_Morana’s POV_
The battlefield had gone eerily quiet. One heartbeat ago, the forest had been alive with snarls, screams, and the clash of fangs and claws. But now, the monstrous beasts, those twisted shadows with red eyes and dripping maws, were gone. They had melted back into the darkness as if they had never been here at all.
I stood still. The silver fire was still burning faintly at my fingertips. My chest was heaving from the fight. My cloak clung to my body with sweat and blood. My throat was raw from chanting spells. My heart was racing but not just from exhaustion. Something was wrong.
I narrowed my eyes at the empty clearing. “Why… would they retreat?” I whispered aloud, though no one was near enough to answer.
Shadows never pulled back unless commanded. Fenric’s creations fou
