On the other side of the village, the women’s group moved silently through the dense forest. Dressed in dark, fitted clothing that blended seamlessly with the shadows, they resembled assassins—swift and deadly—but their task was a different one. They were scouts. Their job was to navigate the forest, track herds of animals, and map the terrain for the hunting groups.

  The women moved with precision, their eyes sharp and calculating. Every tree, every rustle in the leaves was scrutinized. Their presence was ghostly—silent, swift, and efficient. They also had another, more secretive mission: to find a way to the center of the island, to locate the castle where the fabled immortality runes were said to be hidden. But little did they know, today they were being watched.

  Hidden in the shadows, something moved, something that was neither animal nor man. A presence, dark and formless, that stalked the women’s every step. It had been following them since they left the village, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

  As they navigated through the underbrush, one of the women, a younger scout named Ieva, misstepped. Her foot caught on a root, and with a sharp gasp, she dropped her torch. It fell to the ground with a soft thud, but the flame went out almost immediately, swallowed by the darkness of the forest.

  A split second of silence passed.

  Then, the scream pierced the air—a high, terrified wail that cut through the night like a blade. It echoed across the forest, sending shivers through the group.

  The other women froze, their hands instinctively reaching for their weapons. But before they could react, the shadows closed in around them, the forest seeming to come alive with an unnatural stillness.

  Ieva's scream faded into the night, but no one could move to help. A figure moved through the trees with the same unnatural speed, a dark silhouette slipping between the trunks. The women had made a fatal mistake—the shadows had found them.

  * * *

  Monika, the leader of the scout group, reacted quickly. With a commanding voice, she ordered, "Circle up! Torches up! Weapons ready!" Her sharp eyes scanned the forest, searching for any signs of the creature that had already claimed one of their own. The women obeyed, forming a tight circle, their torches flickering weakly in the growing darkness.

  "We need to retreat to the village," Monika shouted, her voice filled with urgency. "Move now!"

  The group began to slowly make their way back through the forest, but it felt as if the woods themselves were resisting their escape. The wind picked up, howling through the trees, the air thick with an unnatural chill. A deep sense of dread settled over the women, and as they trudged forward, one by one, their torches flickered and went out. Darkness swallowed the light.

  Panic began to rise among the younger girls, their breath quickening. Some of them started to scream and sprint, desperate to escape, but the shadows were already upon them. They didn’t see it coming—the creature moved with terrifying speed, faster than they could react. All they saw were heads flying from their shoulders, bodies crumpling to the ground, and then silence.

  "Stay together! Don’t split up!" Monika shouted, trying to regain control. But it was already too late. Her command was drowned out by the shrieks of her team, their terror ringing in the night.

  Monika cursed under her breath, her heart racing. Her first priority was the survival of her group. "Girls, run!" she screamed, her voice like steel. "I will hold it off!" Without waiting for a response, she dropped her torch to the forest floor, the light extinguishing immediately. She drew her two hand blades, gripping them tightly in her hands, her stance prepared for what was coming.

  The darkness closed in around her, and she could feel the presence of the creature—its malevolent energy like a cold weight pressing down on her chest. She heard it move, its footsteps like whispers in the wind, too fast, too quiet. Monika braced herself, swinging her blades at the first sign of movement.

  But the creature was too fast. In the blink of an eye, a shadow swept through the trees, and Monika was knocked to the ground. The flash of darkness was all she saw before everything went black—her head striking the earth with a sickening thud. The last thing she heard was the sound of her own heartbeat fading.

  The remaining seven girls ran, terrified and disoriented, the forest a blur around them. Their steps became erratic as they stumbled through the thick brush, desperate to escape the horrors chasing them.

  And then, in the distance, they saw it—a faint light, flickering like a beacon in the dark. It was the light of a cave, offering them the hope of refuge. With renewed strength, they pushed forward, their breath coming in ragged gasps, the distant rumble of the creature’s pursuit still echoing in their ears.

  * * *

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  The girls staggered into the cave, each of them barely able to keep their balance, their hearts still pounding with fear. With the last of their strength, they made their way to the bonfire that flickered in the corner, casting long, dancing shadows across the cave walls. The warmth of the fire, so close and inviting, seemed almost unreal after the terror they had just endured in the forest.

  But their relief was short-lived. Sitting by the fire was a figure they hadn’t seen before—a woman, her face weary but calm. She was staring into the flames, her expression distant, lost in thought.

