The forest was eerily quiet, the usual ambient sounds of chirping insects and rustling leaves muffled as if the very air was holding its breath.


    Alone, Lyerin moved through the dense foliage, his steps careful yet swift, his senses sharpened to the point of difort.


    Every crack of a branch, every shadow that shifted under the moonlight felt amplified, like the forest itself was conspiring against him.


    For the first time in a long while, Lyerin felt the true weight of solitude.


    It wasn''t fear—he''d long since shed such trivial emotions—but an acute awareness of his vulnerability without the soldiers or his usual beasts apanying him.


    This is how it should be, he told himself. Yet, even he couldn''t shake the nagging tension that wed at the edges of his mind.


    "Stupid humans," he muttered under his breath, his voice low and sharp, breaking the stillness momentarily. "I told them to go back. If they had stayed..." He trailed off, shaking his head. There was no point in dwelling on what-ifs.


    The trees grew denser as he pushed deeper, their gnarled roots snaking across the ground, threatening to trip him with every step.


    He moved with the precision of someone used to navigating hostile environments, his hand asionally brushing aside a hanging vine or swatting away a persistent insect.


    The forest floor bore subtle marks of disturbance—crushed undergrowth, w marks on bark, the faint scent of something acrid in the air.


    These were signs of the beast, unmistakable to someone like Lyerin.


    "It''s close," he murmured, his eyes narrowing as he knelt to inspect a deep gouge in the soil. "Too close."


    Suddenly, a distant rumble echoed through the forest. It wasn''t loud, but it was enough to send a shiver through the ground beneath his feet.


    Lyerin paused, his hand hovering over the hilt of the dagger at his side.


    The sound was unmistakable: the guttural growl of the eldritch creature he''d been tracking.


    "Still alive," he muttered. A wry smirk tugged at his lips, though it didn''t reach his eyes. "Good. I was worried I''d scared it off."


    The path ahead grew treacherous. Thick, thorny vines crisscrossed the ground, forcing Lyerin to slice through them with his dagger.


    The air grew heavier, tinged with the oppressive aura of mana that lingered like a storm cloud. His breathing slowed as he moved with increased caution, his senses straining to detect any sign of movement.


    The darkness seemed alive here, shifting and twisting as if it had a will of its own.


    Lyerin''s eyes darted around, scanning for anything out of ce.


    He hated this part—the waiting, the searching, the constant edge of anticipation. He thrived in chaos, not in this creeping stillness that felt like it might swallow him whole.


    Snap.


    He froze.


    The sound of a branch breaking somewhere to his left made his heart skip a beat—not out of fear, but from the sudden spike of adrenaline coursing through his veins.


    He turned slowly, his grip tightening on his weapon, his sharp gaze piercing the shadows.


    Nothing. Just more trees, more vines, more suffocating silence.


    "Trying to mess with me, huh?" he whispered, his smirk returning, this time with a hint of defiance. "Nice try."


    Hours seemed to blur together as Lyerin pressed on. He could feel his muscles protesting, his patience wearing thin, but he refused to stop. The trail grew colder, but he pushed forward, determined to find the beast.


    The forest began to change again, the trees thinning slightly, giving way to a more open space. Here, the moonlight filtered through the canopy in pale streaks, illuminating the ground just enough to reveal something new: a massive footprint, deep and unmistakable.


    Lyerin crouched beside it, his fingers tracing the edges of the print. "Bigger than I thought," he murmured. "But not as clever as it thinks it is."


    A faint breeze carried the scent of decay and mana, sharper now, more concentrated. The beast wasn''t far.


    Suddenly, the ground trembled beneath his feet, a low vibration that sent ripples through the earth.


    Lyerin stood slowly, his eyes scanning the horizon.


    In the distance, through the trees, he caught a glimpse of movement—a shadow toorge and deliberate to belong to anything but his quarry.


    There it was.


    The eldritch beast loomed in the faint moonlight, its grotesque form both alien and terrifying. Its dark, chitinous body shimmered faintly with a strange, pulsing energy, its glowing eyes cutting through the darkness like twinnterns.


    Lyerin''s smirk returned, but his body tensed, every muscle coiled like a spring. "Found you," he said softly, his voice almost a whisper.


    The scene ended with him taking a single, measured step forward, his silhouette stark against the glowing eyes of the beast.


    The forest held its breath once more.


    The tension in the air was palpable as Lyerin crouched low, ready to spring into action.


    The eldritch beast he''d been tracking loomed ahead, its monstrous form illuminated faintly by the moonlight.


