Sage Slate inhaled that distinct, musky scent of the Tenebris Forest. It was the trees – their bark. They were the source of that unidentifiable smell. Like a mixture of eucalyptus and pine and a hint of honey all compressed into the sturdy trunks of the millions of trees that made up the vast vicinity of this side of the forest.

If someone were to look at the forest on a map, like Sage had done so many times before during past battles, they would see that the Tenebris Forest made up most of the continent. Roughly three quarters of Caedus, was forest. That being said, the Tenebris forest was excessively massive, and as the climate had rapidly changed over the years, so had it. Far, far north, these infamous Tenebran trees thinned out and lost their leaves, becoming an ice-forest. All snow and winter white lands, vast and bitterly frigid. But if you made it past all that thicket of snow-filled forest and reached the end, you'd find Caedus's tallest mountain – Mount Zephyrus – so terrifyingly tall that its peaks punctured the always-cloudy sky. No one ventured that high up though, and past hikers who had managed to climb halfway up normally never returned to finish their tales. The few that did all said the same: That it wasn't possible to hike past the halfway point. Something or other would force them to make their way back down and travel to another place to seek adventure, instead.

Sage had never been to Mount Zephyrus, but he imagined it wasn't as frightening as it was gloriously mysterious. Most people were scared to venture into the unknown. He didn't doubt creatures lurked in the mountains, but he did doubt those who recounted the tales of terrible beasts waiting to prey on curious adventurers. People too often misjudged that which they didn't understand.

And that was how Sage had decided, fifteen years ago, to venture into the deeper parts of the Tenebris Forest.

See, the outskirts, they weren't dangerous. Everyone knew that. If he had chosen a hiding place near the outskirts of the forest, one of the districts was bound to have found Raena eventually.

But no one would dare think to search out the middle terrain. And that's where Sage had chosen to go after having been given the responsibility of looking after the youngest royal, Anahita. He changed her name shortly after fleeing the kingdom and finding their new home – behind a small waterfall, inside a cave.

Although the Tenebris Forest wasn't as wicked as most claimed or had been raised to believe, the trees, the animals – they spoke. It would have been only a matter of time for rumour to spread to the districts that Anahita was hidden within the Tenebris Forest, just outside of their radar, and if that happened... Sage didn't know where he would have fled, if there were any other safe places in Caedus. He would have to travel overseas, find another place to live but that... that lead to other complications that Sage didn't want to think about at all.

So here he remained, close to the equator, almost in Tenebris's centre, but not quite. Not too far south, where the Ignisians resided in the desert lands on the outskirts of Tenebris, and not too far West, where the Lymphans had hidden themselves somewhere along the alcove. And East? East could have been his only other possible salvation, in a world that was more just. He could have been among friends and familiar faces in the Terran District. But wars change people – for better or for worse, and he was afraid he couldn't trust or rely on them as he once did. Not with Raena and her Lymphan nature. It would have caused too many issues and possible conflicts and allies could have easily turned into foes. So he left everyone and everything he'd ever known to live up to his duty, to do at least one, gods-damn good thing in a world gone so bad. And that was to protect the two most precious people in his life: His grandson, Braedon, and Raena, who may as well have been his granddaughter – maybe not by blood, but certainly by heart.

Sage gripped the slender bow in his hands, listening out for any peculiar noises – creatures that weren't supposed to be roaming this part of the forest. And that draugr certainly wasn't one of them. But what was such a nightmarish creature doing this deep in the Tenebris forest? Draugar were normally only found in desert areas, and even then, they had long since been extinguished from this part of the continent.

Sage's grey cloak merged and blended with the shadows and shade that the trees provided, his boots barely sounding in the fallen leaves, having trained himself to keep quiet even when the autumn leaves covered the terrain.

It had been so many years since he held his beloved bow, so long since he had felt the familiar tug of his string, his long, slick, feathered arrows. He had decided to leave that part of him behind when he had made a new home here. It had been Braedon who continued to practice the skills he had taught his grandson, back when the kingdom was still whole and the districts were united. It was Braedon who had taught Raena how to hunt, too. Sage would give the two of them pointers, but whenever they asked him to have a go with his own bow, he refused. All his time as weapons-master had ultimately resulted in losing everyone he had known and loved. His family, many of his friends...

Sage inhaled deeply, the familiar and oddly comfortable feel of the wood in his hands making his eyes brim with shame and nostalgia. How could he still love such a destructive weapon?

Old habits died hard, he supposed.

But this old habit would soon come in handy, if only he could track the draugr down. Yet despite its size, its footsteps, the mess it had left in its wake... it was untraceable. He found the spot Raena had shot at it, and he found the spot where the two had run away, but when his tracking led back to the waterfall, it was as if the draugr simply... vanished. Nothing in the waters to suggest it had tried following, and nothing to suggest it had returned back through the forest. The footsteps just disappeared.

Sage scratched at his stubbly grey beard, pensive. How could that be? A creature that big couldn't simply vanish into thin air... could it?

He shook his head. Something was terribly wrong about this whole situation. First a long-extinct creature comes back to life. Then it just happens to find Raena, resulting in her using her powers to...

Sage's heart rose to his throat and his eyes widened. Had someone planted the draugr there?

But who? Who would do such a dark thing? Unless...

The prophecy flashed in Sage's mind, and he let out a long and weary sigh, breaking the foreboding silence in the forest.

Unless this was all a ruse. A trap. A way to lure Raena out.

But why? For what purpose? And how? How did anyone have the magic to summon such a darkly powerful creature? And to what end? Were they a prophecy believer? Or did they have ulterior motives for their actions?

A gentle, chilly wind picked up, and Sage wrapped the cloak tighter around him, his ears perking at the rustle and hushed whispers of the leaves.

The leaves whispered once again, and the forestland critters hushed.

The hairs on the back of Sage's neck rose, and his breath caught in his throat as the trees repeated that word. That one word he had hoped to never hear, never come across again for the rest of his life...

Umbra.

Sage released a thin, long breath.

With that word, he knew the prophecy was beginning to unravel.

He knew the long lost Terran princess had returned.

And he knew who had summoned the ghastly creature from its grave.