A gentle nudge woke him up from his uncomfortable slumber. Jason was crouched next to him. As soon as his eyes opened, the young man leaned in closer. “It’s asleep again. If we’re going to get the hell out of here, now’s the best time.” He pointed at the door. It was creaked ever so slightly open. “There are a good four hours till dawn. We can move in the cover of the night.”

  It wasn’t long before they were all awake and ready to make their escape. They snuck out of the building, then immediately circled behind it.

  The wind was blowing from the north, which meant they needed to take a longer route, so their scent wouldn’t immediately get carried to the Gryphon. Instead, they circled around, moving southeast, around the hills.

  The fog that descended each night was thicker than usual, and they carried no light with them. With no stars or moon to illuminate the darkness, they could barely see each other, let alone their surroundings. They stuck close in fear of getting lost. Even the two wolves stayed near them.

  The mountain range was visible only as a distant silhouette towering above all else. The only other landmark they had was the tall, fog-covered tower to their south – the place that once was Fairford.

  “Is it just me, or is the fog getting thicker?” Ava quietly asked at some point. They were far enough away from the structure now that it wasn’t visible anymore. She looked around with narrowed eyes, trying to make out their surroundings. “I’m having trouble seeing anything.” She pointed at the distant, fog-covered structure. “Even the damn tower is difficult to see.”

  She wasn’t wrong. The once clear silhouette of the tower was now difficult to see. The fog was thicker, and the wind constantly made it move, forming shapes and silhouettes of things that didn’t really exist.

  Clara suddenly gasped. She grabbed onto his arm. “There!” She hissed, pointing at the fog, rolling in from the south. Alaric followed her gaze. Darker shadows danced in the fog, forming shapes that dissipated a moment later.

  “What?” Reuban drew his sword.

  Clara shook her head. “I don’t know. I thought… I thought I saw something.” She hesitated, her eyes darting around from shadow to shadow.

  Alaric turned around to glance at the tower. He circled around, then scowled. “Stop. Where’s the tower?” His words prompted the others to pause and look around as well.

  Luna suddenly growled. It was a low, guttural sound that alarmed them. She sniffed the air, then let out a second, more alarming growl.

  Clara drew a sharp breath. “Look!” She pointed at a passing shadow in the fog. Her voice was but a whisper, weak with fear. This time, the shadow she pointed at didn’t dissipate. It was twice the size of Sol, and at first glance, looked like the silhouette of a wolf. It continued moving slowly as they followed it with their gazes.

  “I think that one’s real.” Ava finally admitted.

  “Can we please hide?” Clara hissed. “Please? What if there are more of them?”

  Following the silhouette with his gaze, Alaric couldn’t help but agree. They moved quickly towards the silhouette of large rocks jutting out of the ground. They were too jagged to climb but crouching between the largest rocks and some smaller ones at least gave them some cover from being seen.

  We can’t do anything about our scent though. He could only hope they weren’t actually canines.

  “There are more of them.” Jason muttered.

  He wasn’t wrong. There were more silhouettes in the swirling fog now. Most of them were similar to the first one they saw, some smaller, some a little bit larger. But some were different. Some were large. Larger than a horse, and fast too. The fog hid the details from them and dampened the sounds as well. The dull, distant sound of footsteps helped little to identify what they were looking at.

  Alaric closed his eyes for a moment. We shouldn’t have left the tower. Were these creatures here because they had strayed too far south? Or was it because they were outside after dusk?

  Sol let out a low growl – a warning. It stayed close to the ground, its tail still, and eyes focused ahead.

  A high pitched howl startled them.

  “They know about us.” Jason drew his sword and started on his feet. A bow appeared in Ava’s hand, and an arrow in her other hand. She nocked the arrow as Reuban also drew his weapon. Clara let out a shaky breath. “Oh god…” she whispered, frozen in fear.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “Up.” Alaric pulled her up, then drew his own sword.

  “We can’t stay here. We need to move north.” Ava aimed at the silhouette.

  The howling stopped, and it lunged at them.

  The arrow whistled as it flew through the thick, swirling fog, and hit the creature’s chest. A pained growl rang.

  “Go,” his voice was but a whisper, and that was all the two wolves needed. Sol leapt over the small rocks and dashed towards the silhouette. Luna circled around instead, staying close to the ground as she ran. “Go, go, go!” Alaric pushed Jason and Reuban, then dragged Clara out from between the two rocks. “Northward, let the wolves handle that one.”

  “Where is north?!” Reuban cried out.

  “Where the other creatures aren’t coming from,” he hissed as more howls rose from behind them. Definitely not that way. They dashed, passing by the first creature that howled. Sol had caught it by the throat, and Luna had leapt on its back. It tried to shake them off, but soon it fell down, motionless.

