INTO THE HEART OF SHADOWS
The forest sprawled before Alaric and James, a living, breathing maze wrapped in a dense cloak of shadows. Trees stood like silent sentinels, their twisted branches curling into a tangled canopy that swallowed the moonlight, casting faint, ghostly glimmers across the forest floor. The quiet was unsettling, as though every creature, predator or prey, had fallen still in anticipation of their steps. In the cold night air, the distant cries of nocturnal birds occasionally broke through, only to be smothered by the thick undergrowth.