As the morning wore on, the air grew humid and thick, leaving Arani and Farren sticky and sweating as they trekked deep into the woods.

The heat didn't bother Arani too much, but what did bother her was the silence.

There were no fresh tracks, all of them days old, and the birds chittered nervously from within the lush green canopy above them. Not even a lone rabbit or squirrel dared to scurry quickly through the underbrush.

By the time it was midday, they decided to rest under the shade of a massive tree that overlooked a good portion of the surrounding forest from atop a high ledge.

The woods were now completely silent, and it made Farren antsy. With his bow in hand, he prowled to the edge of their perch and watched keenly.

Arani decided to hunker down between the knotted roots of the tree and uncork her wineskin. From where she sat, she could make out the sliver of a glittering blue lake far in the distance, and beyond that the faint shadows of a mountain range jutting above the horizon. Everything else was a sea of green leaves and tangled branches.

"You won't be able to see a damn thing from up here," Arani called out to the archer. "Canopy is too thick."

But the man stubbornly kept his gaze on the forest below. "I could surprise you."

Arani huffed at him and took a deep swig of her wine. She instantly regretted it when it was far too dry for her taste. Corking the skin in defeat, she then rifled through her bag and pulled out a snare she had been working on for their hunt. She mindlessly fiddled with the thing while Farren kept himself poised with his bow in hand.

It was far too quiet. Not even the wind dared to blow.

Perhaps we should head back, Arani thought to herself.

Her fingers worked separately from her mind as they looped and knotted the cords of her snare. Nervous thoughts gnawed away at her fortitude, but she wouldn't dare speak them to Farren. Arani knew that the man would laugh in her face and call her a coward.

She could almost hear the mocking tone of his voice.

How could you be scared of a silly card game?

Arani refused to give that idiot the satisfaction of—

Snap!

The silence was shattered by the lone sound of a dry twig snapping underfoot of a moving creature. On a normal hunt, Arani would have overlooked it entirely, but in the silence of their eerie day, the noise caused her heart to leap into her throat.

Heavy footfalls could now be heard moving through the underbrush of the forest below them.

Farren crouched low, his eyes on the trees as he slipped an arrow from his quiver and drew it across his bow.

Silently, Arani grabbed her bow and pulled herself into a crouch as Farren did. She watched his back tensely, every muscle of his was poised as tight as the bowstring he gripped.

"What is it?" Arani dared to breathe.

Farren did not move, his sharp gaze was still searching for his target through the green. Every leaf on every branch was as still as can be.

More silence blanketed the world around them, and for a moment Arani felt as if it would drive her mad.

But then...

"I see it." Farren hissed under his breath. His usual light demeanor was gone as he focused down from his perch.

This was no longer Farren, but a hunter.

He took a sharp breath when the trees below rustled again with life. "God above me...it's—

The snap of a bowstring thrummed the air loudly, but it was not Farren's.

From behind them, a pale white shaft whistled past and speared itself through Farren's back. A wounded cry was strangled from the man's throat as he staggered and loosed his own arrow out into the sea of green below.

Below, a great beast roared. The sound rolled across the forest like thunder.

Another snap of a bow and a second arrow found Farren. The shaft pierced close to the first, and bright red blood bloomed across the white cotton of his shirt.

Arani dropped her bow in a panic and scrambled to the archer's side before he could tumble off the cliffside. A third arrow nearly grazed her ear as she wrapped her arm around Farren's waist to steady him. With her free hand, she gripped the pommel of her sword tight and whirled around to face their attackers— a vicious snarl curled her lips.

She saw the curve of the bone-white longbow gleaming from beyond the shadowy thicket. A man's face leered at them from behind the weapon. Dark smatterings of shadows obscured most of his features, but Arani could make out a pair of dark tinted goggles strapped tight around his skull.

The acrid smell of rot filled her nose.

"What do you want?!" She shouted angrily at the hunter. "We have no money! If it's food you want, we have a settlement that can shelter you for a day or two!"

The hunter crouched low and drew another arrow to nock across it's bow. He gave a wet snarl in return and clicked his tongue, but his mouth did not move with the sounds. Instead his lips and jowls sagged loosely as he stalked forward— his movements erratic and feral.

"What do you want, hunter?!" Arani shouted again, trying to keep the shake out of her voice.

He snarled again at them. "Fresh meat."

And then Arani saw the antlers that adorned the man’s skull and fear seized her.

This was no human hunter. The face he wore was a mask of someone long dead, and the hunter himself was a Drak'Aag— a man-eater.

Farren swayed heavily against her side. She had to get him to a healer.

