The fog rolled in without warning.
One moment, the forest path was clear beneath Liora's boots, moonlight slipping between the branches in pale silver ribbons.
The next, the air thickened so suddenly she nearly walked straight into it,cold, heavy, wrong. It clung to her skin like damp fingers and swallowed sound whole.
Liora stopped.
The forest had gone silent.
No insects.
No wind.
No distant owl calls.
Her breath fogged instantly, though the night had been mild only minutes ago. She tightened her grip on the lantern and forced herself to take another step forward.
The light barely cut through the mist now, its glow dulled, as if the fog itself drank it in.
"This isn't right," she muttered.
The elders always warned about nights like this. Nights when the forest changed its mind about what it was. Nights when paths led somewhere they shouldn't.
Liora should have turned back.
Instead, she heard it.
A sound not quite a growl,
not quite a scream dragged through the fog ahead of her. It was broken, uneven, like something struggling to breathe through shattered lungs.
Her heart lurched.
Another sound followed. Flesh tearing Nails scraping against bark.
"Hello?"
Her voice came out thinner than she meant it to. The fog swallowed it instantly.
She took one step.
Then another,
The trees loomed closer together, their trunks black and twisted, roots clawing at the earth as if trying to crawl free. The air smelled of iron
Blood.
The lantern light caught on something dark at the base of a tree.
At first, she thought it was an animal,some wounded creature dragged itself there to die. But then it moved.
A shoulder convulsed. Fingers dug into the dirt, too long, joints bending at the wrong angles.
Liora's breath hitched.
A boy lay half-collapsed against the tree trunk, his body slick with blood and shadow. His clothes were torn to shreds, fabric shredded as if claws had burst through from the inside.
One hand no, not a hand,ended in talons pressed into the soil.
He lifted his head.
Gold eyes burned through the fog.
"Don't come closer," he rasped.
The voice was human. The sound that followed wasn't.
His back arched violently, spine bowing as something moved beneath his skin. Bones cracked.
Muscle twisted,
His fingers lengthened further, claws gouging deep furrows into the ground as if anchoring himself to reality.
Liora staggered back a step, pulse roaring in her ears.
"You're hurt," she said stupidly.
The boy laughed,a broken, strangled sound
"You don't understand."
His gaze locked onto her face, pupils flaring, gold bleeding outward until there was almost nothing human left in his eyes.
"Run," he growled. "Before I,
He screamed.
The sound tore out of him, raw and feral, echoing through the fog. Liora clamped her hands over her ears, but she couldn't block out the wet crunch of shifting bone or the way his shadow stretched unnaturally across the forest floor.
Then it answered.
A roar thundered from somewhere deep in the mist, so massive it made the ground shudder beneath her feet. Trees groaned. Leaves burst from branches in panicked showers.
The boy froze.
Every muscle in his body went rigid, as if yanked by invisible strings.
"Oh no," he whispered. It heard me.
Liora's stomach dropped
What heard you?
His gaze snapped back to her, terror briefly overpowering the monster in his eyes.
It's looking for me.
Another roar split the air,closer this time. Heavy footsteps followed, slow and deliberate, each one vibrating through Liora's bones.
She should have run.
Instead, she moved toward him.
"I can help you," she said, though she had no idea how.
"NO!"
He lunged toward her suddenly, faster than any human should move.
Liora stumbled backward, tripped over a root, and fell hard onto the forest floor. The lantern rolled from her grip, light spinning wildly as the boy skidded to a halt inches from her face.
His claws hovered at her throat.
She stared up at him,
heart hammering, waiting for pain that didn't come.
His entire body trembled, muscles locked in violent restraint. Sweat and blood poured down his face as he gritted his teeth hard enough she heard them grind.
"Don't," he begged hoarsely.
If I lose control
Then don't,she whispered.
The words slipped out before fear could stop them.
Something flickered in his expression. Confusion.
Shock.
The roar sounded again, close enough now that Liora felt it in her ribs.
The boy snarled, dragging himself away from her, claws scraping desperately as he shoved himself back against the tree.
Hide, he said. Please.
Liora scrambled to her feet and grabbed the lantern.
"You're bleeding. You'll die out here."
"That might be better," he said bitterly.
The fog shifted.
For a heartbeat, the mist thinned,and Liora saw it.
A massive silhouette moved between the trees, towering, hunched, its eyes glowing like twin embers in the dark. Spines jutted from its back, scraping bark as it passed.
Its breath steamed in heavy clouds, each exhale slow and hungry.
The Nightbeast.
The word surfaced unbidden, cold and heavy in her mind.
The boy let out a broken sob. It's too close.
Liora's legs trembled, but she forced herself to think
Can you move?
He nodded once, jaw clenched. If I try.
Then try, she said.
She darted forward, slinging his arm over her shoulder before he could argue. He was heavier than he looked, his body unnaturally warm, heat bleeding through her clothes as if something inside him burned too hot to contain.
The Nightbeast roared again, enraged now.
They staggered into the undergrowth as branches whipped at Liora's face and thorns tore at her sleeves.
The boy gasped with every step, claws retracting slightly, then extending again as his body fought itself.
"Don't speak," he said suddenly panic
sharpening his voice.
Whatever you do,don't say my name.
Liora frowned. Why?
Because it hears it.
She opened her mouth to argue,
and his body convulsed violently.
He screamed as the mark beneath his torn shirt flared, black lines crawling across his chest like living ink.
His gold eyes burned brighter, and the fog around them swirled as if drawn toward him.
The Nightbeast howled in answer.
Liora grabbed his face without thinking, forcing him to look at her.
Hey. Stay with me.
His breath stuttered.
The transformation slowed.
The gold in his eyes dimmed, just a fraction.
They stared at each other, frozen in that fragile moment.
"How… did you do that?" he whispered.
Liora swallowed. I don't know.
The fog thickened again.
A branch snapped nearby.
Heavy footsteps closed in.
The boy's claws flexed once more as terror surged back through him. He looked at her, despair flooding his expression.
You should have run,he said softly.
The Nightbeast burst through the fog.