It was a normal day in the forest in the north of Azuma. Well, as normal as it could be. The animals in the outskirts were ordinary: the giant hog searching for roots to eat, not paying attention to the leopard staring at it from a branch ten meters away. Grey parrots went from tree to tree. Brush-tailed porcupines were still sleeping after rustling leaves all night, waiting for darkness to open their eyes again. A viper lay motionless, its leaf-like patterns hiding it as it waited for pitiful prey to fall to its deadly poison. An ordinary forest with large, tall trees… fruits almost everywhere… and insects — big, really big insects. That is, if you didn’t try to see what was wrong on purpose, because a second in this forest was enough to understand.

  The forest was unusually silent. The animals seemed unable to make a sound. If they could, it was barely audible. Unlike normal forests, you had to focus to hear leaves crack before catching any animal noise.

  The deeper into the forest, the darker and quieter it became. The animals looked almost the same, except they were triple their original size. The real predators were here. In fact, all the animals on this side of the forest were predators. In the tall trees slept black mambas of unnatural size. Their scales looked as hard as steel and moved hypnotically with their breathing. Their cold tongues slipped out lightly, signaling alertness. One suddenly looked nervously to its left.

  Five hundred meters away, two monsters fought near a river. A pygmy hippopotamus and a forest elephant clashed. The usually shy creatures charged at each other, making the forest tremble. Their size alone would make any sane person faint. The hippopotamus lunged with its mouth wide open, trying to stab the elephant with its three rows of tusks, its incisors searching for blood. The elephant, as if expecting this, struck it aside with its trunk and sent it crashing into the river.

  The hippopotamus didn’t have time to steady itself before the elephant stomped down, using its front legs to crush its adversary. Instead of piercing the armored skin with its tusks, it chose the quickest, most gruesome way to end the fight. Even the cursed forest could not swallow the sound of bones cracking.

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  After a moment, silence returned. The black mamba went back to sleep. The monstrous elephant was gone, leaving its victim in a small crater. Soon, giant crocodiles dragged the corpse into the water. The environment remained dark and silent. Animals and trees were humongous, shaded darker than usual.

  In this godforsaken forest, an old woman moved stealthily, avoiding every animal as if she knew where to step. She walked slowly, using a cane carved with ancient symbols. Behind her followed a group of teenagers.

  They wore religious dress, unusually white, as if nothing could stain it. Their clothes bore small colored motifs marking rank. A sea snake design ran from one sleeve, across the collar, and ended at the other sleeve. The snake was yellow for most of them. The oldest had an orange one. Belts circled their waists, holding a mask and a small blade. They belonged to the Pale Salt Veil — the cultists found dead in the salt trenches.

  They were alive.

  But sleeping.

  And enveloped in purple flame that lifted them from the ground.

  Seven figures moved toward the center of the forest.

  Seven figures moved toward the center of the forest. They had already spent days inside it, and the more they advanced, the fewer animals there were. The large trees became darker and darker, from dark brown to pitch black, and a smell of fuel spread through the air. The smell came from the ground, and anyone witnessing this scene for the first time would be frozen in pure fright. On the ground wasn’t soil or grass… but white bones of all shapes, forming an enormous contrast.

  Old Meza became more cautious as time went by. Purple flames appeared at her feet, making her levitate like the teens she carried. She cut her finger and drew a symbol with her blood on her forehead. The symbol soon ignited, and all sound she made disappeared.

  She suddenly stopped.

  In front of her was an area without the giant black trees she had seen for days. It was a deserted stretch nearly one kilometer wide, covered in white sand, with a small obsidian tree standing in the center. The area didn’t seem affected by time. It was night in the rest of the forest, but this circle was as bright as day, and no one was allowed to lift their eyes to the sky.

  This was a cursed area.

  And a very high-level one.

  Closing thought: Something ancient was waiting, and it had already noticed them.

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