The northern gate of Eldoria led to a different world than the western route they'd taken to Millhaven.
Where the west was managed farmland and established roads, the north was wild—dense forests that stretched to the horizon, ancient trees thick enough that three men couldn't wrap their arms around them, undergrowth so tangled it looked impenetrable.
"The Old Growth," Darion explained as they walked. "Been here since before the kingdoms were founded. Mana saturates everything—the soil, the water, even the air. Perfect breeding ground for mana beasts."
"Why doesn't the Council clear it?" Nolan asked.
"They've tried. Repeatedly. But the forest grows back faster than they can cut it. And every time they push too deep, they lose people to things that shouldn't exist." The dwarf's expression was grim. "So they settled for containment instead of elimination. Regular sweeps to thin the population, keep the beasts from spreading toward settlements."
The meeting point was a fortified outpost about two miles into the forest—a wooden structure with watch towers and reinforced walls. Three other teams were already there when the Warriors Four arrived.
The Iron Hawks Nolan recognized—Marcus and his crew, all carrying themselves with B-rank confidence. The Silver Talons were an all-elf team, moving with fluid grace that made them look more like dancers than fighters. The Storm Wardens were mixed race, heavily armored, specializing in defensive tactics.
Twelve adventurers total. It should have felt reassuring. Instead, it felt like they expected serious trouble.
"Warriors Four!" Marcus called out, waving them over. "Glad you could make it. Let me introduce everyone."
The next fifteen minutes were a blur of names and specialties. The Silver Talons' leader was an elf woman named Sylara, her silver hair braided with what looked like living vines. The Storm Wardens were led by a massive human named Garrett, who carried a shield nearly as tall as he was.
"Alright," Marcus said once introductions were complete. "Let's go over the plan. We've got reports of unusual mana beast activity in sector seven—approximately five miles northwest of here. Multiple sightings, aggressive behavior, possible alpha leading a pack."
He unrolled a map, pointing to marked areas. "We'll move in formation—Storm Wardens take point with their shields, provide mobile cover. Iron Hawks and Warriors Four on the flanks, ready to engage. Silver Talons at the rear, ranged support and magical artillery. We move as one unit, stay in visual contact at all times."
"What kind of beasts are we expecting?" Kaida asked.
"Corrupted wolves mostly. Some reports of dire bears. Maybe a wyvern if we're unlucky." Marcus met everyone's eyes. "This isn't a hunting trip. This is a combat operation. The beasts in sector seven have been attacking traders, and two civilian parties have gone missing. Our job is to eliminate the threat and find survivors if any exist."
Two missing parties, Diablo noted. Probably dead. This is a recovery mission pretending to be a sweep.
"Any questions?" Marcus continued.
Nolan raised his hand. "What if we encounter something beyond B-rank?"
"We retreat in formation and call for Guild backup. The outpost has a signal tower—one flare and every available team in the region responds." Marcus's expression was serious. "No heroics. If something's too big to handle, we fall back. Understood?"
Everyone nodded.
They set out shortly after, moving in the formation Marcus had described. The Storm Wardens led with shields raised, their heavy armor making them look like a mobile wall. The Warriors Four took the left flank alongside the Iron Hawks on the right. The Silver Talons moved silently at the rear, arrows already nocked.
The forest closed in around them quickly. Sunlight barely penetrated the canopy, leaving everything in perpetual twilight. Strange sounds echoed through the trees—animal calls that didn't quite sound natural, rustling that might have been wind or might have been something watching.
"Stay alert," Selene said quietly. "Forest this dense, we won't see threats until they're right on top of us."
They'd traveled maybe two miles when the first attack came.
It started with a howl—not quite wolf, not quite human, something in between that made Nolan's skin crawl. Then shapes burst from the undergrowth on both sides.
Corrupted wolves. Easily twice the size of normal wolves, with patchy fur and eyes that glowed sickly yellow. Their mouths frothed, and their movements were wrong—too aggressive, too coordinated.
"CONTACT!" Garrett roared, shield coming up as three wolves slammed into the Storm Wardens' formation.
The battle erupted instantly. Marcus's team engaged on the right, swords and spears flashing. The Silver Talons' arrows sang through the air, finding targets with deadly precision. The Warriors Four moved as one, Selene leading their countercharge.
Nolan found himself facing two wolves that had broken through the main line. They circled him, intelligent enough to try flanking, foam dripping from their jaws.
Finally, Diablo said. Real combat. Let's see what you've learned.