  The girls instinctively pulled their weapons from their sides, eyes narrowed, watching the stranger carefully.

  "Who are you?" one of them demanded, her voice shaking but firm.

  The woman looked up slowly, her gaze clear and steady. "My name is Au?ra," she said, her voice soft but filled with an eerie sense of familiarity with the place. "I’ve been lost in this forest for a while now. I found this cave and made a bonfire."

  The girls exchanged uncertain glances. The forest was a place of terror, and anyone who could survive here long enough to build a fire was either incredibly lucky or very dangerous.

  One of the girls, still breathing heavily from their run, stepped forward and asked, "How did you end up in this forest in the first place?"

  Au?ra’s eyes seemed to darken as she spoke, a shadow crossing her face. "I was living here," she answered, her voice almost a whisper. "With my husband and son... for ten years. We lived here in peace, away from the rest of the world." Her gaze wandered toward the cave’s entrance, as though the memories of those years were still fresh.

  "Living here?" another girl asked, her voice incredulous. "In the forest? How could anyone live here?"

  Au?ra nodded, her eyes distant. "Yes. We built a life here. It was peaceful for a long time… but recently, something changed." She paused, her eyes tightening as she looked back at the fire. "The forest… it became more aggressive. The monsters... they became more active. It’s as if something is waking in the darkness. I don’t know what it is, but it’s… something evil."

  One of the girls, still trembling from the chase, spoke up cautiously. "What do you mean?"

  Au?ra’s face darkened, her voice steady but filled with grief. "One night, a monster came crawling through the chimney. It was different from the others. It had huge claws, and it wasn’t afraid of fire, or light. It attacked my family... right in front of me. My husband… my son..." Her breath hitched, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "It killed them both. And it left me alive. I don’t know why. It felt like it wanted to torment me. Maybe it’s because I’m the only one left who knows the truth about what’s happening here."

  The girls stood in stunned silence, their weapons lowering slightly, the weight of her words hanging heavy in the air. It was hard to process, hard to understand how a place so full of life and danger could turn into a death trap.

  "That… that’s horrible," one of the girls finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. "But… how did you survive? Why didn’t it kill you?"

  Au?ra gave a small, hollow laugh. "I don’t know. Maybe it was to send a message. Maybe it wanted me to suffer, to watch everything I loved be destroyed." She glanced at them, her eyes sharp with an intensity that they hadn’t expected. "But I’ve survived. And now, I’m here. Waiting. Trying to understand what’s happening in this forest. What’s causing these creatures to become more aggressive, more deadly.

  * * *

  One of the girls, her voice trembling, spoke up. "Near here, there's a village. We all live there. If we take some fire from the bonfire, we could try to make our way home."

  "Stop it," another girl snapped, her voice laced with fear. "You want to go outside when that monster is lurking? Are you out of your mind?"

  "But... what if the monster comes in here?" the first girl asked, her eyes wide with terror.

  "Then we’re all dead," the second girl answered coldly.

  Au?ra stepped forward, her presence steady, a calming force among the chaos. "Girls, calm down," she said softly. "I’ve been sitting in this cave for a while. I know this forest better than most. Let’s wait for a few hours. When the danger has passed, we can try to make it back to the village. But for now, we wait."

  The girls fell into silence, the weight of the situation settling on them. Slowly, they nodded, agreeing to Au?ra’s plan. They stayed in the cave, each lost in their own thoughts, trying to find some shred of hope in the midst of the overwhelming fear.

  After a few hours, the girls finally gathered their strength. They made new torches from the fire in the corner of the cave, each of them lighting one with trembling hands. The dark forest outside still felt menacing, but with the torches in their hands, they felt slightly more prepared to face whatever lay ahead.

  Silently, they moved in a tight group, their eyes darting to every shadow, their steps quiet, almost reverent. The fear that had gripped them earlier now mingled with something else—determination. They had survived the horrors of the forest so far, and they weren’t going to let it take them down now.

  As they walked back towards the village, the weight of what they had seen in the forest seemed to press harder and harder on their minds. Each step felt heavier than the last.

  By the time they arrived at the village, their faces were not the same. Gone was the confident, strong demeanor of the women who had left earlier. In its place were faces marked by terror and loss. The horrors they had witnessed were etched into their expressions, and nothing would ever be the same again.