Kael stopped at the edge of the forest. His hand went to his sword.
The village was silent.
Darkness. Stillness.
He stepped forward slowly, eyes scanning the darkness.
The square came into view.
Bodies.
Seven of them. The villagers who had stayed. Torn apart. Limbs scattered. Blood pooled across the dirt, black in the moonlight.
In the center, something crouched.
Huge.
Taller than any ordinary man, even hunched. Its body was draped in long, matted hair—dark and heavy, hanging in thick ropes down its back and shoulders. The strands veiled most of its form, but not completely. Through the gaps, pale flesh showed. Movement.
It held something in its hands. A torso. One of the villagers.
It lifted the body. The hair parted as its head tilted back, revealing the warped outline of its face beneath.
