The deeper Alex went into the hunting grounds, the more wrong everything felt.
The beasts he encountered weren't normal. Their eyes glowed faint red, veins bulging with dark lines pulsing across their bodies like veins of molten tar. Strange symbols flickered on their hides, glowing faintly with ominous light. Their movements were erratic yet ferocious, as though something primal and corrupted was driving them.
This isn't natural… Alex thought, cutting down another wolf-like beast whose body twisted even in death, muscles spasming long after its head had rolled across the dirt. The blood steaming from its wounds reeked like burning iron.
Wiping his blade clean, Alex pressed forward. That's when he heard it—
Clang. Crash. Screams.
The sound of fighting carried across the trees, rough and violent. Alex's instincts kicked in. He lowered his presence, sliding into the shadows of the thicket, boots silent against the damp earth.
Peering past a cluster of rocks, his eyes narrowed.
