The forest felt different.
Even as Leon, Jarek, and Kaelen moved swiftly through the underbrush, there was a sense of something unseen shifting in the distance. It wasn't a physical presence—at least, not yet. But it was there. Watching.
Leon wasn't the only one who noticed.
Kaelen's ears twitched every so often, his sharp gaze flicking toward the trees. A hunter sensing another predator.
Jarek, however, was less subtle. "Alright, someone just say it—are we being followed, or am I just paranoid?"
Kaelen's voice was low. "Not followed. Stalked."
Jarek groaned. "Why does that sound worse?"
Leon kept his pace steady. "Because it is."
---
The Hollow's Reach
The shrine's activation had done more than just awaken something within the veil—it had drawn attention.
Leon could feel it. Not as a physical sensation, but as a pressure in the air.
Like something was slowly pushing against reality, testing its limits.
Kaelen suddenly stopped, raising a hand. "Wait."
Leon and Jarek halted immediately.
The forest was dead silent.
No wind. No rustling leaves. No distant calls of night creatures.
Jarek whispered, "That's not normal, right?"
Kaelen didn't respond. Instead, he crouched, placing one hand against the earth. His eyes narrowed.
Leon knew better than to ask what he was doing. Beastmen had sharper instincts than humans. If Kaelen was reacting, something was wrong.
Then Kaelen spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.
"It is already here."
---
A Tear in the Veil
Leon felt it before he saw it.
A shift in the air. A ripple.
And then—
A distortion formed in the space ahead of them.
It wasn't like a portal. Not like a spell.
It was wrong.
A twisting mass of darkness that didn't belong.
Kaelen immediately drew his twin blades, his fur bristling.
Leon clenched his fist. His marked palm burned.
Jarek swore. "You have got to be kidding me!"
The distortion pulsed.
And from within—
Something stepped through.
---
The Hollow's First Hunter
It was humanoid, but only barely.
Its body was draped in a black, shifting mass, as if it wasn't fully formed. Its face was obscured, a void where features should be.
But its eyes—
They weren't eyes at all.
Just empty, spiraling holes that seemed to drag in the light around them.
Kaelen took a slow step forward. His blades gleamed under the faint moonlight.
"This is not a beast," he said. "It is something worse."
Leon didn't hesitate.
"Steel Fang Wolf—Attack!"
His beast launched forward, fangs flashing.
But the moment its teeth met the creature's form—
They passed straight through.
Jarek cursed. "Oh, come on! We just dealt with this!"
Leon's mind raced. The shrine's seal had repelled the last one. But this creature—
It had already crossed through.
And that meant—
It could no longer be stopped by the veil alone.
They had to kill it.
---
The First Clash
Kaelen moved first.
His speed was inhuman—a blur of motion as his twin blades slashed outward.
For a brief second, Leon saw resistance. Unlike Steel Fang Wolf's attack, Kaelen's blades actually cut into the creature's form.
Not deeply. But enough to make it react.
It let out a hollow, whispering shriek, its distorted body twisting unnaturally.
Leon understood immediately.
Physical attacks alone wouldn't work.
But attacks that carried power—that carried something beyond normal force—could affect it.
Leon's gaze locked onto his mark.
If the shrine had responded to him…
Then maybe—
He clenched his fist, focusing.
And as the mark on his palm flared with energy, the Hollow's creature turned toward him.
It had sensed the power.
And now?
It knew who its true target was.
---