf, who was on watch, suddenly roared!
The next second, several dark figures, identical to the ones in my dream, burst from the woods with astonishing speed, charging straight for the camp!
"Ambush!"
The alarm instantly rang through the camp!
Kaelen reacted as fast as lightning. He didn't even shift. His longsword was already drawn, expertly parrying a shadow that lunged at Rosalind.
"Light the fires!" he roared.
Drake and the guards reacted quickly, lighting the prepared torches and throwing them into the surroundings. The firelight dispelled some of the darkness and, for the first time, revealed the true appearance of our uninvited guests.
They were werewolves, and yet they were not. Their bodies were twisted and withered, their fur sparse. Their movements were stiff, yet they possessed immense strength and were fearless of death. In their hollow eye sockets, blood-red flames burned.
"What… what the hell are these things?!" Rosalind shrieked. An arrow she fired struck one of the monsters in the chest but only produced a metallic clang, as if it had hit stone.
The battle descended into chaos. These monsters were impervious to our blades, fearless of pain. Soon, two guards were wounded by their claws, and a blackness immediately spread from the wounds.
Their numbers grew, pouring out of the darkness from all directions, seemingly endless. Their circle was tightening around us.
Just as we were about to be completely overwhelmed, several whistling arrows suddenly shot out from the other side of the forest!
The arrows seemed to be coated with some special substance and struck several of the monsters in the head. With a few piercing shrieks, the seemingly invincible creatures actually fell to the ground!
"This way! Quickly!" a strange voice called out from the darkness.
Several agile figures burst from the dense woods on our flank, shifting into giant werewolves. They were skilled and coordinated, tearing open a small gap for us.
"Retreat!" Kaelen made a snap decision and gave the order.
We fought as we fell back, and under the cover of the strange werewolves, we finally broke through the encirclement. The remaining monsters seemed to receive some kind of command and did not press the attack. One of them let out a sharp cry, and all the dark figures quickly retreated, vanishing into the depths of the dark forest.
We followed the werewolves, running wildly through the forest for nearly an hour until the howls behind us had completely faded.
"Who are you?" Kaelen asked warily, looking at the strange werewolves who had saved us.
Their leader was a middle-aged man with a long scar on his face and a steady, sharp gaze.
"We are hunters from Creek Valley Village," he said, putting away his bow and bowing to Kaelen. "Lord Alpha, this is no place to talk. Those things… will be after us again soon. Come back to the village with us first."
We followed the hunters to their village, Creek Valley, hidden deep in a mountain valley.
The village was small but full of life. The villagers were warm and hospitable, curious about us "important people" from the capital.
We had brought back the corpse of one of the monsters killed by an arrow. In the village square, the chief and Kaelen examined the body. Its skin was dark and shriveled, its limbs twisted, and its fur sparse. It exuded a thick stench of decay, like a rabid werewolf zombie that had just crawled out of its grave.
"These things… are not living," the village chief said, tapping the monster's skull with his pipe, which made a sound like stone. "It's a curse. An ancient curse from the Wailing Canyon."
That night, the villagers lit a grand bonfire in our honor. In the warm firelight and the simple kindness of the people, my tense nerves finally began to relax.
The chief's granddaughter, a one-eyed young wolf-girl named Heidi, curiously approached me.
"Your eyes are so pretty," she said, pointing to her own scarred eye, then to mine. "One is like an amethyst, and the other is like a sapphire. Much prettier than mine…"
"Yours are pretty too," I said sincerely, looking at her one bright eye. "Like a piece of obsidian."
She laughed happily.
On the other side of the fire, Drake and Ulf were also relaxing for a rare moment. Drake was expertly carving a large, sizzling piece of roasted venison with his dagger.
"Here," he said, handing a piece of the tenderloin to Ulf. "Eat up. Your leg still doesn't look completely healed."
"Thanks, Lord Drake," Ulf said, taking the meat and chewing it heartily. "This little scratch is nothing."
"Nothing?" Drake snorted, taking a swig of ale. "If it wasn't for Lady Luna that night, you'd probably be fighting with the lame beggars in some human town for territory right now."
Ulf flushed and didn't argue, just gnawed on the meat more forcefully. He glanced at me across the fire, his eyes filled with gratitude and reverence.
"Speaking of which," Ulf mumbled, "this Lady Luna… seems different from the legends."
"Shut up," Drake cut him off sternly. "Don't discuss things you shouldn't. Drink your ale."
Ulf immediately fell silent, but both their gazes, along with Kaelen's, drifted towards me.
Rosalind sat close to Kaelen like a hostess, constantly pouring him wine, offering him the best roasted meat, and loudly boasting of her own prowess in battle.
Kaelen's reaction to her enthusiasm was cold, a mere polite nod. But his peripheral vision was constantly darting past the dancing flames towards me as I spoke with Heidi.
Just then, a drunk young villager staggered over to me.
"Beautiful lady, may… may I have this dance?"
