The Mountains. Evening.
The canyon opened before them like a wound in the earth.
The walls were steep, blackened, streaked with veins of something that glinted in the fading light. The ground was scorched, cracked, the grass dead, the trees pushed back as if by a great wind. The air was thick, heavy, wrong—the same wrongness Grog had felt in the Grove, in the pass, in the clearing where the beast had died.
Mirena dismounted, walked to the edge of the canyon. The stone in her pocket was pulsing fast, warm against her hip. The ring was still, quiet, waiting.
"This is it," she said. "The wound. Where the veil is thinnest. Where the portal will return."
Grog moved to stand beside her. The canyon was deeper than he had expected, the shadows darker, the silence heavier. He could feel the berserker stirring, restless, hungry.
"How long?" he asked.
Mirena shook her head. "Hours. Maybe less. The residue is thick here. The portal is close."
Ken dismounted, moved to the edge of the canyon, his eyes on the shadows below. "There are tracks. Fresh. Recent."
Lira moved to stand beside him. "How many?"
Ken studied the ground. "A dozen. Maybe more. They came from the east. They're still here."
William's hand tightened on his sword. "The cult?"
Ken nodded. "The cult."
---
They set up camp at the edge of the canyon.
The fire was small, hidden, the watches were set, the horses were tethered. Grog stood apart, his back against a tree, his eyes on the canyon below. He could feel the portal pulsing, waiting, calling.
Mirena sat beside him, her staff in her hand, the stone in her pocket.
"You're thinking," she said.
"Always."
She was quiet for a moment. "The cult. Ken said they worship the void. That they want the door to open."
Grog nodded. "They do."
"Why?"
He was quiet for a moment. "Because they believe Vorlag will remake the world. That the strong will survive. That they will be the strong."
Mirena absorbed this. "And you?"
Grog met her eyes. "I believe they're wrong."
---
Ken scouted the perimeter.
He moved through the shadows like smoke, his bow in his hand, his eyes on the ground. The tracks were fresh—boot prints, leading to and from the canyon. The cult was here. Watching. Waiting.
He found a vantage point, a rocky outcropping overlooking the canyon. He settled in, his back against the stone, his eyes on the darkness below.
The portal was close. He could feel it—the same wrongness he had felt in the cave, in the mountains, in the places where the creatures had come through.
He waited.
---
Lira joined him an hour later.
She moved silently, her bow in her hand, her eyes on the shadows. She settled beside him, her back against the stone, her eyes on the canyon below.
"See anything?"
Ken shook his head. "Not yet."
Lira was quiet for a moment. "Do you think they'll try to stop us? The cult?"
Ken nodded. "They'll try."
Lira's jaw tightened. "Then we stop them first."
---
The ground trembled.
Grog felt it—a shudder, deep in the earth, spreading outward. The portal was coming. He stood, his sword in his hand, his eyes on the canyon below.
Mirena stood beside him, her staff glowing, the stone pulsing in her pocket. "It's close. Very close."
William moved to stand beside them, his sword drawn, his back straight. "How close?"
Mirena pointed to the canyon below. "There."
The air shimmered. The shadows deepened. The portal opened.
It was not a door—not a gate—not anything Grog had seen before. It was a tear in the world, a wound in the fabric of reality, dark and pulsing and wrong. The air around it was cold, thin, hard to breathe.
And from the shadows, red eyes gleamed.
---
The hunters stepped out of the darkness.
Three of them—more solid than before, their bodies no longer translucent, their red eyes burning. They stood at the edge of the canyon, watching, waiting.
Grog's hand tightened on his sword. The berserker stirred. The red crept at the edges of his vision.
"You're too late," the lead hunter said. Its voice was thin, like wind through dead leaves, but clearer than before. "The door is opening."
Mirena raised her staff. "We'll close it."
The hunter smiled. "You can't. It's already open."
Behind them, the portal shimmered. And from the darkness beyond, something moved.