They started talking while eating and giggling about the incident from evening. "It seems that it wasn't anything serious. But yeah someone had to scream just by seeing some big wolves.". Then they all began laughing thinking about the moment. In the evening, when they were all alert by caution signs and sense of danger. One member at that moment, screamed by- making everyone think , that it was something really dangerous. However, when they moved forward - it was actually just some big wolves hunting in a group. Each wolf there were at least 15 feet large . They sure were intimidating but nothing they couldn't handle. At that moment, one wolf jumped at a member with it's claws. But leaping through distance in a few steps Kause caught up to the attack in an instant. Blocking the attack with bare hands while the impact made air heavier having their clothes blowing by the wind. The wolf took a step back and attacked again with more pressure but Kause had already taken the measures for that. So, he took a stance and moved his hand behind like he was about to swing st it. But he just stood there after taking the stance. Then when it was attacking and was just inches away from having his face a plastic surgery- Crest thought he was being foolish so he tried to step in but was too far. At this close and he wasn't doing anything but when it reached his face, he moved slightly and dodged it as if he was tilting his head, and then with real speed as he moved his hand and attacked the wolf in the chest with his palm. The wolf got slammed into a tree and fainted. Kause said fired up," Let's see you guys taking one each". The two members weren't surprised but Crest was. Soon, they began marching at the wolves and the wolves did too. The wolves trying to decapitate him but he jumped at the head of the wolf and with his dagger blinded it with one eye. In pain, it shaked him off. He got sent to a tree but he kept his balance and jumped off again straight to the wolf by applying pressure at the tree through his legs. Crest then began using the dagger more effectively and pierced it in the neck of the large wolf then non-stop just kept using the dagger in different places dodging the attacks and cutting by anticipating the movements of the wolf. When he thought it was dead then the wolf caught him off guard. It attacked with all it's strength and directly hit him at the head squeezing him through the ground. It literally stomped him with it's foot. And when all were looking for their battle, they stopped and looked for what had happened to him. Members were really scared and stared. While, Kause leaning against a tree smiled.

  Something was unusual and we see the dagger is through the wolf's leg. The leg that it attacked Crest with. Crest had focused and send his strength into a single point of the dagger. The sharp point he had focused into pierced and cut through the durable skin of the wolf's leg- while also blocking the attack with sheer strength and balance. Besides, we all know the attack alone wouldn't be able to kill him. The wolf echoing In pain tried to attack again but Crest took a step back and jumped at the dagger causing it more pain but to stay still on the ground for a moment. That moment was everything he needed and he got to the wolf's head and right after that clenched both of his fists then with side of the fist hit the wolf twice in the head. First it fell down and at second it got completely silent. He hit with so much strength that blood coming from there. Crest with one knee down standing, taking a breather.

  While they were distracted one attached the member and as he was distracted, he couldn't dodge it though Kause stepped in and saved him by dragging to his side. The wolf was really bigger than the others and he kept destroying surroundings. With it's claws it took tress down and threw at them. But Kause after siding the members - was casually moving forward like those doesn't matter. He moved like he was dancing through the attacks threw at him. He eventually got to the wolf and punched it once making it dead silent.

  That's when the moment came to an end. Back to present.

  After the fire warmed their bones, the tension finally eased. The younger member Tali bit into a fruit and immediately started laughing at himself.

  “I swear they were HUGE! Their eyes glowed like demon lamps!” he said dramatically.

  Crest snorted. “You screamed like a child and climbed Kause like he was a damn ladder.”

  Kause smirked, poking the fire. “The wolves were more scared of you. One slipped on a root running away.”

  Everyone burst out laughing.

  Even Tali joined in smiling.

  For a moment, the forest felt warm, friendly even.

  But laughter carries-

  and predators always listen.

  After becoming aware of their surroundings, they decide to make a camp with a barrier.

  Once the laughter died, Crest’s expression shifted. His gaze swept across the forest edges, scanning the movement of branches, listening to the wind.

  “Enough fun,” he muttered.

  Kause nodded. “Agreed. Place the barrier.”

  The two newbies exchanged looks but obeyed. "Well, I don't know how to make barriers". Kause moved all of his fingers together in a motion then indicating his palm with his thumb, index and middle finger- he created some glowing pearls though little ones. He gave instructions and so on they worked accordingly. Members carved faint glowing pearls into the ground, forming a half-circle around the camp. Crest added faint wisps of mist, strengthening the perimeter. So, it - the camp can't be seen nor sensed. Kause didn't think much of it. But still, reconstructed the barrier by having his hands in air moving it and creating something sort of a house by placing each ingredient such- as pearls at different sections of the rectangle shaped barrier that had a triangle in it too.

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  Within minutes, the clearing lit up softly—subtle, barely visible, but enough to ward off wandering creatures.

  It wasn’t perfect

  but it would keep them safe.

  Or so they hoped.

  They plan to rest until their energy is replenished.

  The camp settled into stillness.

  Crest leaned back against a fallen log. Kause sat beside the fire with one leg stretched out, checking his blade. The others rested near the barrier, half-asleep, half-listening to the crackling wood.

  Their bodies were heavy from the long journey.

  Their minds clouded from lack of sleep.

  But they trusted their preparations.

  They trusted the barrier.

  And the forest around them remained silent.

