The ground shook under their feet as the Hollowfang lumbered closer, its jagged mouth stretching open in a silent roar.
No one moved. No one breathed.
Shoto's heart pounded, but he gritted his teeth, squaring his shoulders.
He had just unleashed a storm by accident — maybe he could do it again.
Maybe he could stop this thing.
Beside him, KJ's hands tightened into fists, the shadows at his feet writhing like they were ready to fight for him.
"I got this," KJ muttered, taking a step forward.
Braydon cracked his knuckles, glancing at a fallen boulder nearby. "We can take it. We're not helpless."
Pate gave a crooked smile. "Come on, it's just one monster."
Elizabeth's stomach twisted in fear.
"You guys are insane!" she hissed.
"This isn't a joke — look at that thing! We're not ready! We need to run, now!"
The boys barely heard her. Their adrenaline was already rushing, their egos getting louder than their fear.
The Hollowfang took another heavy step, the ground cracking under its weight.
Shoto tightened his fists, trying to summon the furious energy from before — but nothing came.
The burning storm inside him flickered and faded.
KJ's shadows reached for the Hollowfang — and dissolved uselessly into the mist.
Braydon tried to lift a rock to throw it — but it floated for barely a second before crashing back down.
Reality slammed into them.
They weren't strong enough.
Not yet.
The Hollowfang roared — a deep, bone-shaking sound — and charged.
Elizabeth screamed, yanking Shoto backward just as a massive claw slammed into the ground where he'd been standing.
"Run!" she shouted.
This time, the boys listened.
They turned and sprinted into the silver forest, the mist swallowing their path behind them.
The Hollowfang thundered after them, the ground shaking with every step.
Branches whipped at their faces. Roots grabbed at their ankles.
The world blurred into a chaotic storm of running and panic.
Then — a cry behind them.
Pate stumbled, a sharp jagged branch slicing across his arm.
He fell to his knees, clutching the wound as blood welled up between his fingers.
"Pate!" Elizabeth cried, skidding to a stop.
Without thinking, she dropped beside him, pressing her hands against the wound.
And something inside her answered.
A soft, golden light flared around her hands — warm and gentle — and the bleeding stopped instantly.
The torn flesh knit itself back together, leaving nothing but a faint scar.
Pate stared at her, eyes wide.
Elizabeth pulled back, staring at her glowing hands in shock.
"I… I healed you," she whispered.
The others had stopped, gathering around them, their faces stunned.
But they didn't have time to celebrate.
The Hollowfang roared again, crashing through the trees behind them.
"Move!" Shoto shouted, grabbing Elizabeth's hand.
They ran — faster, deeper into the mist — leaving the howling monster behind.
But the deeper they went, the stranger the forest became.
And ahead, hidden between the trees, something else was waiting.
They ran until their legs burned and their lungs screamed for air.
Behind them, the Hollowfang's roars faded into the mist, swallowed by the strange, humming woods.
Finally, when they could run no more, the group collapsed against the trunk of a massive silver tree.
The bark pulsed faintly under Shoto's hand, warm and alive, but he was too exhausted to care.
For a long moment, they sat there — gasping, silent, stunned.
Pate flexed his arm, staring at the faint scar left by Elizabeth's healing touch.
"You saved me," he said, voice hoarse.
Elizabeth shook her head, still staring at her hands. "I… I didn't even know I could."
"You did," Braydon said simply. "And you saved all of us."
Shoto looked around at the others — bruised, bleeding, scared — and realized just how close they had come to dying.
And how little they still understood.
"We need to find shelter," Elizabeth said, her voice steady now. "Before that thing finds us again."
KJ nodded grimly. "Yeah. And maybe a plan that isn't 'punch the giant monster in the face.'"
Braydon grunted. "Worked better in my head."
Pate gave a tired laugh, but the tension still hung in the air.
Shoto pushed himself up, brushing dirt from his clothes. "Come on. Before it gets dark."
They moved carefully now, slipping between the towering silver trees, their footsteps muffled by the mist.
And then they saw it.
At the bottom of a narrow ravine, half-buried in moss and vines, stood the broken remains of a temple.
Huge stone pillars jutted from the ground at odd angles.
Carvings lined the cracked walls — strange symbols that seemed to glow faintly in the misty light.
The air around the ruins was different — thicker, heavier, filled with an ancient energy that prickled against their skin.
"What is this place?" Elizabeth whispered.
"I don't know," Shoto said. "But it's better than sleeping out here."
They climbed down the slope carefully, every step echoing in the heavy silence.
As they reached the temple entrance, the mist seemed to thin — revealing a wide, open courtyard.
In the center of it stood an enormous stone archway, covered in even stranger carvings.
And in the middle of the arch…
a swirling black portal hung suspended in the air, pulsing with a low, eerie hum.
The group froze.
"Tell me we're not going through that," Braydon said, backing up a step.
But as they stared, the portal shimmered — and from within it, something began to emerge.
A shadow.
A figure.
Something ancient.
And this time… it wasn't the Hollowfang.