The first wolf lunged. Nolan sidestepped, bringing his axe around in an arc he'd practiced hundreds of times with Selene. The blade bit deep into the wolf's shoulder, blue energy crackling along the edge. The beast yelped, stumbling.
The second wolf attacked while he was committed, aiming for his exposed back.
Kaida's water whip caught it mid-leap, slamming it into a tree. "Watch your six!"
"Thanks!" Nolan turned back to the wounded wolf, which was already recovering. Corrupted beasts didn't feel pain the same way normal animals did.
He channeled more power through his axe—controlled, measured, just like Master Lyra had taught him—and struck again. This time the wolf went down and stayed down.
The second wolf recovered from Kaida's attack, snarling as it gathered itself for another charge. But Darion's arrow found its eye before it could move, and the beast collapsed.
"Clear left!" Selene called, dispatching her own opponent.
"Clear right!" Marcus echoed.
The entire fight had lasted maybe thirty seconds. Eight corrupted wolves lay dead or dying. No casualties on the adventurer side, just a few scratches and one of the Storm Wardens nursing a bitten arm.
"That was too easy," Sylara observed, her elvish accent making even concern sound musical. "Corrupted wolves don't usually attack in the open like that. They're ambush predators."
"They were driven," Kaida said, examining one of the corpses. "Look at the foam, the way their muscles are tensed even in death. Something scared them so badly they attacked without strategy."
"Scared them away from what?" Garrett asked.
Or toward what, Diablo suggested. Maybe they weren't running away. Maybe they were running at something.
They continued deeper into the forest, more cautious now. Two more attacks came in the next hour—smaller packs of corrupted wolves, equally frenzied and disorganized. They fought them off, but the pattern was clear.
"Something's pushing them toward us," Marcus said during a brief rest. "Herding them."
"The alpha?" Selene suggested.
"Maybe. Or something worse." Marcus checked his map. "We're getting close to the sector seven epicenter. Whatever's causing this should be just ahead."
They pressed on, and the forest began to change. The trees grew more twisted, their bark blackened as if burned. The undergrowth died away, leaving bare earth. The air itself felt wrong—thick, oppressive, tainted.
"Mana corruption," Kaida said, her voice tight. "Something's been bleeding dark magic into the environment. This is worse than just beast activity."
They entered a clearing and found the source.
A ritual site. Someone had carved symbols into the ground in a perfect circle, each one glowing with faint red light. At the center lay the remains of what had probably been the two missing civilian parties—bones scattered, partially consumed, arranged in deliberate patterns.
And standing among the bones was a man.
He wore robes marked with flames—the symbol of the Eternal Flame cult. His face was covered by a mask, but his hands crackled with dark energy. Around him stood six corrupted wolves, larger than any they'd seen so far, their eyes fixed on the adventurers with disturbing intelligence.
"Shit," Marcus breathed. "Cultist. This was a setup."
The masked man laughed, the sound echoing unnaturally. "Welcome, adventurers. Thank you for responding so predictably to our lure. The beasts, the missing civilians—all carefully arranged to bring you here."
"Who are you?" Garrett demanded, shield raised.
"A servant of the true power. A herald of the coming darkness." The man's hands moved, tracing patterns in the air. "And you—all of you—will serve as fuel for the ritual."
The corrupted wolves attacked as one, but these weren't frenzied like the others. These moved with purpose, with strategy, coordinating in ways that shouldn't be possible for beasts.
The twelve adventurers formed up instinctively. The Storm Wardens created a shield wall. The Silver Talons fired over them. The Iron Hawks and Warriors Four moved to intercept the wolves trying to flank.
Nolan found himself facing one of the alpha wolves—massive, scarred, its eyes burning with something more than animal cunning. It feinted left, then struck right, testing him.
Smart, Diablo observed. This one's been enhanced beyond normal corruption. Be careful.
The wolf lunged, faster than Nolan expected. He raised a barrier on instinct, blue energy flickering into existence. The wolf hit it and bounced back, but the impact made Nolan's knees buckle.
"Stronger than it looks," he grunted.
The wolf circled, and Nolan noticed something strange. Its attention kept flicking toward him specifically, like it recognized him. Like it was looking for something.
It senses me, Diablo said. The cult must have given it tracking abilities. They're still looking for the artifact.
Fear shot through Nolan. If the cultist realized what he carried—
He couldn't think about that now. The wolf attacked again, and this time Nolan was ready. He sidestepped, channeling power through his axe in a controlled burst, and struck at its exposed flank.
