Under the vast, glittering night sky, the eerie barrier of shuddering reality rippled ominously. Subtle waves cascaded across the ethereal Boundary, distorting the air like a disturbed, vertical lake. The disturbance emanated from a single, dreadful source: the invaders clawing their way from the other side.

The Boundary resisted fiercely, its sticky, viscous energy clinging to the trespassers like a sentient, ethereal mire. The unnatural forces seemed to slow the creatures’ advance drastically, holding them in a tenuous grip as though the world itself rejected their presence. Yet, despite the Boundary's valiant effort, its resistance was limited to what it could naturally do.

Then, it happened.

A grotesque maw pierced through the shimmering surface, forcing its way into reality with a sickening snap. Freed from the Boundary's embrace, the invader lunged forward, its momentum carrying it into the mortal world.

The creature emerged in its full, harrowing glory. Akin to a wolf, It stood over three meters tall on its slender, canine limbs, its posture both alien and predatory. White fur, disheveled and messy, draped over blackened, leathery skin that shows signs of many battles for survival, healed yet left some marks. Its neck, disturbingly long and snake-like, ended in a hedious head resembling that of a lizard. No eyes adorned its flat skull's face—only a wide, black nose at the end and a cavernous maw bristling with jagged teeth. Four elongated ears jutted from its sides, twitching like antennae, and a tongue as serpentine as its neck slithered out to taste the air.

As if a nightmare creature had come to life, made flesh—a grotesque amalgamation of a snow hound, white bear and lizard, twisted by some dark evolution. Appearing to what it is now—A big hound deprived of fat, appearing to be structured for speed rather than toughness, its neck unnaturally long ending with a pointy sharp head, but wrongly flat on the top. As though it was solely made to smell, chased and devoured, nothing more.

The beast's nostrils flared, inhaling the scents of this foreign world. Drool dripped from its slavering jaws as its hunger roared to life. Behind it, the Boundary rippled violently once more, and a chorus of monstrous howls filled the air as its kin followed. Their howls were like glass glass scraping against glass, making one's ear ring.

One after another, the creatures emerged, each as horrifying as the last. They spilled into the world like locusts, drawn by the promise of prey.

Near the Boundary’s breach, two mutilated corpses of their kind lay sprawled in pools of dark, steaming blood. Their deaths were the handiwork of a skilled swordmaster whose blade had carved through their unnatural hides. However, something was amiss—only two of the slain creatures remained, despite there being three before. One corpse had vanished mysteriously, leaving no trace but a faint, lingering sense of dread.

But the other invaders paid no heed to this mystery. For feral instincts consumed their thoughts. Like ravenous wolves, the beasts turned on their fallen kin, tearing into the bodies with frenzied fervor. Their jagged teeth ripped flesh and cracked bone, consuming their dead without hesitation.

Wherever these creatures came from, it was no land of abundance. Their gaunt frames and savage desperation spoke of a desolate, merciless existence where survival trumped all else.

In moments, the corpses were stripped bare, devoured completely, not even bones remained. Only their hunger remained for more, a gnawing, insatiable void that drove them to sniff the air once again. This time, the scent of something sweeter filled their senses: human prey, faint traces of the swordmaster lingered in the air, drawing their hunger.

With a unified snarl, twelve of the white-furred monstrosities surged into the forest, their clawed paws tearing into the earth as they sprinted toward the faint trails of their next meal.

This world, unlike the barren hell they tried so hard to escape, promised abundance. Here, prey was plentiful, trees were everywhere, so did life. For the first time in their wretched existence, they could feast in a luxuriant land. The Harbingers of disaster charged to their prey.

The twelve monstrosities hurtled through the dense, shadowed forest, their elongated limbs moving with terrifying precision. They flowed like a singular entity as a pack, weaving effortlessly between the towering trees, each beast guided by pure instinct. Though eyeless, they moved with uncanny accuracy, their noses flaring as they sniffed the air, each inhale mapping the terrain in ways a human mind could scarcely comprehend.

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The woody scent of the trees, dampened earth, and faint traces of moisture provided them with a three-dimensional awareness, allowing them to maneuver easily through the rough terrain with terrifying speed. Their forms blurred against the darkness, pale fur streaking past bark like ghosts hunting under a waning moon.

Driven by the maddening allure of prey, their hunger consumed them. The human scent they tracked was tantalizingly close, so rich and inviting it almost drowned out the scent of their own filth and blood. Unlike anything they had smelled before, humans had a tantalizing flavor to them, untouched by excessive roughness of the wild and possessed the luxury of hygiene. Making them appear like a clean, premium meal in the sense of these creatures.

Their feral minds burned with anticipation.

However, their greed blinded them to the subtleties of the path ahead. Little did they know that what they aimed for was a special species, rulers of lands, and considered the most cunning creatures in existence.

Unnoticed amidst the earthy scents of the forest. Taut ropes stretched between sturdy trees, expertly camouflaged with the dirt and foliage to cover its scent. Its position was calculatedly set to meet the invaders' swift feet.

