Chapter 9: The Whispering Night
The fire burned low, casting flickering shadows across the damp walls of the hut. Outside, the wind had died, leaving an unnatural stillness in its wake.
Lena sat with her knife resting against her knee, gaze locked on the dying embers. Sleep was a luxury she couldn't afford.
The whisper had come again.
Faint. Just beyond the edge of hearing. A sound that wasn't the wind, wasn't the trees. Something else.
She glanced at Riven. He hadn't moved, but she knew he was awake. He always was. His breathing was too even, his body too still—like he was waiting.
Lena didn't speak. She just listened.
A soft rustle.
Not close. Not distant. Somewhere in between.
It was moving.
Lena exhaled slowly, pressing her fingertips against the hilt of her knife. (What are you?)
The whisper didn't return. But the feeling did.
A slow, creeping awareness.
Something was watching.
She shifted slightly, barely a movement, testing the way the air felt against her skin. Colder than before.
Then—a flicker of movement beyond the firelight.
Lena didn't react, didn't tense. She only shifted her grip on her blade.
The thing in the dark didn't move again.
Not yet.
But it was there.
And it was waiting.
She turned her head slightly. "Riven."
He opened his eyes.
She didn't have to say anything else. He had already noticed.
For a moment, they sat in silence, staring toward the unseen presence lurking just beyond the edge of the fire's glow.
Then, without a word, Riven moved.
He stood with the kind of quiet efficiency that shouldn't have been possible, his gaze never leaving the darkness beyond them.
Lena rose too, slow and measured.
No sudden movements.
Not yet.
Then, finally, it stepped forward.
A shape emerging from the shadows.
Lena's breath slowed. (Not a Wraith Hound.)
Taller. Thinner. Its body almost blending into the night, like it was woven from the dark itself.
The whisper came again—closer.
Then, without moving its mouth, the thing spoke.
"You are not the first."
Lena's pulse remained steady, but her grip on the knife tightened.
It wasn't just watching.
It was testing.
Riven took a step forward, his presence shifting in a way Lena couldn't quite place. Not aggressive, not defensive—but something else.
The thing tilted its head toward him.
Then, as if the movement had never happened, it disappeared.
Gone.
Like it had never been there at all.
The air was still again. The night was silent.
But the fire had burned lower.
Lena exhaled, slow and controlled.
She turned to Riven. "What the hell was that?"
His golden eyes reflected the last embers of the fire.
"…A warning."
She didn't believe him.
Not entirely.
But for now, it was the only answer she had.
And she knew one thing for certain.
They weren't alone on this island.
Not even close.
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End of Chapter 9