The cave yawned open before them, jagged stone teeth glistening with moisture. A cold breath swept from its depths, carrying the stench of decay and damp earth. Even the trees around it seemed unwilling to grow too close, their roots clawing the ground like they feared to touch the shadows within.
Rael lifted a hand, signaling for silence. The group moved in slow, deliberate steps. Their boots crunched against gravel, echoing far louder than they wished.
Inside, the air was heavier. The deeper they went, the more the silence pressed against them. Faint grooves carved into the stone walls glimmered with some unnatural sheen, like scales dragged across them again and again.
Alice shivered. "This place… it's not just a lair. It feels like a grave."
She wasn't wrong. Bones lay scattered across the ground — beasts, men, and things between. Some skulls were split open, others crushed. Rusted weapons jutted from the stone like forgotten markers of a battle long past.
Then they saw them.
At the far wall of the cavern, half-buried in a nest of ash and broken stone, were eggs. Translucent shells pulsed faintly, shadows writhing within as if the unborn creatures were already restless. Smaller serpents — Cinderscales — coiled protectively around the nest, their eyes glowing with the same ember hue as their master.
Elara clung to Rael's arm, her voice trembling. "It feels… wrong. Like the forest is bleeding inside here."
Herbert, pale but upright, leaned on his staff. "Keep your distance. Hatchlings are dangerous even unformed. The blood of Cindertongue runs through them."
But it wasn't just the eggs that drew their attention. Near them, slumped against a rock, was the armored husk of a knight. His body had long since rotted to bone, but his plate still bore an emblem — a hammer striking an anvil, etched deep into the steel.
Daren froze. His eyes widened as recognition hit.
"…Ironvale," he muttered. "That crest… it belongs to the Barony of Ironvale."
Alice tilted her head. "You know them?"
"They're no great lords," Daren said, voice low. "Just a modest barony. Their knights are honest folk, steady… but they shouldn't be here. Not this far into the Wilds."
Rael's gaze lingered on the emblem, then on the bones around it. His brow furrowed, voice soft and uncertain.
"But… why would knights of Ironvale come here?"
The question hung in the air, fragile and almost childlike.
Herbert's voice came after a pause, deep and heavy. "Sometimes men march where they're told, never knowing the truth of what waits. And sometimes… the Wilds choose their prey."
The group fell silent again.
Lyra crouched near the knight's remains, her eyes sharp. "Then we won't share their fate. Let's find what we came for and leave this pit behind."
It was Elara who tugged Rael's sleeve, pointing deeper into the cavern. Amid the cracked stone, a faint green glow shimmered — a small plant growing stubbornly in the poison-soaked earth. Its leaves coiled in a spiral, eerily shaped like the curling body of a serpent.
Herbert's eyes narrowed. His voice rasped, weighted with both relief and command.
"The Serpent's Vein. That's the herb the guild sent us for."
Daren didn't hesitate. He strode forward, hacking away the smaller Cinderscales that slithered too close. With a firm pull, he tore the herb free and wrapped it carefully in cloth.
"We've got what we came for," he said, turning back, voice firm. "Now we hurry. Herbert won't last long without a healer. The nearest town is Ironvale — they'll have a guild branch, and doctors."
Alice's breath hitched. "Then we'll carry him if we have to—"
But before she could finish, a sharp hiss cut through the cavern. One of the eggs quivered, cracks spiderwebbing across its shell. The rest pulsed in answer, their glow deepening to a sickly red.
Lyra swore. "Damn it — they're waking."
Herbert's voice was harsh despite his weakness. "Destroy them. All of them. Leave nothing alive."
Rael hesitated only a heartbeat, then raised his blade. Wind whirled along its edge, his voice steady. "Together."
Steel and fire filled the cavern. Lyra's blades carved arcs of silver, spilling black ichor. Daren crushed eggs beneath his shield with brutal force, each impact echoing like thunder. Rael's sword split the air, gusts tearing through shells in bursts of smoke and screeches that clawed at their minds.
Alice's prayers wove faint light against the psychic wails, while Elara clung to Rael, eyes shut, until the last egg shattered.
And then it was over. Only shards and steaming black yolk remained, smoking foully on the ground.
Herbert let out a weary breath. "Good. The Wilds don't forgive mercy… and neither should we."
Daren lifted the wrapped herb once more. Its glow was faint but steady. "We've got what we came for. Let's get him to Ironvale before the venom does worse."
The group gathered themselves, battered but alive. Yet as Rael turned toward the cave mouth, his gaze lingered on the broken shells. Smoke curled upward into the cracks of the stone, like a warning carried to something far beyond them.