Chapter 13: The Eyeless One
The forest had become strangely quiet.
Too quiet.
The giant worm lay dead in the snow, its enormous body stretched across the path like a fallen hill, black blood slowly mixing with the white ground, steaming.
Danny stood several steps away, still trying to understand how he was alive. His whole body was shaking, not from cold. From the voice still inside his head.
_I am waiting for you._
He looked at the Awakened man.
The man had said nothing to him. Not a single question. Not even an expression of surprise after Danny crawled out of a monster’s stomach covered in blood.
It was almost as if seeing it was normal. Or as if he didn’t want to admit what he saw.
Danny looked away.
There were only four of them left now in this white graveyard.
The grey-haired leader, clutching his broken sword, his coat torn.
The Awakened man, his Echo mist flickering weakly around his arm.
The thin prisoner, breathing fast, eyes darting everywhere.
And Danny, small, chained, covered in worm blood.
Everyone else was dead. Buried under snow or inside the worm.
The grey-haired man walked toward the remains of the caravan, his boots crunching. "Check what’s left. We can’t stay here. More will come smelling the blood."
The thin prisoner immediately began searching through the broken supplies, shoving snow aside with his hands.
Danny followed cautiously, his chains dragging.
There wasn’t much left. Most of the food barrels had been crushed when the worm rolled. Several weapons were scattered across the snow - a spear snapped in half, an axe buried deep. A few blankets had survived, soaked in blood.
The grey-haired man picked up a small leather bag that had fallen from the key trader. He opened it.
"Food. Dried meat. Three days if we ration."
The thin prisoner immediately moved toward him. "Give me some."
The grey-haired man threw him a piece without looking. The prisoner caught it and quickly shoved it into his mouth, chewing like an animal.
Danny watched. His stomach growled loudly. He hadn’t eaten in two days.
The thin prisoner looked at him. For a moment, Danny thought he might offer him some, after what he did - using him as bait.
Instead, the man turned away and hid the rest of the meat behind his back.
Danny lowered his eyes. He had expected nothing else. But his hands - his marks - felt warm again, pulsing slightly.
The Awakened man hadn’t moved for food. He walked toward the dead worm, placing his gloved hand against its pale, cold scales.
"What are you looking for?" the grey-haired man asked, annoyed.
"Core," the Awakened man said quietly. "Every high-rank monster has a core. Worth more than this whole caravan. And..."
He frowned. His Echo mist, which should have glowed brighter near a monster core, was doing the opposite. It was shrinking away from the worm, from the hole where Danny had crawled out.
He pressed harder. Nothing happened.
Then —
Crack.
Everyone stopped. The sound was sharp, not soft snow.
The thin prisoner froze, meat half in his mouth. "What was that?"
Another sound. Crack. A branch breaking, deep in the dark tree line. Then another.
The grey-haired man immediately raised his broken sword, old instincts back. "Stay close. Don’t move."
Danny’s heart began beating faster. The forest had been silent after the worm died. Now it wasn’t. Something was moving around them, circling, staying just out of sight behind the white trees.
The Awakened man slowly turned toward the trees. His eyes narrowed. His Echo mist, which had been weak, suddenly flared up his arm in defense.
"Something’s coming. And it’s not here for the worm. It’s here for us."
The snow in front of them suddenly exploded.
BOOM!
A creature launched itself from between the trees, so fast Danny barely saw it.
It looked like a wolf. But it was far larger than any wolf Danny had ever seen - its back was as tall as the grey-haired man. Its body was covered in dark, matted fur that had ice crystals hanging from it. Its claws were long as knives. Its jaws were filled with sharp teeth, drooling.
But the most terrifying thing was its face. It had no eyes. Only smooth, stretched skin where its eyes should have been, with faint veins underneath that pulsed.
An Eyeless Fang.
The thin prisoner screamed. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
The creature didn’t howl. It growled, and the sound vibrated through the trees, through the snow, through Danny’s chest. It was using sound to see.
The Awakened man stepped forward instantly, placing himself between the monster and the others. "Stay back! It’s a Tracker! It hunts by Echo!"
The creature suddenly disappeared — not invisible, just too fast. Danny’s eyes widened. "Where did it—"
BOOM!
The creature slammed into the Awakened man from the side. Even with his Echo stone-arm raised to block, the impact was terrible. The Awakened man’s body was sent crashing ten feet into the snow, carving a trench.
"Get off him!" the grey-haired man roared.
The Awakened man tried to rise, his Echo flaring. "Grave—"
He didn’t finish.
The eyeless wolf was already on him again. It struck him with its clawed paw.
BOOM!
The Awakened man was driven into the ground, snow exploding. He coughed blood. His Echo flickered wildly and went out.
Danny stared in shock. The strongest person among them, who had punched the Ice Worm, had been knocked down in seconds.
The grey-haired man rushed forward, screaming. "HEY! OVER HERE, YOU BASTARD!"
He swung his chipped sword with all his strength.
SLASH!
The blade struck the creature’s side. Black blood sprayed across the snow. The eyeless wolf yelped - a high, horrible sound - and jumped away from the Awakened man.
The Awakened man remained on the ground. He wasn’t moving, but his chest was still rising slightly. Not dead. Unconscious. His Echo completely gone.
"Get up!" the grey-haired man shouted at him. Nothing.
The grey-haired man looked at him, then at the monster. His expression darkened. He realized it was now just him.
The eyeless wolf turned its blind face toward the grey-haired man. It sniffed the air, turning its head toward the sound of his breathing.
The old mercenary tightened his grip around the sword, his knuckles white. Blood dripped from his arm where the worm had cut him.
"So..." He slowly raised the blade, breathing hard, "...it’s just you and me now, huh? Ugly?"
The creature lowered its body, preparing to pounce.
Danny watched from behind a broken crate, his heart pounding so loud he was sure the wolf could hear it too.
The grey-haired man charged first.
CLANG!
His sword struck the creature’s claws. The force pushed him backward, his boots sliding in snow.
He immediately swung again. SLASH! The creature dodged, impossibly fast for its size. Its claws tore through his coat, leaving three red lines.
The grey-haired man stumbled but didn’t fall.
The wolf attacked again. He barely blocked.
BOOM!
The impact sent him sliding through the snow. Danny saw his sword crack even more.
The grey-haired man struggled back to his feet. He was losing. Every block shook his whole body. The wolf was faster, stronger, and it could hear every breath he took.
Danny looked at the thin prisoner. The man was trembling behind a rock, useless, whispering "We’re dead, we’re dead."
Neither of them could fight that thing. The grey-haired man was their only fighter left, and he was about to die.
And if he died... the monster would come for them next. It would come for Danny.
Danny looked around the snowy forest wildly. His eyes moved from the monster... to the grey-haired man struggling... then to the chains lying beside the broken caravan. The heavy iron chain that had once tied the prisoners together. Thick, rusted, but strong. And covered in snow.
An idea slowly formed inside his head. It was stupid. It was dangerous. It might get him killed faster.
But if he did nothing — he knew exactly what would happen. Just like his village.
Danny clenched his fists. The black arrow marks on his arms, which had faded, suddenly felt warm again, pulsing in time with the growling wolf’s steps.
I have to do something.
He crawled toward the chains.