Ken sat in front of the fireplace, his brow furrowed deeply as frustration and exhaustion etched themselves into his features. He spat into the flames, his patience worn thin after being trapped in this accursed dark forest for days.
He couldn't reach his team, and his companions were dead. His gaze flicked to the table where Marcus and Mark's lifeless bodies lay, the memories of their final moments gnawing at him.
He grunted, bitterness rising in his throat. A Leorath—a monstrous 10-foot beast—had emerged from the shadows without warning.
Once its glowing eyes locked onto the brothers, they had frozen, utterly useless. Nothing but obstacles.
Ken had been forced to use them as shields in a desperate bid to survive. Even then, he'd only managed to wound the creature before it fled, likely driven off by an even darker force lurking in the forest's depths.
