“Get ready, Vera! They’re coming!” Zach shouted, his voice cutting through the stillness of the forest, urgency lacing every word. The sun dipped lower in the sky, casting long shadows that danced ominously around us.
“I can feel them,” I replied, my heart pounding in rhythm with the low growls emanating from the shadows that lingered at the edges of the clearing. I tightened my grip around the hilt of my dagger, its cool metal reassuring against my palm.
“They won’t hold back this time,” Zach warned, his eyes scanning the treeline, muscles tensed like a coiled spring. “We need to stay sharp.”
“I’m ready,” I said, a fire igniting in my chest. The energy from the altar still pulsed within me, filling me with a fierce determination. “Let’s end this.”
As if on cue, dark shapes emerged fro