The first beast reached the trap with unchecked speed, its long claws digging into the ground as it lunged forward. The tough rope caught its front limbs mid-bound, snapping taut with a vicious twang.

A sickening crack echoed as the creature's momentum betrayed it, sending it crashing face-first into the forest floor. Its slender neck twisted at an unnatural angle, and a feral screech of rage tore from its maw.

The second and third creatures followed close behind, too fast to adjust course. The rope snagged them in rapid succession. One tumbled sideways, slamming into a tree with a dull thud, while the other pitched forward, its sharp claws flailing wildly as it struck the ground. A snapping sound followed—whether the rope or its own legs was unclear.

Chaos erupted among the pack of unseeing savages.

The remaining beasts snarled and hissed, their speed working against them as one after another fell into the unseen trap. The once-cohesive swarm of predators now devolved into a cacophony of confused howls and snarls. Some scrambled to their feet, stumbling over their fallen kin, while others crashed into trees, disoriented by the sudden halt of their relentless pursuit.

From the shadows, unseen eyes observed the chaos below. Some of the humans—the creator of the trap, expert in this field—allowed themselves a ghost of a smile. Their cunning had worked, the beasts' speed turning into their downfall. But this was only the beginning.

The traps didn’t end with a single rope. The Hunters were natural adversaries of beasts for many reasons, and chief among them was their ingenuity in crafting deadly snares.

Several of the hounds that fell victim to the initial rope trap found themselves tumbling into an even grislier fate. Below them lay rows of sharpened spikes buried beneath a thin layer of forest debris, poised to impale anything unfortunate enough to fall. Sickening squelches and grotesque crunches filled the air as two of the creatures landed on the spikes, their flesh meeting woods.

Others that managed to regain their footing met equally brutal fates. One leaped forward, only to land squarely on a concealed mechanical trap under patches of dried leaves. Iron jaws snapped shut with a deafening clank, the vicious steel teeth clamping down on its elongated limb. The beast thrashed wildly, its pained howls piercing the night air as it struggled to free itself, black blood pooling beneath it.

Another triggered a carefully rigged mechanism. A rope, camouflaged against the forest floor, released with a sudden snap of disturbance. Sending a heavy log, studded with jagged spikes, swung down from above. The impact was swift and merciless, crushing the skull of an unfortunate hound beneath its weight. Then, another was carelessly triggered in the chaos, letting sizable timbers rain down accompanied by spikes.

The forest echoed with a cacophony of noise—snarls, the sharp snap of traps, and the agonized wails of the beasts. Each sound was a testament to the Hunters’ skill and preparation.

Hearing the screeching wails from the otherworldly creatures maws as they suffer their works. The Hunters and volunteers loosened their grips on their weapons, their breaths hitching with a mixture of relief and disbelief. The tide seemed to be turning in their favor, more than expected. Hope flickered in their weary eyes, a fragile ember in the darkness.

Maybe... Maybe they can actually win this. Maybe they can protect their families... Perhaps they could even make it through this battle. Alive.

Hope was intoxicating in a desperate ordeal the superiors had said to be grim. The idea of surviving, of returning to their loved one who's safe because of their bravery. And standing tall as heroes was a dream worth fighting for.

But dreams rarely stood a chance against the brutal reality of raw, unrelenting power.

Be it as it may, cunning often pales in superiority of others. When the pained shrieks died down, hinting that the traps were all exhausted on torturing the enemy. The forest serenity returned for a brief moment.

Then...

A dirty white figure rose up in the shadows of the forest. It would have been magnificent if it was a gorgeous white wolf symbolizing the firmness of a king. Sadly, instead it was a skinny, tall and dirty creature, that only knows savagery, rising up to devour its meal.

The white-furred hound, was soaked in an unnaturally dark blood that dripped steadily to the forest soil. One of its feet was Injured, yet it stood fearlessly, throwing the tasteless, ruined metallic part of a snapping trap towards a tree's bark with its gaping maw that stretched widely on its head. The metal landed on the ground, bent by monstrous force, ravaged by steely teeth despite being made of metal.

The creature eyeless head turned toward the scent of nearby humans, its long tongue flicking out like a serpent tasting the air. The beast stepped forward, limping on one foot, silent and deliberate, each movement radiating a terrifying, predatory resilience. Others followed, too. Harmed but not dead.

The Hunters froze, the earlier hope in their eyes now tempered by a new wave of dread.

They were no ordinary beasts. They're built stronger, tougher and faster.

"Brace yourselves, brothers! Fall back!" one of the veteran Hunters shouted, rallying the others. His voice was firm, but the tremor in his tone betrayed his own fear.

A high pitched, guttural howl cut through the night like a blade. Ringing their ears and sending chills down their spine in response.

Weapons were raised, breaths were held.

The creature let out a chilling hiss, their maws stretching unnaturally wide.

The hunt had just begun.

Whether who's the true hunter in this dark field was yet to be proven.