The priest's mask cracked at dawn.
He had visited again, this time unannounced, just as Rina returned from the woods. There was something sharp in his gaze—less curious, more calculating.
"Another late errand? You rise early, Lady Rina."
Her eyes did not flicker. "The crops don't tend themselves."
They stood in the soft gold of morning, where shadows still clung to the earth. Aleron slept in the cottage behind them.
The priest took a step forward. "You're hiding something," he said simply. "A gift. A presence. Something not born of this village."
Rina didn't answer. Her fingers curled slightly. Her mana stirred.
A low growl rumbled from the mist beside her—silent until now. From the woods, her feline summon stepped forward: Thorn, a panther-like beast wreathed in fog and thorns, its green eyes gleaming with intelligence.
The priest's smile thinned.
"I was told to observe," he muttered, as mana sigils glowed along his arms, "but you made it too obvious."
Dark runes flared beneath his skin. He was no summoner—he was a wizard, and the shadows at his back answered his command. They twisted into jagged tendrils of void-magic, lashing at the earth like living whips.
Rina didn't flinch.
"Velin. Nox. Umbra."
Three names cut through the morning fog.
From the trees, the summons came: Velin, a sleek silver lynx that shimmered with spectral light; Nox, a lithe midnight-coated cat with star-speckled fur, vanishing and reappearing between shadows; and Umbra, a massive black jaguar with eyes like molten obsidian, her body exuding a calm, suffocating menace.
The clearing exploded with motion.
Velin darted low, a blur of slashing claws that drew blood from the wizard's arm. Nox materialized behind him, silent and swift, sinking his fangs into a shadow limb. Umbra charged, her weight crushing earth and ward alike.
The priest retaliated with a violet pulse of magic that struck Nox mid-lunge. He twisted his body and sent several sharp bolts of force flying, aiming to break Rina's formation.
But she didn't command like a new summoner. She moved like a seasoned general.
"Velin, flank. Umbra, pin. Nox, fade and return."
The summons obeyed instantly.
Velin tore across the clearing, his claws shimmering with mana as they deflected a dark bolt and ripped through the priest's outer ward. Umbra struck low, disorienting the enemy with her crashing weight. Nox reappeared from behind, cutting off retreat.
Then Thorn moved.
Thorn didn't roar. He didn't need to. Vines erupted from the ground beneath the priest, wrapping tightly around his legs and arms. The thorns punctured his wards, drawing black, tar-like blood.
The priest staggered.
"Who sent you?" Rina asked coldly, stepping forward.
He grimaced, magic flickering and dying in his hands. "Just a recruiter. Nothing more. I was told this village might be... receptive. Or vulnerable."
"For what?"
He hesitated. "Recruitment. A foothold. The group doesn't tell low-levels like me much. Just find places, assess the people. Make offers. Take what's useful."
His eyes darted toward the cottage.
"I thought the child might be... special. I felt something. But I couldn't confirm anything. I swear it."
Rina narrowed her gaze.
"Name the group."
He hesitated again. Then: "Obscuran. We call it Obscuran."
The moment the word passed his lips, something pulsed in the air. The brand on his arm flared, and his body began to unravel—illusion first, then flesh, peeling back as if a failsafe had been triggered.
Rina didn't wait.
She gave the signal.
Umbra lunged.
The priest's body disintegrated before it hit the ground, ash carried off by the wind.
Rina stood in the breathless silence.
The forest was quiet, save for the soft panting of her summons.
She took a slow breath, raised her hand, and dismissed them one by one.
They faded into mist.
She turned toward the cottage.
Toward Aleron.
He had never stirred.
She didn't know who he was—not fully. But that man, that priest, hadn't found anything. She had made sure of it.
And she would do so again.
Because something inside her warned her that this would not be the last shadow that came knocking.
And because deep down, she had already chosen her side.