'Sheer Willpower'

The knights trudged forward, their steps growing heavier with each passing moment. The dense, deadened forest stretched endlessly before them, its gnarled trees twisting like skeletal fingers against the dim moonlight.

Shadows slithered and danced across the ground, contorting into unnatural shapes with each flicker of the wind. The air was thick with exhaustion, damp with an eerie stillness that pressed down on them like an unseen weight. The deeper they ventured, the more oppressive it became, as though the very woods conspired to break their resolve.

Only the occasional sigh or the muted clank of armor disturbed the silence.

"We've been walking for hours," Gareth muttered, adjusting the strap of his gauntlet with an irritated tug. His voice was edged with frustration, raw from fatigue. "How long are we going to keep following that damn bird?"