Then a second face emerged from the green shadows of the thicket— black goggles holding up a sagging face, and an arrow drawn tight.

They were cornered.

There was nowhere for them to escape...except down.

The second hunter loosed his arrow— no time to plan a clean escape.

Arani let fear and instinct charge her body to move. She grabbed hold of Farren tight and closed her eyes in a quick prayer to no god she believed in before falling backwards off the cliffside.

Together, she and Farren tumbled down, rolling and bouncing off of every bush and rock that caught them, and somehow managed to not break their necks before hitting flat stable land.

Arani's whole body ached as she pushed herself to her feet and yanked Farren up with her.

"Get off your ass, Stone!" She growled.

Farren himself was surprisingly quick to move, despite having two broken arrows in his backside.

Another pale arrow sunk into the ground at their feet, narrowly missing Arani's thigh.

From the ledge where they had tumbled, a horn sounded, followed by a second horn in the distance.

"A hunting party!" Farren spat through gritted teeth.

"But it's barely the middle of the day!" Arani snapped. There was no hiding the panic in her voice.

"Something must have stirred them from their nests." Farren winced as he pulled the single arrow from the dirt and nocked it. The arrows that had been neatly tucked into his quiver were scattered and gone. He looked to Arani, his expression stern. "We need to get back to the den and warn everyone."

Arani couldn't help but remember the haunting black unicorn that gazed out at her with soulless white eyes. She angrily squashed down the memory of Lily's stupid tarot card. I refused to die in these damned woods.

The horns sounded again, this time closer, and Arani drew her iron blade from its scabbard— ready to fight. But Farren took her by the hand and together they sprinted off into the wilderness as fast as they could manage.

Echoes of hungry howls and clicks chased after them.

Little was known about the Drak'Aag. Any poor soul that encountered them never lived to retell the horrors. What was known was that they only hunted at night, and were faster and stronger than any human.

But Farren proved to be impossibly fast. Arani could barely keep up with his long horse-like strides as she stumbled behind him— her lungs burning from extreme exertion.

Although, Farren's stamina diminished rather quickly. By the time they stumbled gasping and wheezing into a small clearing, Farren lumbered to a clumsy stop. His once bright blue eyes fluttered unfocused as his legs wobbled like jelly. His breaths grew ragged as the blood around his wound darkened considerably.

Arani quickly caught him before he could fall flat on his face.

"I would hate to be a pessimist," Farren slurred. "But I think I might be dying."

The arrows must have been poisoned.

Fear gripped Arani's heart tight. "Don't you dare start with that nonsense!"

Farren laughed weakly. "Perhaps I should get my money back from that fortune teller. She told me I was supposed to die in bed with some lord's daughter."

Arani rolled her eyes. "That poor woman."

The forest around them rustled to life as three feral Drak'Aag crashed into the clearing after them—wicked bone weapons in hand.

Thin grey skin was stretched tight over long spindly limbs as the three hunters lunged at them.

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Farren drew his bow and fired his lone arrow. His aim, luckily, did not suffer from his poisoned state.

A wet gargled scream tore from the mouth of one Drak'Aag as the arrow sunk into the corded flesh of its neck.

The two remaining fiends did not hesitate to clamber over their fallen comrade. The smallest one came at Arani with a hatchet carved from the mandible of some poor dead creature.

Arani parried the attack with her own sword, and stumbled back from the force of the blow.

This left room for the taller Drak'Aag to rush in, stabbing forward with a leather wrapped spear. The jagged tip almost succeeded in goring Arani's middle, but Farren knocked it aside with a swing of his heavy bow. Sweat now beaded his brow as his usually handsome face was twisted in pain.

"Run!" He barked at her.

The axe-wielder attacked again, clicking and hissing angrily. "Fresh meat! Fresh meat!"

Arani pivoted on her heel and punched the creature hard with a strong left hook. The goggles strapped tight around its face shattered and snapped free.

The creature's sagging dead mask slipped off and hit the ground with a loud wet splat.

Arani's stomach lurched.

The Drak'Aag let out an ear-piercing shriek and covered its bruised sunken eyes from the bright rays of the afternoon sun. Its real face was skeletal, grey skin stretched over bony features— noseless and horrifying as pink bloody froth spit from its sharp jagged teeth. It retreated into the safe shadows of trees, leaving it's taller companion to fight alone.

Arani staggered back, her sword arm coiled and ready to strike again. She glared hard at Farren, who was struggling to stay on his feet. "Don't you dare try to be a hero! It doesn't suit you!"

Farren responded with a disarming smile. "My lady, I had hoped you would treat me kindly on my deathbed."

