The moment the Vorthal's clawed foot crunched down on a brittle branch.
The forest seemed to hold its breath.
The sound echoed like a gunshot in the unnatural silence.
Kyle's fingers twitched against the leather-wrapped hilt of his tachi.
The rough texture digging into his palm.
His mouth had gone dry.
Tongue sticking to the roof as he watched the monster's grotesque head swivel toward them.
Each feather on its crow-like skull stood slightly raised. Quivering with tension.
The beak...
Longer than a hunting knife and twice as sharp.
It parted with an audible click.
A string of thick.
Yellowish drool stretched between its jaws before snapping and splattering on the leaf litter below.
The stench hit Kyle like a physical blow.
Rotting meat and something metallic. Like old blood left to bake in the sun.
Then it moved.
One second it stood twenty paces away.
The next—
WHOOSH.
Air screamed as the Vorthal crossed the distance in three bounding steps.
