"The forest does not forgive hesitation. Every shadow hides a reckoning." , Fragment from the Lost Ranger's Codex
Dawn crept slowly across the ruined clearing, not as a blessing but as a reminder that the night had not claimed them, yet. The pale light filtered weakly through the canopy, fractured and muted by layers of mist that rolled in from the deeper wood. The fog coiled low around the scorched stones and the fading embers of the fire, smothering color until everything seemed gray, damp, and heavy.
The ground was still stained with blood, dark patches glistening faintly in the morning haze. Here and there, broken wolf corpses remained where the hunters had dragged them aside, their forms already sinking into moss as if the forest sought to reclaim them. The smell was pungent, iron, char, wet fur, and it mingled with the earth's breath, a damp musk that clung to every inhalation.
