The morning sun had long risen by the time Torya and the hunting party crossed the familiar ridges south of the cave. Dew still clung to the ferns, and the calls of distant birds echoed faintly through the forest. For years, this part of the woods had been their safest ground full of rabbits, horned fowls, and the occasional boar. But today, it felt different.
No chittering. No rustle of small creatures fleeing their steps. Only the crunch of leaves beneath their feet and the low hum of wind weaving through the branches.
Torya slowed, his eyes scanning the trees. "Do you hear that?"
Yoren grinned, twirling his spear. "Hear what? Nothing's out here."
"Exactly," Rahn murmured, his sharp gaze sweeping the shadows. "The forest's too quiet."
Elder Varin, who joined the hunting due to wanting to see the effectiveness of the new weapon was walking a short distance behind with Daren, gave a slow grunt. "The woods are holding their breath. Either something big's feeding… or something worse has driven the prey away."
The group exchanged uneasy glances. Torya's hand instinctively tightened on his bronze-tipped spear. He had hunted here since his youth he knew the patterns of the forest, the rhythm of its life. Today, it felt broken.
Nova… do you sense anything? he asked silently.
A faint hum answered in his mind.[Approach with caution.]
Torya's stomach tightened. "Stay close," he ordered quietly.
They moved in formation, steps light but ready. Lera and Tir stayed near the rear with Elder Varin, while Yoren and Rahn flanked Torya at the front.
Minutes passed in heavy silence before Rahn suddenly raised a hand. He crouched low, pointing to the ground.
Claw marks deep and cleanly cut into the soil.
Daren knelt beside them, pressing a palm into the indentation. "It's fresh," he muttered. "And large."
"Too large," Rahn added, tracing the edges. "Four claws, retractable. Fast."
Before Torya could respond, a blur of movement burst from the right a flash of black and tan muscles, the sound of leaves tearing apart.
"Down!"
The beast struck like a streak of lightning a leopard, massive and sleek, its fangs flashing as it lunged at Yoren. He barely had time to raise his spear; the impact sent him sprawling backward with a grunt of pain, his weapon snapping under the force.
"Yoren!" Lera screamed.
The leopard landed, snarling, its eyes glowing faintly crimson. It circled, tail whipping side to side, muscles coiled to strike again. Blood dripped from its maw not from Yoren, but from something else it had been feasting on.
Torya stepped forward, planting his spear, his breath steady. "Form a half circle! Keep it surrounded!"
Rahn moved left, Daren right. Tir, pale-faced, stood beside Lera and notched a crude throwing spear. Elder Varin gripped his own weapon tightly despite his old injury.
The leopard hissed and pounced again this time at Torya.
He met it with the butt of his spear, deflecting the strike, the bronze tip grazing its side. The creature roared in fury, slashing wildly. Daren lunged in from behind, stabbing its flank; Rahn followed with a thrust to its leg.
But the beast moved too fast faster than any animal they had ever seen. It spun and struck Rahn across the chest with a swipe that sent him stumbling back, breath knocked from his lungs.
Yoren, clutching his wounded arm, forced himself up and charged, shouting, "Over here!"
The leopard turned toward him, jaws wide. Torya seized the moment he drove his spear forward with all his strength, the bronze tip piercing the creature's chest.
The roar that followed shook the clearing. It thrashed violently, claws raking the ground, then collapsed in a heap of muscle and fur.
For a moment, no one moved. Only their ragged breaths filled the silence.
Torya knelt, his hands trembling slightly. The spear tip had bent, but the bronze held. The leopard's body still twitched faintly before growing still.
Yoren fell back against a tree, blood seeping from a gash on his forearm. "That thing..." he panted, "...was faster than any cat I've ever seen."
Lera ran to him with a strip of cloth, pressing it against the wound. "Hold still, Yoren. You'll make it worse."
"I'm fine," he grunted, though his pale face betrayed the pain.
