The night came like a predator, creeping in with a suffocating weight that clung to my skin. I crouched in the shadows, hidden by the embers that smoldered in the trees around me. The traps I'd set during the day formed a jagged perimeter of molten sap and sharpened branches. They weren't perfect, but they were mine.
The Ash Wolves came first. I could see their ember eyes glowing like malevolent stars, darting between the trees, their skeletal forms weaving through the forest like smoke. Their movements were slow, calculated.
They know.
They always fucking know.
I didn't move. Not yet. The air was heavy with tension, the faint crackling of flames barely audible over the pounding of my heart. My fists clenched, flames curling around them in a low, steady burn. Not too bright. Not too loud.
