“Hshh… Hshhh…”Kael’s breathing was heavy inside the old, long abandoned building. The night air was cold and damp, mixed with the scent of wet earth and a faint, unpleasant odor that had been irritating his throat ever since they entered. Kael was not alone that night. He and four other soldiers were making their way into the dark building, where an eerie atmosphere seemed to linger in every corner. Each step they took echoed softly against the dusty concrete floor, scattered with shards of broken glass, and the sound seemed far louder than it should have been because of the unnatural silence filling the corridor ahead.Kael walked in the middle of the group, gripping a long-barreled rifle tightly with both of his thin hands. The flashlight mounted beneath the weapon illuminated only a few meters ahead before the darkness swallowed everything beyond its reach. Two other soldiers followed behind him, while Daren walked closest to Kael, occasionally glancing from left to right to make

Morning came slowly over the military outpost, but Kael barely noticed it. He had been sitting on the edge of the bed in the infirmary for almost an hour, staring blankly at the bandage wrapped around his right leg while the sound of footsteps and soldier’s voices drifted faintly through the corridor outside. The pain was still there whenever he tried to move his leg, but strangely, the wound was nowhere near as severe as it should have been after what had happened the night before.Kael slowly pulled back part of the bandage and examined the wound beneath it. The deep claw marks were still clearly visible, but the bleeding had stopped and the skin around the wound appeared to be closing. He frowned, trying to understand what he was seeing. According to the medic who had treated him, a wound like this should have taken weeks to heal, yet only a few hours had passed and it already looked far better than it should have.The door suddenly opened.Kael quickly lowered the bandage again an

The emergency alarm continued to blare throughout the military outpost, shattering the brief sense of calm Kael had just begun to feel. He struggled to his feet despite the pain in his right leg. Outside the infirmary, the sound of hurried footsteps, soldiers shouting orders, and heavy metal doors being thrown open echoed through the corridors.Kael had barely stepped out of the infirmary when a medical officer rushed past him. The man looked visibly panicked.“All non-combat personnel must remain inside their assigned rooms! Do not leave until further orders!”“What happened? Are the Wraiths attacking?” Kael called out, but the man was already running down the corridor without answering.Kael grew even more confused. He knew he should have stayed in bed, but after losing four of his comrades in a single night, he could not bear the thought of sitting still while something might be happening outside. He limped toward the doorway and peered through the opening, hoping to find someone w

Commander Alric immediately ordered the eastern gate sealed off from nonessential personnel. The symbol was photographed and copied into an official report, but he forbade anyone from touching the mark. Even the guards were ordered to remain silent about what they had witnessed.“Keep this out of the general reports,” Alric instructed. “No one discusses the symbol outside the command center. Understood?”A young lieutenant glanced at the strange mark on the ground. “With all due respect, Commander, do we know who made it?”Alric gave him a hard look. “If we did, I wouldn't be standing here asking questions.”He took the photograph from the communications officer and placed it inside a black folder. Instead of returning to the command center, he headed for the old administration building, a facility that had been abandoned after headquarters moved to a newer section of the outpost.Behind a locked steel door on the second floor lay an archive absent from the official records. Alric unl

“DON’T MOVE!”Darius’s shout echoed through the Wraith-infested street. Dozens of creatures stood blocking their path, yet none of them attacked. They simply stared at Kael with glowing yellow eyes.“Why are they just staring at us?” Rovan whispered.“I dont know,” Kael replied.A branch snapped somewhere inside the forest. The Wraiths in the street suddenly lowered their heads and knelt in unison.Something moved between the trees. Heavy footsteps followed, each one sending a faint tremor through the ground. Every soldier turned toward the forest.“Hold your positions!” Darius ordered. “Nobody fires without my command!”A massive creature emerged from the trees. It was far larger than an ordinary Wraith, with black bones protruding from its back and two short horns curving from its skull. Its red eyes swept across the soldiers before settling on Kael.The creature didn’t growl. It simply extended one clawed hand toward him.“Kael Arven,” it rasped. “Come with me.”Kael took a step ba