The world was nothing but rushing blackness and cold.
The river's current pulled me like an invisible hand, tumbling me over rocks, dragging me deeper. My lungs screamed for air, but I couldn't even tell which way was up. The last thing I remembered was the boy's dagger slicing through my hand… and then the ground had betrayed me.
I thought I'd be dead before I even understood where I was.
And then—
A shadow.
It wasn't like the serpent's shadow earlier. This was different.
It swam against the current like the water belonged to it. Broad shoulders. A long, tattered cloak that floated like seaweed. I couldn't make out a face… just two pale, glowing eyes that locked onto me for a heartbeat. My body went limp, not from fear, but something stranger… as if those eyes told me I could finally stop fighting.
The cold swallowed me whole.
When I woke up, the first thing I felt was warmth.
Not the kind of warmth from sunlight, but the dry, steady heat of a fire. My skin prickled as my senses slowly returned. There was the faint smell of roasted meat… the creak of wood… and an unsettling, high altitude breeze.
I opened my eyes.
I wasn't lying on the ground anymore. I was inside… a room. Or at least something pretending to be one. Walls made of woven branches and dried vines formed a crude shelter. The entire place swayed gently, and when I glanced out through a gap in the wall—my stomach dropped.
The world below was a green ocean of treetops.
I was in a house… built in the upper canopy of a colossal tree.
"...You're awake."
The voice came from the corner. My head snapped toward it, and there he was—the shadow from the river.
A boy. No, maybe a little older than me—twenty-two, twenty-three at most. Lean but muscular, with sharp, almost animal-like features. His dark hair was tied back loosely, and over his chest hung a strap of leather holding small throwing knives. His left hand gripped a spear that looked like it had been carved from bone and metal fused together.
And those pale eyes… they were just as I'd seen them underwater.
"...You dragged me out of the river?" I asked. My voice cracked.
He didn't respond in words—just stared for a moment before tossing a dried piece of meat onto the mat in front of me.
I sat up slowly, the cut on my left hand burning as I moved. The gash was wrapped in fresh, clean bandages. I hadn't expected kindness from anyone here—not after what happened with the dagger-wielding boy earlier.
"You… saved me," I tried again. "Thank you."
He tilted his head slightly, as if weighing the meaning of my words. Then, with deliberate slowness, he spoke in that same strange language I couldn't understand. His tone was calm, but his eyes searched mine, almost impatiently, like he was waiting for me to recognize something.
I shook my head. "I don't understand."
A moment of silence. Then he stood up, walked over to a shelf made from branches, and pulled something down—a small, round stone carved with strange markings. He tossed it toward me.
I caught it clumsily. The moment my fingers closed around the smooth surface, my mind buzzed with a strange vibration, like someone whispering directly into my brain. The boy's voice—clear, this time—rang in my head:
> "Now you can understand me."
I nearly dropped the stone. "What—how—?"
"It's a simple relay rune. Converts spoken meaning to the listener's tongue," he said casually, sitting back down. "Not perfect, but good enough. You're not from here, are you?"
I froze. "How do you know?"
He gave a faint smirk. "Your clothes. Your eyes. The way you move. Outsiders always look… lost."
He was right. I felt exposed, like my whole body was a foreign signboard.
"Who are you?" I asked, clutching the rune tightly.
"My name's Kael. Hunter for the Ninth Guild." His gaze flickered to my injured hand. "And you… are lucky."
"Lucky?" I scoffed. "I fell off a cliff."
Kael leaned forward, his expression darkening. "You fell into its territory. That river belongs to a Spineback Basilisk. They don't miss prey."
I swallowed hard. "And where is it now?"
He shrugged. "Sleeping. Or hunting something else. Either way, it's not here."
I didn't know if that was supposed to make me feel better.
The wind groaned through the branches, and for the first time, I noticed the dozens of weapons hanging on the wall behind Kael—bows, spears, hooked blades, and tools I couldn't even name. It wasn't a room; it was an armory.
"You said you're a hunter," I said slowly.
"Yes." He gestured vaguely to the canopy outside. "The Guild assigns sectors of the wilderness to each hunter. We track and eliminate monsters that threaten nearby settlements. And sometimes…" He paused, his pale eyes narrowing slightly, "…we deal with things the Guild doesn't want to admit exist."
That last part sent a shiver through me.
"And you live here alone?" I asked.
He gave a small nod. "Easier to hear what moves in the forest when you're not surrounded by noise."
It wasn't just his words—it was the way he said them. Like he was always listening for something.
I didn't know why, but I felt… safe here. Safer than I had since arriving in this nightmare world.
But that safety lasted about five seconds.
Because Kael stood up suddenly, head snapping toward the far wall.
"Something's coming," he muttered.
The floorboards trembled faintly. At first, I thought it was the wind—but then I heard it.
A low, dragging hiss.
Kael grabbed his spear and moved to the doorway, his eyes scanning the distant branches. I followed his gaze—and froze.
Far across the treetops, weaving through the branches like a living rope, was a massive shape. Scales the color of ash. The same ribbon-like lash I'd seen earlier on the serpent… only this was thicker than a tree trunk.
My breath caught. "That's—"
"The same one," Kael said grimly. "It followed you."
My stomach turned cold. I didn't even have time to think before Kael shoved me toward the back of the hut.
"Stay here. Don't make a sound."
I wanted to argue, to tell him I could help—but who was I kidding? I didn't even have a weapon. My hand still throbbed from the earlier cut.
Kael leapt out of the tree house, vanishing into the leaves like he'd melted into the shadows.
I pressed my back to the wall, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. Outside, the forest fell into an unnatural silence. No insects. No birds. Only the distant hiss of the monster drawing closer.
And then… nothing.
No sound. No movement. Just a suffocating stillness.
Minutes passed—maybe hours. I didn't know. My legs ached from crouching, but I didn't dare move. And then… something shifted in the air.
Not the serpent. Something else.
A faint creak above me, as if weight was pressing down on the roof. My eyes darted upward, and I caught it—just for a split second—a silhouette crouched against the thatch. Not Kael.
It was smaller, humanoid… but its head was all wrong. Twisted. Angular. Watching me.
The thing didn't move. It just stared.
My mouth went dry. I wanted to call for Kael, but before I could… it was gone. No sound. No trace.
When Kael returned, his expression was tight, his clothes stained with something dark.
"It's gone," he said flatly. "For now."
I wanted to ask him about the shadow on the roof, but my voice caught. He was already moving, grabbing supplies, checking weapons.
"You're staying here tonight," he said without looking at me. "Tomorrow, I'm taking you to the Guild. If you really are from somewhere else… you're going to need to learn the rules of this world fast."
I didn't argue. I just sat there, clutching the relay rune, feeling its faint vibration in my palm.
But even as Kael stoked the fire, I couldn't stop thinking about the thing that had been watching me.
The serpent hadn't been the only predator in this forest.
And I had a feeling… whatever it was, it wasn't finished with me yet.