  Too silent.

  Crest and Kause talked alone during the break.

  Crest shifted closer to Kause, keeping his voice low.

  “You feel it too, right? Something’s been off since we entered the deeper zone.”

  Kause didn’t look up.

  “I’ve felt it since sunset.”

  Crest exhaled slowly. “Should we warn them?”

  Kause glanced at the sleeping members.

  “No. We can't have them panic .”

  A faint breeze brushed past them—cold, sharp.

  Crest’s eyes narrowed.

  The forest was waiting for something.

  Crest admiring the strength said to him," You're quite strong. You even know how to create a barrier. Teach me sometime would ya?"

  Kause having a smile on his face said," Sure. I'd like an apprentice though not taking my friend's. Strong? I'm flattered. Though you were no less. That was indeed quite a show".

  "Thanks, It was really nothing and yeah Set's better."

  "Real! I couldn't agree more." Sighing Kause said that proudly.

  Once their bodies recovered enough to move, Crest tightened his gloves and Kause adjusted the straps on his gear. The air inside the forest had shifted—colder, heavier, carrying a strange metallic scent that didn’t belong to night or wood. Even the insects had gone quiet, and the silence made their footsteps echo more than they should have. With only three members left awake and alert, they continued deeper into the forest. Their fire now dimmed behind them, swallowed by the dark, while their breaths formed faint clouds with each exhale. There was no talking this time. Not even nervous jokes. Something in the forest waited, and they could feel it watching. The moon was completely gone and it was midnight. It was in the dark that they were moving. But they had the lights- Wooden stick in fire.

  Then, without warning, one of their members vanished.It was so silent it didn’t feel like an attack—just a sudden absence. One second he was walking between Crest and Kause, the next his place was empty, as if the darkness had swallowed him whole. Crest froze in place, his instincts flaring. Kause scanned the shadows immediately but nothing.

  There was no scream.

  No footsteps.

  Just… a low dragging sound, somewhere between leaves being pulled and a body being tugged across dirt. Slow. Methodical. Like whatever took him had no reason to hurry… because they weren’t going to escape anyway.

  Blood followed shortly after,dark patches smeared on a trunk and across the roots, but barely visible. The forest’s lack of light made everything feel submerged, like the world was underwater. Crest’s breathing grew sharp. The other member trembled, clutching the torch close.

  Kause closed his eyes for a second, listening. Then he pointed toward the left.

  “That direction.”

  They moved carefully, weapons drawn, following the faint rustling ahead. Each step they took, the branches above them creaked like they were being pushed by something crawling through them.

  When they reached a small clearing, they saw more blood—this time fresher, glistening faintly. Crest’s eyes widened, heart clenching with dread. The missing member still wasn’t visible. The other member’s hands shook so violently the flame nearly died.

  Then the shadows around them shifted , quick blurs, streaks of motion that vanished before the eye could even process them. Something jumped from tree to tree, too fast, too silent. Crest swung his weapon instinctively, but it hit nothing but cold air. The thing was just playing with them.

  Kause gritted his teeth, grabbed the torch belonging to the missing member , the one that had dropped earlier—and hurled it toward the direction of the movement. The flame arced through the darkness, scattering sparks upon impact with the ground and illuminating the area for a brief moment.

  All noise stopped.

  Completely.

  As if the entire forest paused to breathe in.

  Their eyes darted around, observing every corner of the illuminated area. The air felt thicker now. The trees creaked in slow intervals. Even the wind seemed to hold itself back. Something had changed and was there something above them.

  A warm drop hit Kause’s cheek.

  Not rain.

  Thicker.

  He touched it slowly, and when he pulled his fingers back—dark red smeared across them. It was blood, maybe the blood of the missing member.

  He realized he was standing under a massive tree. One with branches thick enough to hold a person. Crest and the other member, noticing the shift in his expression, stepped closer.

  Together, very slowly, they lifted their heads.

  Blood dripped steadily from the tree’s stem, sliding down bark that already seemed blackened. It dripped like a slow rainfall, falling directly on them.

  A body hung there.

  What was left of it?

  The flesh was torn open in deep savage bites, huge chunks missing from the torso and limbs. The face was unrecognizable—half gone.

  And above the corpse…

  Sitting on the thick stem with a posture too relaxed for the horror he held…

  Was a man.

  Or something shaped like one.

  His skin was scarred everywhere—burn marks, cuts, mixed in coal splitting under heat. Torn clothes clung to him. Face filled with blood and ash-dark. His eyes, barely visible through the shadows, stared directly at them. In his eyes there was nothing to reflect except for the fire roaming around them.

  He didn’t move. Just stood there, bending his knees on the stem.

  Didn’t growl.

  Didn’t attack.

  He just stared dead serious, calm, like he’d been waiting for them the entire time. The corpse dangled from his grip as if it weighed nothing. But a piece of flesh was in his mouth. He was staring at them while biting it.

  It had no emotions - like a predator waiting for it's prey.

  Then the forest dimmed further.

  The moon vanished behind thick, unnatural clouds, and the last bit of faint light bled out. Their torch flickered violently.

  The moon light died. The remaining member screamed in awe- "Cannibal! It's a cannibal!!"

  And chaos

  swallowed the entire forest.

  It was no longer just a night.

  It was the beginning of a Nightfall.