The sky had begun to darken, heavy with thick clouds that rolled like a warning across the heavens. The wind howled through the trees and shaking branches and rattling leaves.
But strangely, the mist was not pushed away by the wind. Instead, it moved with it and flowing like a living tide, weaving between the trees, curling around legs and arms and slipping across skin like cold fingers.
Visibility dropped even more. Shadows stretched and twisted. Even Jan, with his ranger's eyes and sense, could barely make out the path ahead.
His senses dulled. The forest felt wrong as though reality itself was bending under the weight of something ancient and waking.
But still, they ran.
The adventurers moved in swift steps. Their formation loose but still functional. They didn't need to see clearly because they had one guide now. It was Eccar.
