Chapter 22: Whispers in the Dark

The silence of the forest accompanied our steps returning to the camp of the Eastern Tribe. The feeling was better after our victory at Murkmire Swamp, though there was something on our minds that was heavier, like a dark shadow-a foreboding premonition of what was going to befall us. Even the wolves were nervous, with eyes darting anxiously into the trees, though usually so brave and steady.

Ember strode along beside me, her tail down but her eyes steady. "The swamp was only the beginning," she said in a soft, near-whisper. "There's something. off here, Lei Shen. Something the System isn't telling us.

I nodded and then looked to the path. "I felt it, too. The bad energy in the swamp didn't seem normal. It was like it had its own thoughts." The sentence hung in the air, the forest seeming just as reluctant as us to break the silence.