---
The train's echo faded into the distance, leaving only the creak of the old rails and the whisper of the wind through the jagged mountains. Tyser Kingdom stretched before them — a land both breathtaking and merciless.
The sky had changed.
At first, it was only a crimson haze on the horizon. But now, it had thickened, bleeding into every cloud until the heavens looked like they were burning.
---
The Party
Raven Stryke — the quiet strategist — kept his eyes low, one hand hovering over the hilt of his blade. His gaze was not on the sky, but on the ground, scanning for the faint shimmer that meant a monster's core was close to the surface.
Liora Veyrn walked ahead, her long braid swaying with each step. She wasn't fearless — but she was determined, and she hid her nerves with a smirk that fooled almost everyone.
Kane Drell, the bruiser with more strength than patience, kicked at the loose stones, muttering about finding a fight soon.
Behind them, Maris Aethryn, the scholar, scribbled in her weathered journal. Every scrap of history mattered to her — even the old myths the locals whispered.
And then there was Aedric Vale, the protagonist — though none of them knew it yet.
He walked in silence, listening to every sound, cataloging every threat. His mind was a storm of questions, his heart still racing from the first night in Tyser.
---
A Shadow on the Cliff
They found the first body at dusk.
It lay sprawled across the rocks, armor split open as if crushed from within. No blood — only a faint, glowing crack where the heart should be. The mark of a core strike.
Maris crouched beside it, her fingers trembling as she traced the edges of the wound.
> "This… wasn't a normal beast. The strike was too precise. This was… planned."
Aedric glanced up.
> "Planned? Monsters don't plan."
> "These ones do," Maris whispered, closing the corpse's eyes. "The old records spoke of it — the Core Hunters. Monsters that hunt the core of others… and of us."
From high above, a boulder shifted.
They froze.
A massive silhouette shifted against the dying light — wings tucked, eyes glowing faintly gold. It didn't move closer. It was watching.
---
The Blood Sky
The wind picked up, carrying the scent of iron and ash. The clouds overhead churned faster, swirling into a spiral. And then — it happened.
The sky split.
A deep scar of black tore through the red haze, and from it came a sound — not a roar, not a scream, but a low, vibrating pulse that seemed to shiver inside their bones.
Liora staggered.
> "What… was that?"
Maris's voice broke.
> "An omen. The Blood Sky means something is crossing over."
Kane grinned.
> "Good. I was getting bored."
But Aedric's chest tightened.
Somewhere inside him, a memory stirred — a brief, blurred vision of this exact sky, of flames, and a hand reaching for him. He couldn't remember whose.
---
The Ambush
The first attack came from behind.
A ripple in the ground — then a spike of black crystal shot upward, barely missing Liora's leg. Aedric moved without thinking, tackling her to the ground just as a second spike erupted where she had been standing.
The monster emerged — half-serpent, half-wolf, its hide pulsing with blue light where its core shifted under the skin. Its jaws opened too wide, revealing rows of needle teeth.
Kane charged in, hammer swinging, but his strike glanced off the beast's shifting armor.
Maris shouted:
> "The core! It's in the spine!"
Aedric's eyes locked on the faint glow along the monster's back.
He sprinted forward, vaulted off Kane's shoulder, and drove his blade downward. The steel sank into the core, and with a sound like shattering glass, the monster collapsed, its body dissolving into smoke.
---
The Foreshadow
They didn't celebrate.
Because when the smoke cleared, they saw it — etched into the rock beneath where the beast had fallen. A symbol. A spiral of jagged lines that looked almost like an eye.
Maris's face went pale.
> "That's… not from this world."
Aedric stared at it, something cold settling in his gut.
He didn't know why, but he felt like the symbol was watching him back.
And far above, the winged figure on the cliff turned and vanished into the crimson haze.
---
To be continued.....