What was the truth at this point?
Tiza could no longer tell.His thoughts ran wildly through his mind as he considered every possibility. The destruction he had witnessed at the camp refused to leave him. So much blood had been spilled. So much blood stained the earth.
Yet something about the scene continued to trouble him.
The numbers.
There had been more soldiers.
Far more than the ones he remembered being present during his capture.
Even now, as he followed the trail, he could sense it.
The dragged cages.
The countless footprints.
The marks left by horses.
The signs of a much larger force moving through the area.
Everything pointed toward a single direction.
The edge of the forest.
Tiza could not know what awaited him there.
But he cared little for his own safety.
His thoughts remained fixed on only a few things.
The women.
The children.
The prisoners.
And the newborn.
Lara's secret continued to echo in the back of his mind.
Part of what she had revealed concerned the night of their child's birth.
The full moon.
The Blood Moon.
A sacred event celebrated by the village once every decade.
For generations, the villagers had treated it as more than a festival. It was a tradition wrapped in mystery, passed from elder to elder, its true meaning known only to a select few.
Tiza himself had never fully understood it.
Not completely.But according to the ancient stories, a child born beneath the Blood Moon carried a special significance.A purpose.A destiny.
Something that connected them to secrets older than the village itself.
Yet even now, that was not what occupied his thoughts.
Not yet.
The mystery of his child could wait.What mattered now was survival.He needed answers.
He needed to know whether anyone had lived.
More than anything, he hoped the trail would lead him to Jeremiah.To the prisoners.To the newborn.To his people.
As he continued his hunt, a new scent drifted into the air.
Salt.Cold water.The sea.
Immediately, his senses sharpened.He knew he was getting closer.
The scent became stronger with every step.Thicker.Clearer.Alive.
Something was there.Someone was there.His pace increased.
The Shadow Wolf surged forward through the trees, his powerful legs carrying him at frightening speed. Branches snapped behind him as he pushed deeper toward the source.
His muscles tightened.His breathing grew heavier.
The anticipation inside him became almost unbearable.
Closer.
Closer.
Then suddenly, the forest ended.
The trees parted.
The open seashore appeared before him.
Tiza burst from the treeline and immediately stopped.
His body froze.
His glowing eyes widened.
For a brief moment, he simply stared.
Straight ahead.
Unmoving.
Silent.
What stood before him was something he had never expected to find.
Something that shocked him completely.
Yet at the same time...
Relief wrapped around his heart.For the first time since leaving Lara and their child behind, he knew one thing with certainty.
Someone had survived.