The northern road beyond Ravenholt quickly disappeared beneath the dark canopy of the Velkar Forest.
Tall pine trees stood close together on both sides of the narrow path, their branches heavy with frost and snow that had gathered through the long winter nights.
The lantern Aldren carried cast a small circle of light upon the ground, but beyond that glow the forest stretched into endless darkness.
The three moons above the world were barely visible through the thick branches overhead.
Yet their strange alignment still painted the clouds with pale silver, cold blue, and deep crimson.
Caelan walked several steps ahead, his senses alert as he studied the quiet road.
The forest felt wrong.
Not dangerous in the usual way forests could be, but tense, as if the trees themselves were waiting.
"Have you noticed it?" Aldren asked quietly behind him.
Caelan slowed his steps.
"The silence?"
The monk nodded.
"There should be animals here. Wolves, owls, even the smaller creatures that live beneath the trees."
But the forest remained unnaturally still.
No rustling leaves.
No distant calls of night creatures.
Only the wind whispering through frozen branches.
Caelan placed a hand on the sword across his back.
The blade still pulsed faintly beneath the cloth wrapping.
"Perhaps they have already sensed what is coming," he said.
They continued along the narrow trail for another hour.
The forest grew thicker as the road climbed slowly toward the foothills of the Velkar Mountains.
Large stones covered with moss and frost began to appear along the path.
Some looked as though they had once been carved long ago, their shapes too smooth to be natural.
Aldren paused beside one of the stones and brushed away a thin layer of snow.
Beneath it faint symbols were carved into the surface.
Ancient runes.
"These markings are older than the northern kingdoms," he said softly.
Caelan studied them carefully.
"Are they connected to the demons?"
Aldren nodded slowly.
"The first knights who fought the War of Creation traveled across these lands. Many of the ancient prisons were hidden within places already sacred to older civilizations."
He looked toward the mountains rising beyond the forest.
"The demon imprisoned beneath Velkar was sealed somewhere near the highest peaks."
A cold gust of wind suddenly swept through the trees.
The lantern flame flickered violently.
Caelan turned toward the deeper shadows of the forest.
For a brief moment he thought he saw movement between the trees.
A tall shape slipping silently through the darkness.
"Did you see that?" he asked.
Aldren looked around quickly.
"See what?"
"Something moved."
Both men stood still, listening carefully.
The forest remained silent.
Too silent.
Then the sound came again.
A faint crack of a branch somewhere deeper among the trees.
Caelan slowly reached for the sword.
The blue glow of the blade brightened as he pulled it free from the cloth.
The runes along its surface flared softly in the darkness.
Aldren lowered the lantern toward the ground.
"What is it?" the monk whispered.
Before Caelan could answer, a pair of glowing eyes appeared between the trees.
Then another.
And another.
Shapes slowly emerged from the forest shadows.
At first they looked like wolves.
But their bodies were larger than any natural animal, their fur dark and matted as though burned by shadow.
Thin trails of black mist drifted from their mouths as they breathed.
Aldren's face grew pale.
"Corrupted beasts," he murmured.
"What?"
"The presence of ancient demons can twist living creatures into monsters."
The wolves began circling slowly around the narrow path.
There were at least six of them.
Perhaps more hidden in the darkness beyond the lantern light.
One stepped forward with a low growl that sounded almost human in its depth.
Its eyes burned with unnatural red light.
Caelan raised the glowing sword before him.
The blade hummed softly in his grip.
For the first time since receiving the weapon, he felt a strange surge of strength flowing through his arms.
The wolves hesitated when they saw the blue light.
They could sense something within the blade that frightened them.
But the corruption twisting their bodies pushed them forward.
The first wolf lunged from the darkness.
Caelan stepped aside and swung the sword in a swift arc.
The glowing blade cut through the creature with ease, leaving a streak of pale light through the night air.
The beast collapsed instantly, dissolving into black ash before it even touched the ground.
The remaining wolves snarled louder.
The second leaped forward.
Then the third.
Steel flashed again as Caelan moved through the narrow road, his movements faster and more precise than he remembered being capable of before.
Each strike of the blade left behind a fading trace of blue fire.
Within moments the forest returned to silence.
Dark ash scattered across the frozen ground where the corrupted wolves had once stood.
Caelan lowered the sword slowly, breathing heavily.
Aldren stared at the weapon in amazement.
"That was no ordinary steel," the monk whispered.
Caelan looked down at the glowing runes along the blade.
"The sword knew what they were."
The wind moved through the trees again, colder now.
Aldren's expression turned grim.
"If corrupted creatures already roam the forest, then the demon's prison must be weakening faster than we feared."
He lifted the lantern toward the distant mountains.
The jagged peaks of Velkar rose high above the forest like black spears piercing the sky.
Above them the three moons continued their slow movement toward alignment.
Somewhere beneath those mountains, the ancient demon had already begun breaking its chains.
And the road ahead was leading Caelan and Aldren directly toward it.