They had just begun moving toward the village when Kael stopped so abruptly that Zeph nearly walked into him.

  The others took two more steps before realizing he wasn’t beside them anymore. Leaves crunched under their boots. A low wind hissed through the Bezar jungle, dragging the scent of damp bark—and something faintly metallic—through the air.

  Kael stood still, jaw tight.

  “You guys go ahead,” he said without turning. “I need to handle something. I’ll be back soon.”

  Kany blinked. Zeph tilted his head.

  “Why?” Zeph asked, one brow lifting. “What exactly are you ‘handling’?”

  Kael hesitated. His eyes drifted deeper into the trees.

  “It’s a long story,” he muttered. Then, after a breath, “I have to rescue three bear cubs.”

  Silence settled between them.

  Aeris stepped forward immediately. “I’m coming with you.”

  Kael turned sharply. “There’s no need. I can manage it alone. You don’t have to get involved, Aeris.”

  Her eyes narrowed, sharp as drawn steel. “What do you mean by that?”

  He flinched. “No—that’s not what I meant.”

  “Do you think I’m not good enough?” she pressed.

  “What? No. That’s not it.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “It’s just… we need to report the incident as soon as possible. This isn’t that serious.”

  Kany crossed his arms. “We’re all going.”

  Kael looked at him.

  “We’re here as a team,” he continued evenly. “If you’re doing something in this jungle, you’re not doing it alone. Not on my watch.”

  Zeph nodded once. “Yeah. I’d rather fight a monster than explain to Kaji how we misplaced you.”

  Kael exhaled slowly. “Our main priority is reporting back.”

  “Relax,” Kany said. “Even if we sprint, it’ll still take at least an hour to reach the village.”

  “And,” she added, “according to Kaji, we’re getting teleported back after twenty-four hours. That timer ends in about two.”

  Zeph snapped his fingers. “Which means we’ll be back in the village whether we like it or not.”

  Kael stood silent, weighing it.

  The jungle creaked around them.

  Finally, he nodded once. “Fine.”

  Kael turned and gestured deeper into the forest. “Follow me. I marked the path earlier. Carved signs on the trees.”

  Without another word, they followed him into the deeper stretch of the Bezar jungle, where the trees pressed closer together, the air thinned, and even the wind seemed reluctant to pass.

  Finally, they reached the edge of the clearing.

  The trees thinned unnaturally, as if something had forced them back. Their trunks curved away from the center, bark scarred and stripped. The air shifted the moment they stepped forward—colder, denser. Even the insects had gone silent.

  No chirping.

  No rustling.

  No wind.

  Just a heavy, breathless stillness pressing against their ears.

  Ahead of them, half-swallowed by shadow, stood the cave.

  Its mouth gaped wide and uneven, jagged rock forming what looked disturbingly like broken teeth. A faint draft slipped out from within—wet, mineral, and laced with something metallic.

  Aeris tightened her grip on her sword.

  “The air feels… wrong,” she whispered. Not cold from temperature—but from instinct.

  Kany said nothing. Even Zeph’s usual restlessness stilled.

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  Kael’s gaze drifted to the entrance.

  Then it locked.

  His breathing hitched.

  “The entrance…” His voice came out thinner than he intended.

  He had blocked it. He remembered the weight of the stones grinding against each other. The scrape of rock. The strain in his shoulders as he forced the last slab into place. He had sealed it himself.

  But now—

  The stones weren’t gone.

  They were shattered.

  Massive chunks of rock lay scattered across the clearing like debris after an explosion. Some pieces had been hurled yards away, embedded into tree trunks. Others were splintered into jagged fragments, edges sharp and freshly broken.

  This wasn’t collapse.

  Something had smashed through from the inside.

  Fracture lines radiated outward from the cave mouth. The remaining rock around the entrance was cracked, as if tremendous force had punched through it. Deep gouges scored the stone walls—long, uneven claw marks carved into solid rock.

