Chapter 48: A talking fiend
The forest had grown quiet in the deep hours of the night. The silver moon hung on the horizon, shimmering its soft light through the branches, casting long shadows on the forest floor. The only sound was the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze, creating an eerie yet peaceful atmosphere.
Most of the witches had settled into their rest, and even the four of them had finally managed to find some peace despite their strange circumstances.
Rena and Jaenor slept separately after their argument earlier. Rena seemed to be oblivious towards Jaenor’s feelings. She was so focused on Morgana and the other witches.
The three camps were lit by dying fires, and only a few sentries remained awake to watch for danger.
Jaenor was just beginning to drift off to sleep when a sound made his eyes snap open—a sound like breaking branches, but wrong somehow, as if the very trees were screaming in pain.
It was the same feeling he’d had back in the village when the fiends came—an instinctive dread he couldn’t explain but trusted without question.
Darian opened his eyes. His knight’s instincts screamed in warning, tearing him from sleep.
The night air suddenly changed with a strange noise in the air.
The temperature around them suddenly dropped, and frost began to form on the grass despite the fact that they were far from the snowy mountains.
A smell filled the air, like rotting meat mixed with burning sulfur.
Darian stood up, and he saw Morgana standing up too. She looked at him and confirmed that she was also feeling the same.
She shouted, telling everybody to wake up, as she could sense something was coming towards them.