Chapter Fifteen 2: Ash,Claw,Turning Wind

The ashes still clung to the air.

Smoke curled from the remnants of the razed village, carried on the wind like a funeral hymn. Ethan walked ahead in silence, flanked by Rufik and the others. Behind them, the trail they had left was one of blood and fire. The harbingers had come with cruel force and left behind a town stripped of life. The pack had fought, endured,and survived. But the victory felt hollow.

They needed to move. The Forest of the Dead loomed ahead, close now. Its silhouette was a jagged scar on the horizon, trees blackened and twisted, clawing at the sky like the fingers of the damned.

But then, a shout rang out.

From the southern ridge, figures appeared,armored, cloaked, moving in a slow and purposeful caravan. Horses stamped the earth nervously as a group of humans approached, their banners weathered but still marked by the silver sigil of the Resistance.

Rufik raised a hand and the pack halted. The wind shifted. These were no enemies.

The lead rider,a grizzled man with a square jaw and deep-set eyes,lifted a hand in greeting. He dismounted before reaching them, careful but unafraid. He wore iron-plated gauntlets and bore scars on his neck that told of vampire encounters past.

"Name's Brannic," he said. "Commander of the Durnlight Cell. We saw the smoke. Came to help, but we were late, weren't we?"

Rufik stepped forward. "What's left to help has already bled out. You came too slow."

Brannic's eyes fell on the blackened bones of the village, still faintly visible beyond the ridge. "Gods... We've been tracking vampire movements in the north, picking off their scouts. But this... this is what they're capable of now?"

"It'll get worse," Ethan said. His voice was a low rumble, more beast than man. "Dracula stirs."

Brannic turned sharply to him. "Then the stories are true. You're the one,the Half-Born?"

"I am."

The commander nodded solemnly. "And you're walking toward the Forest?"

"Not walking," Rufik said. "Hunting."

Brannic took a deep breath, then removed his helmet. His greying hair was matted with sweat. "Then may the goddess go with you. But what of us?"

Rufik turned to him fully. "You hold the land. Gather the humans. Fortify the southern reaches. Vampires won't just follow the moon anymore. They move in daylight now, faster than before. They're looking for something,or someone. Keep your people safe."

Ethan stepped beside him. "If we fall, they'll come for the rest. You must hold the eastern and southern lines. Leave the shadows to us."

Brannic nodded. "Then it's a pact. You handle the monsters. We hold the line."

A soft tug came at Ethan's cloak.

The little girl—silent since the destruction,stood by his side, her eyes wide, still hollow with loss. Brannic noticed her for the first time.

"She was the only one left," Helena murmured. "They slaughtered the rest."

Brannic crouched. "And what's her name?"

"She hasn't spoken it," Rufik said.

The commander gave a faint smile. "She'll have time. We've got others families we're sheltering. She'll be one of them now."

The girl didn't flinch as Brannic scooped her into his arms. She looked back once at Ethan. He nodded slowly. She buried her face in the commander's shoulder.

"Your burden's lighter now," Brannic said. "Let's hope ours doesn't grow too heavy."

The humans remounted and began their eastward path. Their figures faded slowly into the burnt hills, like ghosts heading toward uncertain fires.

Ethan looked to the horizon.

The Forest of the Dead called.

The trees thickened. The light dimmed.

Their boots sank deeper into soil that no longer felt like earth but something older,packed with rot and blood. Birds no longer sang here.

They entered the threshold of the forest like men stepping through a veil.

Every instinct in Ethan's hybrid blood told him to stay alert. Here, the shadows didn't just hide monsters. They were monsters.

They would find the Blade of Severance here. Or they would die trying.

A new chapter of war had begun!