"You're not dying!" Arani growled. Curse this idiot and his poor sense of humor.

The spear-wielder jabbed toward them again and Arani easily knocked the attack away with a quick swipe of her blade.

Perhaps they would make it back to the Den alive.

But then three more Drak'Aag charged into the clearing, brandishing their weapons and snarling.

Their fight for survival was far from over.

Arani readied her sword as the first one charged forward, slashing the air with a pair of white daggers. She barely dodged her attacker with, one step, two steps, and a quick pivot to the side. Speed was not something that Arani was known for, but she would have to learn to be fast in order to survive this fight.

Farren stepped in and struck the attacking Drak'Aag across the wrists with a crack of his bow. The creature screamed and dropped one of its daggers, and Farren quickly rolled in to scoop up the blade as his prize. He grit his teeth and stumbled off balance as his wound continued to hinder him. The attacking Drak'Aag lunged forward, stabbing with his remaining blade—bloodthirsty bone seeking to bite at Farren's heart.

The wounded archer was just barely able to sidestep the attack and drunkenly stumbled onto his rear. Farren was fading fast.

Another Drak'Aag jumped forward with a mace, but Arani stepped in and plunged her sword through its breastbone. The creature staggered back, ripping Arani's sword from her grip and collapsed in a heap.

The horns of the hunting party sounded out again. They were right on top of them.

Cold dread seeped into Arani's veins as at least twenty more of the man-eating beasts stepped into the clearing.

Farren wrestled on the ground with the knife-wielding Drak'Aag— their dual blades locked. He chanced a panicked look in Arani's direction.

"Don't be stupid! Run!" He barked.

The hunter with the pole-axe moved in again— jerking and thrusting its spear forward with the speed of a striking viper.

Arani recalled her fight with Lily, and how that woman moved with the same speed. She charged in, no thought behind what could happen next, and by some miracle she caught the pole of the spear with her bare hands.

The Drak'Aag snarled in anger and clicked its tongue, and pulled on its end of the spear with a surprising amount of strength.

Arani cursed and dug her heels into the dirt, but still the skeletal fiend yanked her forward and delivered a violent headbutt that caused her to see stars and release her end of the spear. A swift kick to her diaphragm left Arani to fall hard to her knees.

The rest of the Drak'Aag were now closing in around them, forming a tight circle with no escape.

The spear-wielder gave a throaty laugh and jabbed the point of his weapon under Arani's chin.

"You will make good feast for kin. And then I will take your face." The way the creature spoke caused the hair on Arani's neck to stand on end. It's speech was slurred and awkward, like an animal trying to mimic human words.

The one wrestling against Farren let out a triumphant cry as it knocked the knife from the archer's hand. Farren fell back into the dirt deathly pale.

"I will take both your faces," The spear-wielder growled.

Another commotion erupted from the surrounding woods and a lone Drak'Aag came stumbling out of the underbrush, clutching at the gaping hole in its neck before falling flat on its face in a pool of its own blood.

With hardly a sound, three curved daggers found purchase in the temple of the Drak'Aag that held Farren down. The creature shuddered and collapsed on top of the archer dead.

A flash of silver danced from the corner of Arani's eye and suddenly the dark braided leather of a whip wrapped tight around the spear pointed at her throat. On the other end of the whip, was Lily—golden eyes glittering in the sunlight.

Another set of daggers came flying out of the trees and three more Drak'Aag dropped dead. Lily's hooded companion emerged from the shadows and stood behind her. With a flourish of his right hand, another dagger slid between his fingers from a hidden space along his vambrace.

The pale man, Niks, was nowhere to be seen.

With the snap of her wrist, Lily used her whip to yank the spear out of the Drak'Aag's gnarled hands and she caught the poled-weapon swiftly.

"I'll never understand why people don't listen to fortune-tellers," Lily sighed.

"How many are left now?" The hooded man asked in a clipped accent.

The dancer feigned a look of deep thought as she rested the spear across her shoulders casually. "Let's see, you killed one, two, three....hmm. I would say about sixteen."

The hooded man clicked his tongue. "Still too many for us."

"We will not die here." Lily assured the man. She gave him a tender look.

Under the hood, Arani saw grey unfocused eyes looking nowhere in particular. The man was blind.

The lead Drak'Aag snarled angrily and pounced forward. The hooded man met him in two quick strides and drove one of his daggers into its skull with a terrifying swiftness.

The rest of the hunting party lunged into action. Even the one that held Farren down, scrambled up to attack.

With a wink, Lily tossed the spear to Arani and cracked her whip at the nearest creature.