Torya glanced around the clearing. The soil was torn, trees scratched deep. But what struck him most was the lack of anything else no birds returning, no sound of smaller prey. The forest remained eerily still.
Nova… that beast shouldn't be on this part of the forest. Why was it here?
[Analysis: Territory displacement detected. The ecosystem's lower tiers small fauna appear absent. Possible migration due to external threat.]
Torya frowned. "External threat…?" he murmured under his breath.
Varin looked up from where he was examining the beast's corpse. "This one was hungry. Desperate, maybe. Its bones show strain it hasn't eaten properly in days."
Rahn wiped sweat from his brow. "If even predators are starving…"
Torya nodded grimly. "Then something's driving everything away."
They tended to Yoren's wound, cleaning it with damp moss and tying it tightly. When the group had steadied, Torya pointed toward the sound of running water nearby. "We'll rest by the river. Clean up and drink before heading back."
The path was quiet, save for the murmur of the stream ahead. When they broke through the undergrowth, the glint of sunlight on water greeted them clear, cool, and seemingly calm.
Yoren dipped his wounded arm into the flow with a hiss. "Cold," he muttered, forcing a grin.
Lera knelt beside him, refilling their water gourds. Tir and Daren washed the dirt and blood from their hands. For a few moments, the air lightened the first sign of relief since morning.
Then Rahn froze. "Torya," he whispered, pointing downstream. "There's something in the water."
A shape floated slowly with the current dark, bulky, half-submerged. At first, it looked like a log caught between the rocks.
But as it drifted closer, they saw scales. Arms. A tail.
Tir stepped back with a gasp. "Is that...?"
"Yes," Varin said grimly. "A body."
They pulled it to shore with branches, the weight heavy and strange. The corpse was that of a lizardman green-gray scales dulled with death, body torn with long gashes and punctures. One arm hung by sinew, and deep claw marks ran across its chest.
Lera covered her mouth. "What could've done this?"
Varin's single eye narrowed. "Not the leopard. These wounds are deeper… sharper. Something larger."
Torya knelt, examining the body. The injuries were precise, almost deliberate not wild slashes, but strikes aimed to kill. The lizardman's weapons were gone, but a few shards of bone armor clung to his frame.
Nova, analyze these wounds.
[Assessment: Multiple impact patterns. Weapon-based trauma — not animal claws. Probable humanoid assailants.]
"Humanoids?" Torya whispered. "Like us?"
[Affirmative. But not your kind.]
He stood slowly, expression hardening. "We're leaving."
Yoren blinked. "What? Already? We just..."
"No arguments," Torya cut in. "If something strong enough to kill this is nearby, we're not staying to meet it."
Varin grunted in agreement. "He's right. Whatever killed this lizardman may still be hunting."
Rahn scanned the treeline again, tension written all over his face. "I don't see anything moving, but… I feel it. Something's watching us."
That was all it took. They gathered their things quickly Yoren leaning on Daren for support, Lera keeping Tir close, Rahn and Varin taking rear guard.
The forest, once familiar, now felt hostile shadows twisting in the corners of their vision, every rustle amplified. Even the wind carried a low, uneasy whisper.
As they moved, Torya's mind churned. The predator out of place. The silent woods. Now a dead lizardman, carved by something intelligent. The pattern was clear the balance was breaking.
Torya's jaw tightened. we'll need to prepare.
By the time they reached the edge of the clearing near their cave, dusk had begun to fall again. The fires from yesterday's forging still left faint warmth in the stones.
They laid the bronze-tipped spears down beside the forge now symbols of both pride and warning.
Elder Saran met them at the entrance, eyes immediately falling to Yoren's bandaged arm. "What happened?"
Torya exhaled slowly, setting down his pack. "The forest has changed. The beasts are growing stranger… and something else is moving through it."
He looked toward the darkening treeline, where the last light of day bled into the shadows.
Whatever is coming, he thought grimly, this was only the beginning.