Chapter 20

• The ethereal mist, once a veil of serene beauty in the Moonwood, now clung to the forest floor like a shroud of unanswered questions. Kael, his golden eyes still burning with a residual inferno of rage and desperation, surveyed the scene with an acuity sharpened by loss. The vampires had been masters of their craft, their departure as swift and silent as a predator slipping back into the eternal night. There were no broken branches to mark their hasty exit, no misplaced stones, no lingering scent of their foul magic strong enough to pinpoint a direction with certainty. They had dissolved into the very air, taking Tallia with them, leaving behind only the raw, gaping wound of her absence.
• The initial shock of the ambush had given way to a gnawing unease that settled deep within the pack’s collective spirit. Lyra, her usual composure replaced by a frantic energy, was directing search parties, her voice strained but resolute. Yet, even as they combed the ancient woods, sniffing the air for any trace, any whisper of the direction their enemies had fled, the futility of their efforts was becoming brutally apparent. It was as if the earth itself had conspired to swallow the perpetrators and their prize whole. The vampires, Kael knew with a certainty that chilled him to the bone, had not acted impulsively. This was a calculated move, a gambit played with unnerving precision, and the pieces they had taken – Tallia – were of immense value. But to what end?
• Ransom was a possibility, a crude and common tactic for lesser predators. But these were not mere brigands of the night. The chilling aura emanating from their leader, the sheer power they had displayed in their brief, brutal appearance, spoke of an ancient and far more sophisticated breed. They were likely driven by motivations that transcended simple greed. Perhaps Tallia was a pawn, a currency to be exchanged in some infernal negotiation with powers Kael could only dimly perceive. The thought of her being bartered, her freedom traded for some dark pact, was anathema to him.