Their bodies felt the vibration—it was coming from the land beneath them. They heard rustling sounds in the trees above. Something was moving. It wasn't a hallucination. There was something—something ready to hunt them.
Kai's hand on the hilt of his sword tightened. Henry was ready to cast his magic shield if needed. Louis's palm emitted a faint glow, ready to unleash fire magic. The other knights raised their swords and formed a circular formation around the three, prepared to protect them if necessary.
Their breathing was fast, heartbeats loud enough to be mistaken for someone else's. Kai just wanted this moment to end.
Vulnerability, the feeling of being hunted, and not knowing the enemy—three major nightmares for a knight. And Kai had to face them all while protecting others, not just himself.
Leaves rustled all around the trees, making it impossible to pinpoint where the enemy was. But it was there. They could all sense it. Its eyes were on them, and Kai could swear he heard faint growls hidden within the noise. The air suddenly changed, thick with a rotten stench—like something decaying.
"What is it? I can't see it," someone whispered.
"We don't know. Just—keep your eyes open and be ready," Kai said. His voice was firm, though uncertainty gnawed at him.
"Shouldn't we run?"
"We have a woman here? I didn't know," William muttered, confused, as the only woman among them had remained silent until now.
"Shut up, Will," Henry snapped.
"And no, we can't run, Valarie. It will follow us," Louis explained.
Kai glanced at her, realizing only now that she had been there the entire time.
Their boots pressed into the snow with soft crunches. The wind had stopped minutes ago. The stench worsened, forcing them to cover their noses.
Then a branch bent.
Snow poured down in a sudden hush—thick and heavy—as something shifted its weight. But there was nothing to see. Only leaves and shadows.
Then—silence.
No rustling. No movement. The forest felt alive, watching them, enjoying the hunt.
A creak of bending wood broke the stillness.
And then it jumped.
"OH MY FUCKING GOD—HENRY, SHIELD. NOW!" Kai yelled as he raised his sword to strike. He noticed it first.
Henry cast the shield around them, hoping it would hold—at least for a moment. It jumped directly on the shield because of how it was covering every knight and a large area of land.
Crack.
Henry's eyes widened. His high-level shield—one that even tower mages couldn't create—shattered in a single attack.
"Okr… Okrum."
The creature from legends, from childhood bedtime horror stories, was real.
It landed a few feet away from them, growling. Its eyes glowed red, claws digging into the snow. Its body was twice the height of a human and weighed more than an elephant. Saliva dripped from its mouth onto the snow, turning it black and corroded.
Its gaze darted from one knight to another, as if carving their faces into its memory.
Its joints bent wrong as if the body had been forced into a shape. Every exhale was turning the snow black as if killing it.
It roared, shaking the land beneath them. The trees trembled, and snow poured down from their branches in heavy sheets.
It was angry.
Kai stepped forward, ready to take its head—but in the very next second, it vanished, as if it had never existed at all.
The only proof it had been there was the blackened snow beneath their feet.
"IT'S ABOVE US!" someone screamed.
Everyone's eyes darted upward—and there it was, soaring through the sky, descending to strike again.
Its target was—Valarie.
It landed just two feet away from her.
Its eyes locked onto hers.
Valarie swung her sword with all her strength, but the blade never reached its body. With a simple flick of its hand, the creature stopped the strike cold. The sword flew from her grip, skidding far across the snow.
Kai charged toward Okrum, but the creature's tail lashed out as if it had anticipated him. The blow sent Kai flying, his body crashing into the snow with a dull thud.
Okrum advanced toward Valarie.
With a swift, brutal motion, it struck her with its claw. Her body was thrown back violently, her back slamming into a tree trunk. She collapsed, unmoving, blood staining the snow beneath her.
Kai staggered to his feet, his gaze locking onto Valarie's unconscious form. Rage burned through him as he watched one of his people fall.
Louis attacked with fire magic, flames roaring toward the creature—but they never touched it. An invisible force repelled the attack completely.
That seemed to enrage Okrum even further.
It turned on the knights.
First William fell.
Then Jerry.
One by one, they were struck down.
Kai was hit again. Pain exploded through his body as blood spilled from his wounds, staining the snow red. His hands began to turn blue, numb from the cold and blood loss.
Valarie stirred.
She opened her eyes and raised a trembling hand. A faint light flickered from her palm—but before she could uses her magic, Okrum stepped back.
It growled.
Its gaze fixed on Kai as if it recognizes something. Kai forced himself to stand again and using his aura sword made a attempt. But it roared again shaking the land making kai lost his balance again.
Then, without another attack, the creature turned and disappeared into the deepest, darkest part of the forest—where no light dared to exist.
Valarie's hand fell limp against the snow.
There was no one left uninjured.
Kai stood frozen, staring at his fallen people.
I failed.I failed.I failed.
How could I be so weak—so helpless—that I couldn't even protect a handful of them?