  Both wolves caught up with them within seconds.

  It’s not a wolf. It was similar, but certainly not an ordinary wolf. It had long fur, oddly long legs that made it more disturbing to look at than most things they’d come across by now, and its head was adorned with a crown of horns. Its fur glinted with silver and black. It almost looked like embers – but what kind of flame would have black or silver embers?

  More howls rose all around them.

  WARNING

  THE PROFANED LEGION HAS CALLED A HUNT

  OBJECTIVE – SURVIVE

  “Fuck.” He cursed under his breath. “Run.”

  Creatures leapt out of the shadows. They ran fast – their long legs made it easy for them to catch up to the group. A blade appeared in Ava’s hand as three of the creatures approached them.

  “Reuban, cover Clara!” Alaric dashed forward, ignoring his sister’s panicked cries. We need to kill them before more show up. Sol and Luna dashed to one of the creatures while he focused on the closest one. It leapt for his throat, but his blade found its throat first, cutting through the long fur and its flesh with relative ease. As it fell to the ground, he spun around to face the next one, only to see Sol and Luna tear its throat out rather violently. The third one fell not long after as Jason cut off its head while Ava held the creature down.

  “Keep moving.” The young man hissed. He waved his left hand. “Their fur has fire in it. Don’t get burned.”

  So they were embers.

  “Keep moving!” Ava’s voice rang in the dark. Nocking yet another arrow, she scoured the fog, looking for the next monster that would leap at them.

  The fog had grown thicker. It was difficult to even see each other, and almost impossible to figure out which way they needed to go. With no compass, and no way to see any landmarks, their only option was to blindly move forward, hoping they were moving away from the tower, and not towards it.

  The passage of time also soon became a blur. For how long had they been in this fog? Half an hour? An entire hour? Two? Alaric had no idea. His arms were tired, his clothes bloody, and his arms and legs scratched up. Everyone was exhausted, and everyone was slightly battered up.

  It’s turned into a war of attrition. His chest tightened as he spotted a shadow approaching. The silhouette soon leapt out of the fog, only to be shot down by Ava’s arrow.

  “I’m running out.” She clicked her tongue and put the bow away, summoning a sword instead.

  Alaric paused to look at everyone. They were standing just a few steps apart, and even then the fog obscured his view somewhat. “Let’s keep moving.” He tried to keep his exhaustion out of his voice.

  We should have risked the Gryphon. They were only in this situation because they decided to circle around instead of rushing back to camp in a straight line. Was Enochian really a mistake? Doubts began to surface. Yes, they knew more about some murals now, but aside from that, what had he gained? The ability to read some old book? What good would that do if they all died here?

  He glanced over his shoulder. His gaze landed on Clara, whose face was pale as a sheet of paper. She was tightly holding onto Reuban, who was, in turn, following Jason just a single step behind. Did I kill her?

  Ava drew a sharp breath. “It’s getting thinner!” Her voice was but a whisper, yet her excitement was palpable. Her eyes glimmered with hope was she hastened her steps.

  The fog was getting thinner with each step they took. With renewed vigour, they rushed ahead. The sky slowly began to unravel before them, dyed in myriad colours eastward.

  Dawn. Alaric stared at the colourful sky. Over four hours had passed. A wave of relief washed over him, bringing on all the pain and exhaustion he had been suppressing. His legs were hurting, the numerous scratches and teeth marks hurt.

  “Fuck that though,” Jason cursed under his breath. “I’m never going that way again.” He turned around to glare at the south. Visibly flinching, his eyes widened. “Oh fuck no.”

  With a tight chest, Alaric spun around to face whatever it was Jason saw.

  His gaze landed on a knight. Clad in black plate mail, he rode a horse. Well, something like a horse, at least. It’s mane and tail glittered with black and silver embers. It was huge – it had to be, to be able to carry its rider. Its steps left small patches of silver and black flames behind.

  The knight’s hand rested on the hilt of his sword hanging from the horse’s saddle. His face was hidden behind his helmet. His armour, adorned with silver, glimmered with the dim light of the flames his steed left behind. A long, black cloak fluttered behind him, made of an oddly light material.

  “Weak souls who deserve not to be blessed by the gods,” his booming voice startled them. “You dare leave your Hallowed lands at night? You dare traverse the fog, and face the Profaned Legion?” He raised his chin and unsheathed his sword.

  A thin, elegant blade wreathed in silver flames and mist pointed at them. “Your souls are weak, unworthy! You lack strength, your stories lack substance. Your worthless souls shall feed the fires of the highest heaven!”