Villagers who had only moments earlier been tending to their families or carrying supplies gradually turned toward Erin and Elena, watching them with guarded expressions that hadn't existed before.
Erin noticed the change immediately.
She quietly joined Elena before directing her attention toward another small group gathered nearby.
"Has anyone entered Blackwood Mountain recently?"
Not a single person answered.
Several villagers lowered their heads.
Others deliberately avoided meeting her gaze.
A young mother instinctively pulled her little boy behind her, holding him tightly against her side as though trying to shield him from the conversation itself.
Finally, another elderly man stepped forward.
"There is no mountain."
Elena frowned slightly.
She turned toward the enormous silhouette towering over Blackwood Village, its dark outline dominating the horizon beneath the fading night sky.
"Then... what is that?"
The old man's breathing became noticeably uneven.
