Chapter 19 – Nyx'Gor, Wings of Darkness
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The cave still smelled of death. Goblin wounds oozed, the earth damp with blood both green and red.
Altair sat at the cave's mouth, eyes narrowed toward the fog-laden forest. The silence was unnatural, oppressive.
Mira whispered, trembling, "The stench… it will draw something worse than humans."
Altair frowned. Worse than humans?
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The ground quivered. Leaves fell though no wind stirred. Then came whoosh… whoosh…—the sound of colossal wings beating.
"Extinguish the fire!" Altair hissed.
Goblins scrambled, smothering the flames until only thin smoke lingered. The cave was swallowed by darkness.
A vast shadow swept over the trees. Goblins dropped flat, their bodies shivering uncontrollably.
Lila clamped a hand over her mouth. "It's… the Western Guardian… Nyx'Gor."
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From the mist emerged a nightmare.
Wings like a monstrous owl, feathers black as void. A wolf's head, jaws bristling with fangs dripping with black ichor. A tail like a serpent's whip, tipped with venomous barbs.
Its golden eyes glowed like twin suns, piercing into the cave.
Hoooooo…
The guttural cry shook the trees, rattled bones.
Seraphina's face turned ashen. "Nyx'Gor… Chimera of the Night… the Western Guardian of the Forbidden Forest. They say one glance scatters armies."
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The golden eyes narrowed, their light flooding the cavern. Altair felt his lungs seize, his heart stall.
Goblins whimpered, one fainted outright. Panic clawed at them.
Altair raised his claw in silence. "Don't move," he breathed. "We cannot fight it. Right now we are prey. Stillness is survival."
Arden squeezed Lyra's hand, keeping her from crying. Silas crouched behind a rock, Neriah cloaked his face in shadow.
Nyx'Gor's lupine head lowered, sniffing. The venomous tail lashed the ground, gouging a crater into the soil.
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For endless seconds, Nyx'Gor stared into the cave.
Altair's sweat trickled cold. If it enters, we are finished.
The golden eyes blazed, then the chimera loosed another earth-shaking call.
Hooooo…
With a thunderous beat of its vast wings, Nyx'Gor ascended, the gale nearly sweeping goblin children away. Its shadow blotted out the moon, then vanished into mist.
Silence returned—but terror lingered.
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One by one, goblins lifted their heads. Lila collapsed to the ground. Mira hid her face. Seraphina wept silently.
"We're… still alive…" Mira whispered.
Altair exhaled slowly. This time… only this time.
He rose, eyes glinting. "Do you see? Humans are enemies. But this forest… this forest itself wants us dead."
No one dared to reply.
"If we want to live," he growled, "we must grow faster, sharper, deadlier. Or we'll end as Nyx'Gor's prey."
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That night Altair did not sleep. He sat at the cave's mouth, watching the shrouded woods. The echo of wings still haunted the air.
His fist clenched. Humans, elves, dwarves, orcs—they are betrayers I will one day destroy. But before that… I must conquer this forest. If I can master the Forbidden Forest, the world beyond will have no choice but to bow.
He turned back, gaze softening on the four hybrids slumbering.
A thin smile crossed his bloodstained lips. "My children… one day even Nyx'Gor, even all the Guardians, will kneel beneath our banner."
The forest whispered, vast and dark. And within that cave, a single ambition burned brighter than fear—the ambition to devour not only the world, but the Forbidden Forest itself.
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