Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
The memory of the beast remained too vivid, its size, its unnatural presence, and most of all the way it had looked at her—not as prey alone, but with something that lingered too long to be easily dismissed.
She pushed the thought aside and focused on the path ahead.
Willowmere was close. She knew it by the thinning of the trees, by the subtle lift in the land, by how the forest began to give way to the life she understood. Normally, this part of the journey brought a quiet sense of ease, a return to what was known and steady.
Today, it did not. Sound reached her before sight.
Voices—many of them—rising and overlapping in a way that held none of the calm she had always associated with the village. There was urgency in them, and something sharper beneath it that set her already frayed nerves further on edge.
Bria slowed only slightly as she reached the edge of the trees, her gaze lifting toward the cottages that came into view.
What she saw there struck her more deeply than she expected.
Willowmere was never like this. The usual rhythm of the village—quiet movement, purposeful work, the steady coming and going of those in need—had given way to something unsettled. Villagers stood gathered in tight clusters, their voices low but strained, their attention drawn again and again toward the main healing cottage.
And among them stood men who did not belong.
Hunters.
The king’s Hunters of Venngraith. He used them to hunt and collect those chosen for a specific reason. When Hunters arrived, people disappeared.
Their presence alone would have been enough to disturb the balance of the village, but there was more to it than that. Their horses stood nearby, restless, their gear marked with the wear of hard travel. The men themselves bore the look of those who had seen something they could not easily explain.
Bria stepped forward, her unease deepening as familiar faces turned toward her.
“Bria!”
Judith’s voice reached her first.
The pregnant woman moved toward her as quickly as she was able, one hand pressed protectively at her rounded belly, her face pale with worry that gave way to visible relief the moment she drew near.
“Thank the heavens you’ve returned,” Judith said, catching hold of Bria’s arm as though to assure herself she was truly there. “You came through the forest alone?”
“I did,” Bria answered, though her voice carried a steadiness she did not fully feel.
Judith searched her face, her relief faltering as concern took its place.
“Did you see anything?” she asked, lowering her voice despite the noise around them. “Or hear something… strange?”
Bria hesitated, if only for a moment. “Why do you ask?”
Judith shot a quick glance toward the Hunters, then drew a breath that did little to steady her. “They came earlier today. Not long after the sun reached its height. One of their men was brought in, badly wounded. They say it was done by a huge creature in the forest, something none of them have seen before now.”
Bria felt the echo of the forest rise again within her, the memory of the beast pressing close.
“What kind of creature?” she asked, more calmly than she felt.
Judith shook her head. “They cannot agree, only that it was large… pale fur… and that it struck without warning. They barely got the wounded Hunter back here alive.”
Bria’s gaze shifted toward the healing cottage. “He still lives?”
“For now,” Judith said. “Arella and the others have been working on him since he was brought in. They’ve not stepped away.”
Judith’s hand tightened slightly on Bria’s arm. “I feared you might have crossed its path. I have never been so glad to see someone return safely.”
Bria managed a faint smile, though it did not fully reach her eyes. “Nor have I been so glad to see home.”
And it was home.
The place where she had always known her purpose, where her days were filled with work that mattered and a life that had never left her wanting more. She had never sought change, never felt the need to look beyond what Willowmere offered.
Yet standing there now, she felt the difference as clearly as if it had been spoken aloud. The calm she had always relied upon was gone. Something had disturbed it. Something that did not belong.
The sudden rise of voices from the direction of the main healing cottage drew every eye.
What had been scattered concern gathered into movement at once, villagers turning and making their way toward the cottage, unease sharpening into something far more immediate.
Bria did not hesitate. She glanced at Judith, and together they moved with the others, drawn by the urgency that now gripped the village.
Judith kept close to her side, one hand resting protectively at her belly as she hurried as best she could.
The shouts grew loudly from within the cottage.
“Something must have worsened,” Judith said, her voice tight with worry.