The unsettling news spread through the Royal Palace like wildfire.
Another Duskryn scouting party had disappeared.
Not defeated.
Not ambushed.
Simply...
Gone.
The atmosphere inside the council chamber had become far heavier than before.
No one spoke.
Queen Nyxara remained standing before the great map of the Four Orders.
Her silver eyes rested upon the northern frontier.
One missing village could be dismissed as coincidence.
Two demanded investigation.
But now...
Entire settlements and multiple scouting parties had vanished without leaving behind a single clue.
This was no coincidence.
It was a pattern.
Vadok Velmora finally broke the silence.
"If this continues, fear will spread throughout the kingdom."
Lord Garrick Umbraxis nodded.
"Our border towns may abandon their homes."
Eryx folded his arms.
"Fear is exactly what we cannot allow."
Nyxara slowly turned toward Lady Seraphine Duskryn.
"How many active scouts remain on the northern frontier?"
"Nearly two hundred."
"Reduce independent patrols."
Seraphine frowned.
"My Queen?"
"No one investigates alone anymore."
"Every patrol will consist of no fewer than ten scouts."
"And every patrol returns before nightfall."
Seraphine bowed.
"It shall be done."
Nyxara continued.
"I will not lose any more of our people to an enemy we cannot even see."
Far away...
The surviving members of Duskryn's Eighth Reconnaissance Unit moved cautiously through an ancient pine forest.
Eight warriors.
Every one of them was an elite scout.
Their leader, Kaelen Duskryn, raised his hand.
The unit stopped immediately.
His sharp amber eyes scanned the woodland.
"No birds..."
One scout whispered.
"...Again."
Another crouched beside a patch of disturbed earth.
"There are footprints."
Everyone gathered.
The tracks belonged to humans.
Men.
Women.
Children.
Dozens of them.
Yet...
All the footprints stopped at exactly the same point.
No struggle.
No blood.
No return tracks.
Nothing.
One of the younger scouts swallowed nervously.
"Captain..."
"...where did they go?"
Kaelen stared silently at the ground.
"I don't know."
The answer unsettled everyone.
If Kaelen didn't know...
Then no one did.
Suddenly...
A cold breeze swept through the forest.
Every wolf instinctively reached for their weapons.
Not because they sensed danger.
Because...
They sensed nothing.
Their wolf instincts had gone silent.
Kaelen's heartbeat quickened.
"Retreat."
No one questioned the order.
The squad immediately turned back.
Then...
A voice echoed through the trees.
"...Don't..."
The entire squad froze.
"...leave..."
It sounded...
Human.
Weak.
Almost pleading.
One scout stepped toward the voice.
"Someone's alive!"
Kaelen grabbed his shoulder.
"No."
"But Captain"
"I said no."
His voice carried unusual authority.
"We leave."
The young scout hesitated.
Then nodded.
The squad disappeared into the forest.
Several seconds later...
The bushes rustled.
A pale hand slowly emerged from the darkness.
Its fingers were impossibly long.
Its nails resembled black claws.
Then...
It slowly withdrew.
Back within the capital...
Riven sat quietly beneath the enormous oak tree inside House Nocturne.
The same tree beneath which he and Nyss had shared their kiss.
His thoughts remained fixed on his dream.
Find Alexandria.
Find the truth.
Never let the seal break.
The words refused to leave his mind.
A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts.
"You've been quiet."
Nyss approached carrying two wooden cups filled with warm tea.
She handed one to him before sitting beside him.
Neither spoke for a while.
They simply watched the leaves dance in the breeze.
Finally...
Nyss asked,
"You're still thinking about your father."
Riven nodded.
"I can't stop."
"I've waited my whole life wondering who he was."
"Now..."
"...I finally hear his voice."
He clenched the cup tightly.
"And somehow..."
"I have even more questions."
Nyss smiled softly.
"Then one day..."
"We'll find the answers."
Riven looked toward her.
"'We'?"
She laughed quietly.
"You didn't think I'd let you go searching alone..."
"...did you?"
Riven smiled.
"No."
"I guess I didn't."
Their shoulders lightly touched.
Comfortable silence returned.
For the first time since the nightmare...
Riven's heart felt lighter.
Elsewhere...
Within the Royal Archives...
Ancient scrolls covered an enormous stone table.
Lady Seraphine stood beside an elderly historian.
The old scholar carefully adjusted his spectacles.
"You requested records concerning disappearances."
"I found something."
Seraphine immediately stepped closer.
The old man unfolded a brittle scroll.
"This record is over one thousand years old."
"It dates back shortly after the First Cataclysm."
Her expression changed.
"What does it say?"
The historian slowly read aloud.
"When the Moon grows silent..."
"Entire villages shall disappear without battle."
"The hungry darkness shall walk unseen."
"And the chains beneath the world shall begin to loosen."
The room became silent.
Seraphine's eyes narrowed.
"The hungry darkness..."
She remembered the frightened scout's final report.
Hungry.
The same word.
Coincidence?
Or warning?
She immediately rolled up the scroll.
"I must inform Her Majesty."
That evening...
The palace bells rang.
Not in celebration.
Not for mourning.
Three slow chimes echoed across the capital.
Every noble immediately recognized the signal.
An emergency council.
Within the hour...
The heads of House Veilbourne...
House Nocturne...
House Velmora...
House Umbraxis...
And House Duskryn...
Once again gathered before Queen Nyxara.
The ancient scroll now rested upon the council table.
After everyone had read its contents...
No one spoke.
Eryx was the first to break the silence.
"If this prophecy is true..."
"...then whatever we're facing isn't new."
Seraphine nodded.
"It has happened before."
Vadok looked toward Nyxara.
"What are your orders?"
The Queen remained silent for several moments.
Then...
She spoke.
"Continue the investigation."
"But..."
"...prepare the kingdom."
Everyone looked up.
"For what?"
Nyxara slowly looked toward the full Moon shining through the chamber window.
"For a storm..."
"...that has been waiting centuries to return."
Far beyond every kingdom...
Beyond the mountains...
Beyond the forests...
Beyond even Alexandria...
Something ancient stirred within the endless darkness.
Not awake.
Not yet.
But no longer asleep.
A single crimson eye slowly opened.
This time...
It did not close.