Back at Aetherthorn, the tension was so thick, even the wind dared not blow.
"This is madness!" one of the elders hissed.
"What did we just witness?" another gasped.
"This is impossible… How did he survive the White Fang?"
A wave of unease swept through the gathering. Elves who once held their heads high with superiority now looked at each other with nervous eyes and furrowed brows. Whispers rippled through the crowd like wildfire, unable to contain the disbelief that a human—a child—had not only survived a Night Stalker... but had escaped the wrath of the White Fang.
The White Fang, a beast of legend, an apex predator among monsters that not even the veteran dares to mess with. For generations, it had been the silent death in Runewood's shadows, the nemesis of every elven clan and a curse whispered in the cradle songs of younglings. No one—elf, beast, or man—had ever returned from its fangs. Until now.
And that someone was Auren.