    His fingers tightened around the hilt of his dagger, his other hand instinctively brushing the pendant around his neck as he prepared for the first move.


    But just as he shifted his weight to strike, the ground quaked violently beneath him.


    A guttural roar tore through the silence, its sound so deep and primal that it seemed to reverberate through the marrow of his bones.


    Lyerin froze, his keen eyes darting toward the source of the sound.


    Emerging from the shadows came another beast, just as grotesque as the first butrger, with rippling scales and jagged, bone-like protrusions covering its body.


    Before Lyerin could react, the neerunched itself at his target with startling speed.


    Its ws tore through the air, colliding with the other beast in a deafening sh that sent shockwaves rippling through the forest.


    Trees splintered and fell like twigs, the ground erupting in clouds of dirt and debris.


    Lyerin instinctively leaped back, his eyes narrowing as he watched the two monstrosities engage in a brutal battle.


    The smaller beast—his original target—let out an earsplitting shriek, its mandibles snapping as it twisted its body to counterattack.


    Its chitinous armor gleamed under the pale light, deflecting some of therger beast''s blows, but the neer''s raw strength was overwhelming.


    The two beasts moved with terrifying agility, their enormous forms weaving through the forest like predators locked in a deadly dance.


    Therger beast mmed the ground with its tail, creating a crater that sent shockwaves rippling outward.


    The smaller beast dodged just in time, lunging forward and sinking its fangs into its opponent''s nk.


    Therger beast roared in pain, rearing up on its hind legs and thrashing violently.


    With a bone-crunching sound, it whipped its tail around, catching the smaller beast and sending it hurtling into a nearby cliff face.


    The impact was so forceful that the rock shattered, sending boulders tumbling to the ground.


    Lyerin shielded his face with his arm as debris rained down, his mind racing. "What in the abyss is going on?" he thought, his heart pounding as he tried toprehend the sheer magnitude of the battle unfolding before him.


    The forest around them was no longer recognizable.


    Trees toppled like dominoes, their trunks splintered by the relentless force of thebatants.


    The ground was scarred with massive gouges, pools of glowing eldritch mana leaking from the beasts'' wounds and burning away the foliage it touched.


    The smaller beast wasn''t giving up.


    Despite its size disadvantage, it darted around therger creature with surprising speed, its ws raking across its opponent''s legs in a flurry of precise strikes.


    Therger beast bellowed in rage, swiping at its foe with its massive ws but hitting only empty air.


    Then, with a burst of unnatural speed, therger beast lunged forward, its jaws snapping shut around one of the smaller beast''s limbs.


    There was a sickening crunch as it bit down, severing the appendagepletely.


    The smaller beast howled in pain, ck ichor spraying from the wound as it stumbled backward. But instead of retreating, it seemed to grow even more ferocious.


    Without warning, the smaller beast reared up and unleashed a piercing screech that echoed across the sky.


    The sound was so intense that Lyerin had to press his hands over his ears, his vision swimming from the sheer force of it.


    In response, therger beast roared again, its chest swelling as it unleashed a torrent of searing, eldritch energy from its maw.


    The beam of light cut through the air like a de, obliterating everything in its path.


    The smaller beast barely avoided the attack, its movements erratic as it charged forward once more.


    It leaped onto therger beast''s back, sinking its ws deep into its thick scales and tearing furiously.


    Therger beast roared in fury, bucking and thrashing as it tried to shake its opponent off.


    It mmed its massive body against a nearby cliff, the impact causing the entire structure to copse.


    Dust and rubble filled the air, obscuring the battlefield in a thick, suffocating haze.


    For what felt like an eternity, the two beasts continued their savage battle, each blow they exchanged more devastating than thest.


    The smaller beast, despite its relentless ferocity, was clearly losing.


    Its movements grew slower, its attacks weaker, as therger beast overpowered it.


    Finally, with onest, thunderous roar, therger beast delivered the finishing blow.


    Its ws shed through the smaller beast''s torso, ripping it apart in a spray of ichor and mana.


    The defeated creature let out a final, pitiful shriek before copsing to the ground, its body twitching once before falling still.


    The forest fell silent.


    Lyerin stood frozen, his chest heaving as he struggled to process what he''d just witnessed. His dagger hung limply at his side, forgotten in the face of such overwhelming power.


    For the first time in a long while, he was speechless.


    He stared at the victorious beast as it let out a low growl, its glowing eyes scanning the destruction around it before it slowly began to retreat into the shadows.


    The scene ended with Lyerin still rooted in ce, speechless.