It was absolute chaos.

Lily once again moved like water as she danced her way through the crowd, flogging her whip to keep the monsters at bay.

Arani pushed herself to her feet. She wasn't exactly proficient with the weapon in her hand, but if she could hit someone with it then she would be well enough.

One of the Drak'Aag lurched toward her with a jagged sword. Pink spittle dripped from the dead lips of its mask as it hissed and clicked.

Arani barely had time to hold the pole of her spear up before the Drak'Aag brought its sword down with such a jarring force. Arani felt the muscles in her arm jolt painfully from the blow. She stumbled backwards and managed to get her spear up again just as the Drak'Aag swung again, aiming for her head. The sword bounced off the wood and she felt her teeth rattle.

From the corner of her eye she watched as Farren struggled to sit up.

But then something far beyond that drew her eye.

A plume of fire against the green forest.

That cold familiar fear settled back into the pit of Arani's stomach. She focused closer on the curling flames and a ghostly face stared back at her with wide brown eyes.

Cari.

Arani sucked in a sharp breath that made her lungs twist tight and her heart pounded loudly in her ears. She could practically feel the heat of past fires bite at her skin as she gaped at the ghost standing just beyond the clearing—her shadow.

A scream sat coiled in Arani's throat, ready to claw its way up if she spoke.

Her friends back in the Dragon's Den had teasingly called her a she-wolf, because she was strong and fearless, but now...she felt like a scared doe staring down the gaping maw of a predator.

Arani was frozen. Cari Talworth was standing just beyond the trees before her in a dirty green dress. Her fiery hair moved with the wind as she gaped back at Arani.

She barely heard Farren scream her name when the Drak'Aag thrusted its wicked blade through her soft middle. Shock completely enveloped her as she fell forward into the sword. She could feel its sharp teeth slowly shred her insides with white hot pain.

The Drak'Aag took a long visceral breath, inhaling the scent of her spilt blood. Pink frothy blood drooled down from behind its mask.

Farren was immediately on his feet, his mouth twisted into a snarl as he barreled into Arani's attacker and began to beat the creature mercilessly with his bare fists.

Cari watched on passively with an unreadable expression.

Arani's eyes darted around the clearing wildly as her head grew numb— her tongue laced with blood.

Your shadow is catching up to you. Lily's silky words sighed through her mind, trickling down like heavy drops of blood across her stomach.

Arani staggered and her knees hit the earth hard once again.

Across the clearing, Lily slipped between two more Drak'Aag and leapt onto a third's shoulders to strangle the man-eater around the neck with the cord of her whip. Her hooded companion moved through the fight like a deadly shadow. For each blade he threw, another one was between his fingers and ready to fly.

But Arani's eyes kept meeting Cari's, and the fear welled up, seizing her mind.

She's here for me, the frightening thought leapt into her mind, I'm going to die here.

Arani gripped at the blade of the sword weakly. The sharp edges bit into her sweaty palm. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she had hoped that it would be Farren, her dashing idiot, coming to her rescue.

But Arani's luck had been dwindling all day.

She saw the gnarled grey hand grip the fabric of her shirt tight while a second grabbed a fistful of her coarse waves and yanked her head back.

The cerulean blue of the sky framed by high tree branches filled her vision.

And then she was met with a horrid, dead face of another Drak'Aag. It raised its axe high.

Arani heard Farren scream again, but she couldn't see him. Did they get him as well?

What a mess, Arani sighed.

The axe cut down and bit into the junction between her shoulder and neck. A paralyzing pain seized Arani and she wanted to scream, but all she could muster was a tired wheeze as air rushed out of her lungs. The Drak'Aag pulled the axe from her neck with a victorious screech and raised it high in the air once more.

Arani could feel Cari's eyes on her, she could see them clearly in her mind— hateful red hot eyes.

The axe came down again, and Arani could barely feel it cleave her flesh.

Her world dwindled darker, and all she could smell and taste was her own blood. She knew her life was down to mere seconds.

The man-eater screeched once again, but it sounded so distant. She felt the creature release its hold on her and she collapsed hard, face first.

The air around her exploded with an intense heat and thunder shook the earth beneath her.

She could hear a voice pleading—muffled. The words just fell short before her ears.

Strong shaky hands held Arani's body in a warm embrace. She tried to open her eyes but the world around her had faded.

A second voice cooed from just beyond her consciousness. It felt closer than the muted pleas. It was a voice that was deep, velvety, and comforting.

Words wrapped around Arani and guided her down, deeper into darkness.

This is all her fault.

Then with a final shuddering breath, Arani died.