The blade cut deep, blue energy burning into corrupted flesh. The wolf howled, stumbling, but it didn't go down. Instead, it turned those burning eyes on him with clear recognition.
The wolf opened its mouth, and words came out—distorted, wrong, but understandable: "Bearer... of... the seal..."
Nolan's blood ran cold.
Before he could react, Selene was there, her sword blazing with white fire. She struck the wolf's neck in one clean motion, severing its spine. The beast collapsed, whatever dark magic animated it fading.
"You okay?" she asked, breathing hard.
"Yeah. Thanks." Nolan forced his voice steady. "Did you hear it talk?"
"Corrupted beasts sometimes mimic sounds. Don't mean anything by it." She turned back to the larger battle. "Come on. We need to—"
The cultist's voice cut through the chaos: "ENOUGH!"
Dark energy exploded outward from the ritual circle, knocking everyone back. The remaining wolves collapsed, their bodies withering as the cultist drew their life force into himself.
"You think you can stop what's coming?" the cultist snarled, his form growing larger, distorting. "You're insects. Less than insects. And soon, you'll all bow before—"
Three arrows struck him simultaneously—Darion's, one from the Silver Talons, and one from Marcus. The cultist staggered, his ritual disrupted.
"Talk less, die more," Darion muttered, nocking another arrow.
The cultist laughed even as he fell to his knees. "Fools. This was never about killing you. It was about finding the—"
Sylara's spell hit him, ice forming over his entire body, cutting off his words. The ritual circle's glow faded, and the oppressive feeling in the air began to lift.
"Secure him," Marcus ordered. "We need him alive for questioning."
But as the Storm Wardens approached the frozen cultist, cracks began forming in the ice. Not from the man breaking free—from him dissolving. His entire body turned to ash, the ice falling away to reveal nothing but scorched earth.
"Contingency spell," Kaida said, examining the remains. "He was never supposed to be captured. Whatever information he had died with him."
They spent the next hour securing the area. The ritual circle was destroyed, the symbols scraped from the earth. The civilian remains were collected for proper burial. The corrupted wolf corpses were burned—standard procedure for tainted beasts.
But throughout it all, Nolan couldn't shake the wolf's words: Bearer of the seal.
They knew. The cult knew what he carried. And they'd set up this entire operation to find him.
You can't hide forever, Diablo said quietly. Eventually, they'll figure out which adventurer matches their target. And when they do...
"I know."
The journey back to the outpost was tense and quiet. Everyone was shaken by the revelation that the beast attacks had been deliberately orchestrated. That cultists were operating this close to the capital.
Marcus organized a report to be sent immediately to the Council. Sylara insisted on additional patrols. Garrett wanted to organize a counter-offensive against known cult sites.
The Warriors Four mostly stayed quiet, processing what had happened.
As they walked, Selene fell into step beside Nolan. "That wolf that spoke to you—what did it actually say?"
Nolan's mind raced. "I couldn't really make it out. Just... garbled sounds. Why?"
"Because you looked terrified. More terrified than you should have been for just animal noises." Her eyes searched his face. "If there's something you're not telling me—something that puts the team at risk—I need to know."
"It's nothing. Just... reminded me of the wolves that killed my family. That's all."
Selene studied him for a long moment, clearly not entirely convinced. But finally, she nodded. "Alright. But Nolan? If that changes, if there's ever something we should know, tell us. We can't protect you if we don't know what we're protecting you from."
"I will. I promise."
Another lie. They were getting easier.
Good, Diablo said. You're learning. Secrets keep you safe. Truth gets you killed.
That night, back in the safety of the townhouse, Nolan lay in bed staring at the ceiling. The cultist had known. The wolf had recognized him. They were hunting specifically for the bearer of the seal.
Which meant it was only a matter of time before they connected the dots. Before they figured out that the powerful new mage who'd joined the Warriors Four was exactly what they'd been searching for.
And when that happened, everyone around him would be in danger.
So what will you do? Diablo asked. Run? Hide? Or finally embrace what you are and fight back?
"I don't know."
Then you'd better figure it out. Because they're coming, Nolan. And next time, they won't send corrupted wolves.
Next time, they'll send something you can't beat.
Sleep was a long time coming.
And when it finally did, Nolan dreamed of fire, and wolves, and a masked figure standing in shadows, watching him with knowing eyes.