The hero pointed with his chin to a portion of the forest swallowed completely by darkness.

  There, the night wasn't just dark: it seemed to have folded in on itself, like a massive beast brooding in a corner.

  Hero:

  — First, the night.

  It will never love you.

  But it can learn to tolerate you. That's a start.

  Look over there. Tell me what you see.

  Thalen squinted.

  To him, that area was just a compact wall, a block of absolute black.

  Thalen:

  — Nothing... just darkness...

  The hero rolled his eyes with the expertise of a man who had lost faith in humanity, then regained a little thanks to sarcasm.

  Hero:

  — Night is not black.

  It closes.

  Like an oyster.

  And it doesn't want to open for you.

  (...A bit like me before my first coffee.)

  His spectral eye lit up, a thin lunar slit in the gloom.

  Hero:

  — Breathe.

  Don't force it.

  Let it come.

  The darkness is curious... too curious, sometimes.

  Thalen inhaled.

  His feathers bristled.

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  His pupils dilated into two deep pits.

  Then something moved.

  No sound.

  Just a weight shifted in the dark.

  Two eyes, sickly yellow, lit up, suspended in the darkness like lanterns placed on a crouched nightmare.

  Thalen:

  — I think I see... a beast?

  Like a fox... but... huge?

  And... yes, it's looking at me. Very clearly.

  The hero gave a thin smile, the one normally reserved for idiots touching a "Do Not Press" sign.

  Hero:

  — A malh?l.

  A charming creature, if you appreciate the mistakes of a god tinkering with a hangover.

  Thalen couldn't tear his gaze away from those greasy glowing eyes.

  Hero:

  — Imagine a fox.

  Then remove everything that makes it cute.

  Add an elongated carcass, as if someone wanted to see how far a body could stretch before snapping.

  Cover it with fur so dark it drinks light instead of reflecting it.

  And give it a jaw...

  Ah, that jaw...

  The malh?l finally stepped forward, emerging from the shadow as if darkness itself slid from its shoulders.

  It was enormous.

  Not just in size, but in presence.

  A low, feline mass, but armored with irregular bone plates shifting under its skin like living stones.

  Its front paws were wide, heavy, sculpted for digging or tearing.

  Curved claws seemed to tremble with impatience.

  Its mouth was twisted, far too wide, filled with long, needle-like teeth — teeth growing even where a normal mouth would stop.

  As if it had never learned when to stop.

  Hero:

  — The malh?l hunts in total darkness.

  It senses heat, listens to heartbeats.

  And it has a weakness for birds.

  He added, dreamily:

  — A true enthusiast.

  Thalen felt his feathers rise to the last filament.

  Hero:

  — The malh?l loves to observe. To test.

  It waits for you to hesitate.

  To tremble.

  For your heart to skip a beat.

  (He clicked his tongue, dry.)

  — And then... crunch.