Now, everyone was in position. The air hung heavy with tension, thick as smoke, as they waited for the predators to emerge from the darkness.
The two strangers stood silently on either side of the dirt road, hidden behind the thick trunks of ancient trees. Their figures were barely visible, swallowed by the night, only faint outlines when the clouds shifted just enough to allow a glimpse of the starlight. The abandoned carriage sat like bait between them—its wheels crooked, one door hanging slightly ajar as if it too were holding its breath.
Each of them gripped a small, sharp blade in trembling hands. The knives caught what little light there was, glinting faintly like distant stars. Their knuckles were pale, their fingers unsteady—not from cold, but from fear. Real fear. The kind that wrapped around your lungs and refused to let go.
Their eyes darted toward the road, scanning the pitch-black stretch ahead, as if staring hard enough might let them see through the dark. Every snapping twig or rustling leaf made their hearts skip a beat. Every breath they took was shallow, quiet, as if the air itself might betray them.
Meanwhile, Nyx crouched low within the western forest, nestled behind a wide, gnarled tree whose twisted roots clung to the earth like a beast's claws. He had crept in just far enough to remain unseen, but close enough to see the road—if there had been anything to see. He positioned himself low to the ground, his body curled like a spring, ready to launch forward the moment it was needed.
But the forest around him was drowned in darkness. Without the moon, the world had vanished into an endless void. Shadows wrapped around everything—deep, oppressive, all-consuming. Even the trees faded into nothingness, as if the forest itself had been erased. Not a single silhouette moved. It was as if the earth had gone blind.
Nyx pressed his back to the cold bark, careful not to make a sound. He slowly leaned to peek through the veil of leaves, but saw only the vast, undisturbed black ahead. His breath was shallow, his heartbeat loud in his ears.
He didn't move. He didn't blink. The weight of the silence was suffocating.
And yet, despite the stillness, the tension only grew thicker. Time stretched. Every second felt like a minute. The forest offered no sound, not even the chirp of a cricket or the hoot of an owl. The world held its breath with them.
Nyx couldn't see anything on the road. Just black. Endless, impenetrable black. The only thing he could do now was wait—wait for that first flicker of movement, the shift in air pressure, the unmistakable crunch of something heavy stepping onto the road.
He remained frozen, every muscle tense, poised in the darkness like a shadow of his own fear.
Because the moment was coming.
And when it did, they all knew—they would either survive together…
Or not at all.
As Nyx settled into his position behind the tree, crouched low in the underbrush with only the silence and shadows for company, he whispered a thought into the void of his mind.
'Hey, Love… how much time do we have left before the monsters get here?'
There was a pause—long enough to stretch his nerves thin—before Love's voice answered in a trembling whisper, coated with fear.
"They're almost here… they're already on the road. Just a little farther now…"
Her words sent a chill down his spine.
Nyx didn't respond. He didn't need to. Instead, he sharpened his senses, straining to catch even the faintest sound. His ears searched the silence for footsteps, growls, the snapping of branches—anything that might betray the monsters' presence.
He kept still, his breath slow and quiet, every muscle locked in tension.
They were coming. And now, it was only a matter of seconds.
At the same moment, Love's voice echoed quietly in his mind, filled with a mixture of fear and confusion.
"[Do you have any idea how you're going to kill these monsters?]"
There was a tremble in her words, a hesitation that mirrored the unease twisting in Nyx's own gut. Even she couldn't understand it—how someone who had been on the verge of tears not long ago could now speak so calmly about killing two monsters.
For a moment, Nyx said nothing.
He remained perfectly still, eyes locked on the road swallowed by darkness, ears straining to catch the faintest sound. There was no time for fear. No time for doubts. Every heartbeat could bring the enemy closer.
Sensing his silence, Love seemed to understand.
She didn't push him for an answer.
She simply fell quiet, leaving him alone with the weight of the night, the tension thick around him.
There, in the breathless darkness, they both waited.
And the monsters were almost here.
"Ah—"
The soft groan of pain broke the suffocating silence. Once. Then again, almost immediately after.
Nyx's ears sharpened, catching the faint sound. It came from the strangers—exactly as planned.
Somewhere in the darkness, hidden behind their trees, they had cut shallow wounds into their own hands, letting the blood flow freely. The sharp, metallic scent of it would soon drift through the night air, thick and tempting, a lure no bloodthirsty creature could resist.
The quiet groans weren't loud, but in a world where even the trees seemed to be holding their breath, they might as well have been deafening. Every sound felt amplified in the black stillness.
Nyx didn't move. He only listened, senses stretched thin, knowing the bait had been set.
Now all that was left was to wait—for the predators to take it.
As the scent of blood spread through the cold night air, Nyx caught a glimpse—two faint reflections flickering across the road. Almost at the same moment, he heard it: the sound of something—or things—racing forward at an inhuman speed.
He caught a fleeting glimpse of the abominations racing down the road—moving in a way no human ever could, their limbs twisting and lurching with unnatural speed and hunger.
It wasn't a clear sight. He couldn't truly see them—only a blur of movement, a shimmer of something shifting too fast for the eye to follow. Shadows within shadows, streaking through the darkness.
He caught a fleeting glimpse of the abominations racing down the road—moving in a way no human ever could, their limbs twisting and lurching with unnatural speed and hunger.
But there was no doubt. They had arrived.
And now, the true part of Nyx's plan began.
He waited for just a heartbeat longer—then sprang into action.
Nyx sprang to his feet, spun around, and dashed into the darkness as fast as his legs would carry him.