Beneath the twisted canopies of Onis Forest, where branches clawed at the sky like the skeletal fingers of demons, a carriage rattled frantically over the rugged path. The rhythmic strike of wooden wheels against stone echoed through an oppressive, suffocating silence.
"Mother... when will we be out of this forest?"
Ten-year-old Rin whispered, huddling closer into her mother's embrace. As the last embers of sunlight faded, her mind drifted to the gruesome legends the elders used to frighten children. But the look in Elena's eyes as she peered through the curtain was different... it wasn't the gaze of a storyteller, but of someone who knew the nightmare was real.
"Just a little longer, my love... just a little longer," Elena murmured, stroking Rin's hair. Her hand, however, was as cold as a corpse.
NEIGH!!!
A horse's agonizing shriek ripped through the air, and the carriage lurched to a violent halt. Rin was nearly thrown from her seat before Ivan, her father, tore the curtain open. His once stern and noble face was now deathly pale, veins bulging with tension.
"Rin, get down! Now! Hurry!" His voice trembled, sharp with desperation.
"Ivan, what is happening?"
"The scouts were attacked..." Ivan didn't finish. He grabbed his wife and daughter, pulling them from the carriage in a blur of panic. Rin saw a man lying in a pool of blood, surrounded by terrified villagers. But it wasn't the scent of iron that made her skin crawl—it was his wound.
It wasn't from a blade or a beast. The flesh was decaying and charred from within, as if consumed by an internal fire, yet his clothes bore not a single scorch mark.
"Run... go..." the dying man gasped, his eyes wide with horror. "The Black Mist... it... it is here..."
As his voice failed, an unnatural, freezing wind swept through the caravan. The lanterns that once offered warmth began to flicker and die, one by one... until only a darkness so thick remained that one could not even see their own hand.
"What in the gods' name is that!" a panicked scream pierced the dark.
A dense, pitch-black smoke billowed from the thicket, moving as if it possessed its own breath and will. It swirled and contorted, eventually coalescing into humanoid shapes clad in obsidian armor. They didn't walk; they surged forward like nightmares manifesting in the waking world.
"Leave everything! Run for Onis Village! RUN!!!" Ivan roared, drawing his steel sword.
"Father!" Rin cried out as a shadow loomed over him, blade raised high. Ivan swung with all his might, but his steel passed through the figure as if striking mist. No ring of metal on metal—only a hollow void.
"Run, Rin! Don't look back!"
That was the last image of her father—swallowed by dozens of shifting shadows like a feast for vultures. Elena clutched Rin and ran with every ounce of strength she possessed. The village lights flickered just ahead; a few more steps, and they would be free from this living nightmare!
Suddenly, a deathly shadow surged from the ground directly in their path. Elena gathered her last bit of strength and leaped, desperate to clear the darkness. But as her feet were about to touch the ground on the other side—
SHLICK!
The sickening sound of tearing flesh echoed through the woods. Elena crashed to the earth, a black blade having sliced through her leg, painting the grass crimson. Rin rushed to her mother, tears streaming down her face, but Elena's right hand found the strength to push her daughter away from the encroaching shadows.
"Run, my love! Reach for the light... don't let them take you!"
"No! Mother, I won't leave you!"
"GO!!!" Elena commanded, her eyes filled with a love and a parting that cut deeper than any blade. With one final, desperate shove, she sent her daughter toward the distant lights. "Remember, Rin... always stay in the light!"
Rin stumbled forward, falling and crawling through the damp grass. When she turned back, Elena's silhouette was being dragged into the devouring darkness of the forest. All that remained was a sob lost in the wind, amidst a whisper that defied understanding yet scarred the soul...
"Gurgaste Ariganbo Cesarove Gasdargur!"