  Fresh.

  Too fresh.

  The ground before the cave was churned and torn. Dirt displaced. Stone crushed. A faint smear darkened the earth near the threshold.

  “I sealed it,” Kael murmured, staring at the ruin. “I blocked it before we left.”

  His voice lowered.

  “What shattered it?”

  No one answered.

  The silence felt heavier now. Oppressive. Watching.

  Then—

  From inside the cave came a sound.

  Not a roar.

  Not a growl.

  Something more bizarre.

  A strained, trembling whimper.

  Kael’s head snapped up.

  Without thinking, he bolted forward.

  “Kael—” Kany started, but he was already moving.

  The cave breathed out again—slow, cold, deliberate.

  And something shifted in the darkness within.

  When they reached the cave entrance, Kael lifted a hand to stop the others.

  There it was again.

  A sound.

  Wet.

  Slow.

  Chewing.

  Not the frantic tearing of a wild animal—but deliberate. Patient. Teeth grinding through bone. A thick crack followed by a sickening crunch.

  Kael’s throat tightened.

  Something was eating.

  Inside.

  The air drifting from the cave was no longer just cold—it was tainted. Copper. Rot. Fresh blood.

  Another chew.

  Another crack.

  A low rumble vibrated through the stone beneath their feet. Not a growl—just the sound of something large breathing while it fed.

  Kael stepped inside.

  The cave widened after a few meters, opening into a shadowed chamber. Pale light from the entrance barely reached the center.

  And then he saw it.

  At first, it looked like a mound of black fur hunched over something torn apart.

  Then it moved.

  The mound rose.

  And kept rising.

  And rising.

  It was at least three times Kael’s height—easily over ten feet tall when fully upright. Its body was that of a monstrous bear, grotesquely enlarged. Thick, matted fur hung in heavy clumps, darkened by blood that hadn’t fully dried. Massive shoulders rolled beneath the pelt like shifting boulders.

  Its front claws dug into the stone floor—each talon longer than Kael’s hand, curved and slick with red. Blood dripped from them in slow, heavy drops.

  Behind the creature’s massive, blood-soaked body, something dragged across the cave floor.

  Then something else.

  And another.

  Three tails.

  Each one thick as a tree trunk at the base, long and muscular, covered in dark green scales instead of fur. They did not move together. They moved independently.

  Slow.

  Controlled.

  Alive.

  Each tail ended in a serpent’s head.

  Not small.

  Not decorative.

  Full-sized, venomous, predatory heads—jaws wide, fangs curved like hooked daggers. Their red eyes burned just like the bear’s, glowing with the same unnatural awareness.

  The bear’s massive body shifted forward, claws grinding deeper into stone. Its shoulders rolled, fur bristling, muscles flexing beneath matted black hair soaked in dark blood. Thick droplets slid from its fangs and hit the ground one by one.

  Drip.

  Drip.

  Drip.

  What the hell is that? Kany’s voice echoed inside their minds.

  Before anyone could reply—

  One serpent head lifted slowly, its tongue flicking toward Kael.

  The monster stopped chewing.

  Its head turned.

  And Kael felt his lungs forget how to work.

  The creature’s eyes burned crimson—glowing from within like coals buried deep in a furnace. Not reflective. Not animal.

  Aware.

  Its muzzle was torn and wet with blood, strands of flesh still hanging from its teeth. When it opened its mouth to breathe, rows of jagged fangs gleamed in the dim light. Thick saliva mixed with dark red dripped from its jaws.

  What kind of monster is that? Kany’s voice wavered. Its body looks like a bear… but its head—

  Kael swallowed.

  The creature’s skull was longer than a bear’s. Leaner. More lupine. The jaw narrower. The snout sharper.

  Wolf.

  “And it has three snakes for tails,” Kany finished faintly. “What the hell is that?”

  The monster answered with a thunderous growl.

  The cave trembled.