I froze, at a loss.
"She's tired."
A low, powerful voice, not loud, but it instantly cut through the noise of the party.
It was Kaelen.
He had stood up and walked over to me. In an unquestionable tone, he told the villager, "Let her rest."
The villager sobered up instantly, apologized profusely, and scurried away.
Kaelen handed me his own untouched mug of warm ale.
"Drink something warm."
I took the warm ale, stunned, and looked at him. Rosalind's face, in the firelight, had turned exceptionally ugly.
"Last night…" I gathered my courage and asked him in a low voice, under the cover of the loud music, "why… did you appear at my tent door?"
Kaelen's body stiffened. He didn't look at me, just stared at the dancing flames, the tips of his ears turning an unnatural red in the firelight.
"I heard you scream," he answered vaguely.
"Just because I screamed?"
"Yes… I have good hearing," he added stiffly.
"Oh," I drew out the word, my tone feigning a sudden realization. "I thought Lord Alpha was worried that something had happened to this 'important offering,' which might affect the peace treaty you signed with the South."
He whipped his head around, his obsidian eyes seeming to burn with a flicker of anger in the firelight.
"Is that the kind of person you think I am?"
"What else?" I returned his gaze without fear. "The way you look at me, isn't it like you're looking at a walking object?"
My words left him speechless. His lips moved, but no sound came out. In the end, he could only sullenly take a drink of ale.
Seeing him so flustered, my mood inexplicably improved, and I took several large gulps of ale.
"Speaking of which," I changed the subject, swirling the ale in my mug, "I should thank you. If you hadn't locked me in the tower, I never would have had the chance to appreciate the night view of Winterfang. Also… a certain 'neighbor' is a bit too loud at night."
Kaelen nearly choked on his ale, coughing violently. "What… neighbor?"
"The giant black wolf," I said, taking a large swig of ale. "It seems to really like my shawl. But, Lord Alpha, I've always been curious, what treasure are you hiding in that attic room that no one is allowed to enter? It's not really full of… like the legends say…"
"Of course not!" he cut me off coldly, a hint of panic in his voice.
"Alright, if you don't want to say, then don't," I shrugged with a smile, slowly drawing the "Moon Shadow's Sting" from my waist and playing with it in the firelight. "I'm not interested in your 'collection' anyway. I just want to know if my friend, Willow, has also been 'collected' by you."
Kaelen's face darkened completely. "I did not take your friend."
"Really? Then why are you so flustered?" I used the tip of the "Moon Shadow's Sting" to flick at the sparks in the fire. "Do you think this dagger would be useful against those monsters? Or perhaps… it would be equally effective against certain ill-tempered 'black wolves'?"
He looked at the silver dagger in my hand, his expression becoming extremely complicated. "Where did you get that?"
"Liam gave it to me. It's called the 'Moon Shadow's Sting'," I said, my tone deliberately light. "He's much… gentler than some people."
The words were a needle, and they found their mark.
He was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, his voice hoarse, "You… you like him a lot?"
"Liam is a good person," I didn't answer directly, just took another large gulp of ale. The northern ale was stronger than I expected. The spicy liquid burned my throat, and my cheeks grew hot.
"A good person?" Kaelen sneered. "Yes. Of course he is."
He returned the dagger to me and stopped looking at me, just drained the ale in his cup.
Perhaps his dejected look moved me. I looked at him and blurted out, "The Lord Alpha has taken so many girls to 'serve' you. Do you really care who your nominal 'Luna' likes?"
Kaelen froze. He whipped his head around, his bottomless eyes locking onto me.
Then, he snatched the half-empty mug of ale from my hand.
"You've had too much to drink," he said in a low voice, and drained my ale as well.
"I have not…" I was about to argue when a strong wave of dizziness washed over me. I truly couldn't hold my liquor. My body went limp, and I nearly fell into the fire.
A strong, powerful arm wrapped steadily around my waist.
My entire body was pressed against his hard, warm chest. I could clearly smell the scent of leather, pine, and a faint, dangerous something on him.
"Steady," his voice was hoarse, a suppressed command.
"I…" my tongue began to twist, and my vision blurred. "I… I think I really am… a little dizzy…"
He said nothing more, just used the arm around my waist to half-support, half-force me away from the noisy bonfire party and towards the cabin the chief had arranged for us.
On the way, I practically hung all my weight on him. His arm was like an iron band, holding me securely in his embrace. The forced intimacy made my heart beat uncontrollably faster.
He led me to the door of the cabin and let go.
I stumbled, steadying myself against the doorframe.
"Get some rest," he said, and turned to leave.
"Kae—len—" I don't know where the courage came from, but for the first time, I called his name.
He stopped but didn't turn back.
"You…" I looked at his broad, lonely back and, emboldened by the alcohol, asked softly, "you seem… you're not as bad as the legends say."
He didn't answer.
He just stood there for a moment, then, without looking back, disappeared into the night.