[Alaric's POV — Skeldryn Territory — Morning]
The wind was merciless today.
It carved through the mountains like a blade, carrying sheets of snow that stung against exposed skin. The sky above Skeldryn had turned the color of dull iron, heavy with the storm.
The sun would not show itself; it rarely did when the north was displeased. Our horses moved carefully down the frozen mountain path, hooves crunching through layers of hardened snow. The forest stretched below us, a black sea of pine trees dusted with white.
Silent.
Too silent.
Captain Kaelric Vorn rode at my side, his heavy cloak snapping violently in the wind.
"The villagers reported sightings near this forest, my lord," he said, scanning the treeline carefully. "Three nights in a row."
He paused, frowning slightly as his gaze swept across the empty snowfields, "But I see no sign of beasts."
His horse snorted softly. Kaelric's eyes narrowed, "Do you think the report was false?"
