Chapter Eight: The First Warning

The First Warning

The scent of blood was thick in the air.

Alexander strode forward, his warriors flanking him, their expressions grim. The morning mist hung low over the clearing, shrouding the gruesome sight ahead. The bodies—what was left of them—lay in twisted, unnatural positions.

The first corpse was slumped against a tree, its ribcage torn open as if something had clawed through flesh and bone with unnatural ease. The second warrior's head was missing entirely, the body still twitching with the remnants of life's departure. And the third—

Alexander's stomach tightened. The third was barely recognizable.

His warriors stood in heavy silence, the weight of the scene pressing down on them like an iron shroud. Elias crouched beside one of the bodies, his face carved from stone, but Alexander saw the way his jaw clenched, the way his fingers curled into fists.

"They didn't stand a chance," Elias murmured.