The wooden cart jerked to a halt. Its iron-banded wheels sank deep into thick, black mud.
The air here felt wrong. Heavier. Freezing. The stench of rotting meat and sulfur burned Noctis's nostrils with every breath.
Gregor climbed down from the driver's seat. He yanked the iron lever on the back of the cart. The wooden gate dropped open.
"Get out."
Noctis didn't move fast enough. Gregor grabbed the back of his linen shirt and hurled him out. Noctis hit the wet earth hard. Cold, sticky mud coated his face and knees.
Rolf jumped down, an iron key in hand. He unlocked the rusted cuffs on Noctis's wrists. The skin beneath the metal was already rubbed raw and bleeding.
"Lord Umbra's rules are dead simple." Gregor stared at the expanse of hollowed trees behind Noctis. "Survive one full day in there. If you're still breathing by tomorrow's dawn and can walk your ass out... you might be allowed back. As a stable slave."
Rolf let out a harsh laugh, taking a swig from a leather flask. "Bedtime stories say ancient monsters sleep under this dirt. Don't worry about that shit, boy. The Rot Hounds will tear your guts out long before midnight."
"Move," Gregor ordered. His hand rested heavily on his sword hilt.
Noctis forced himself to stand. His legs trembled. He turned around, facing the canopy of black trees that blocked out the sky like a giant spiderweb. Gray mist crept over the muddy ground, curling around his ankles.
He walked in.
One step.
Two steps.
The jingle of horse harnesses and Rolf's rough laughter faded behind him, followed by the grinding of cart wheels rolling away. They didn't even bother waiting to see if Noctis would run back to the city gates. They knew he was a dead man walking.
The silence of the Deadwood Forest took over.
A suffocating stillness crushed the air—the heavy tension of a predator preparing to strike.
The temperature plummeted the second the sun dipped below the horizon. Noctis's thin linen shirt offered zero protection against the acidic wind biting into his bones. He crossed his arms over his chest, hugging himself.
He needed shelter. Now.
He dragged his feet past tree roots that bulged from the dirt like black veins. The ground beneath him felt unstable, hiding natural sinkholes. He thought of his mother, Liana. Coughing up black blood in the winter, ignored until she died because the Umbra family refused to waste healing potions on a servant.
That family threw her away. Now, they were throwing him away.
A limestone cliff emerged from the mist a hundred yards ahead. A narrow crack split its base. A shallow cave. Barely wide enough for a scrawny teenager to escape the freezing wind.
Noctis crawled into the rocky gap. The musty smell of wet earth and bat guano filled the cramped space. He curled up in the darkest corner, pulling his knees to his chest. His breath plumed into thick white vapor.
Night fell completely, swallowing the Deadwood Forest whole.
The rustle of dead leaves broke the silence.
Noctis stopped breathing. Every muscle in his body locked up.
Snap.
A twig broke right outside the mouth of the cave. Less than ten paces away. The sound lacked the random rhythm of the wind. Footsteps. Heavy and prowling.
The stench of ozone and rotten blood flowed into the cavern.
A shadow detached itself from the night. It took the shape of a massive panther, its body composed of thick, light-absorbing smoke. Two glowing red eyes pierced the dark, staring dead at the corner where Noctis hid.
Shadow Stalker. A Rank 3 monster.
Noctis's heart hammered against his ribs. The air felt violently sucked out of his lungs.
I refuse to die here as discarded trash.
His left hand patted the wet dirt blindly. His fingers brushed against a chunk of limestone the size of his fist. He gripped it hard, his knuckles turning white.
The beast stepped forward in complete silence, radiating a deadly, freezing aura.
"Fuck you," Noctis hissed. His voice was hoarse, shaking violently.
He hurled the rock with all his strength right at the shadow's head, then twisted his body, scrambling frantically toward the stone wall behind him.
The rock phased right through the Shadow Stalker's smoky form without making a dent.
The beast let out a low growl that rattled Noctis's teeth. It lunged, aiming to maim. It wanted to play.
Its shadowy claws swiped at Noctis's right ankle. Calf muscle tore open like a cheap rag. Fresh blood sprayed, splattering against the cave wall.
A strangled scream ripped from Noctis's throat. He faceplanted into the rocky dirt, his chin slamming down hard enough for his teeth to bite through his own tongue. Pain like boiling iron burned up his leg nerves, white-washing his vision.
Get up, you bastard! Move!
He dug his fingernails into the muddy ground, dragging his half-paralyzed body away from the entrance. Ten paces left to the back wall.
Something incredibly heavy pinned his back. His spine cracked. Air exploded from his lungs.
Extreme cold spread from his spine. The Shadow Stalker crushed him against the dirt. The beast's jaws opened right next to Noctis's ear. Drops of acidic saliva hit his neck, burning his skin.
"Cassius... Bastian..." Noctis cursed between ragged gasps. His hands clawed at the dirt, gripping black mud in a useless struggle. "Rot in hell, you pieces of shit."
The beast lost interest in playing.
Dagger-sized claws sank into Noctis's side. The natural blades sliced effortlessly through cloth and flesh, ripping his stomach wide open in one brutal, horizontal pull.
Hot blood flooded the limestone floor. His guts spilled out.
The pain instantly bypassed his brain's ability to process it. An extreme, hollow cold crept into the empty space where his organs used to be. Noctis rolled over, staring up at the cave ceiling.
The Shadow Stalker stood over him. It sniffed the steam rising from the fresh blood in the cold air, slowly lowering its snout for the throat.
Noctis's breath turned into thick blood bubbles. His entire body lay paralyzed. He couldn't scream. He couldn't fight back anymore.
There was no justice here. He was nothing but another pile of meat for a starving beast.
His eyes slowly lost focus. The dark canopy of the cave faded away, replaced by absolute nothingness.