The shadows clung to us like cobwebs as Onyx and I crept through the forest, the moon our only guide. Each snap of a twig made my heart thunder against my ribs. We were close. I could smell the acrid stench of the hybrids' lair - smoke, blood, and something fouler.
Onyx froze, his hand raised in warning. The crumbling stone walls of the hideout loomed before us. Torches flickered along the parapets, casting writhing shadows. I tightened my grip on my dagger, steeling myself. The hybrids' aura of malevolence hung heavy in the air.
Onyx met my eyes and gave a curt nod. We slipped through a gap in the walls, our footfalls silent on the broken stone. The courtyard was empty, but a clamor arose from within the main building. Cackles and roars. The scrape of claws on stone.
My heart slammed
