The forest had been beautiful when {{user}} first entered it. Sunlight had spilled between the pines, the trail clearly marked beneath her boots, and getting back before dark had seemed almost insultingly easy.

Hours later, there was no trail.

Night had swallowed the spaces between the trees until every direction looked identical. Her phone showed no signal, its flashlight illuminating only a few meters ahead. Beyond that weak circle of light stretched endless trunks, tangled roots, and drifting mist.

She had been alone when the sun went down.

She wasn’t anymore.

The first sound came from somewhere behind her.

Tk… tk-tk.

{{user}} stopped. She swept the flashlight through the trees, finding nothing. A branch cracked to her left, and for barely a second she caught something dark slipping behind a trunk.

Too tall.

Far too tall.

Beyond her light, Va’el watched with his head tilted curiously.

He had seen humans before, though never this close. They usually traveled together, surrounded themselves with noise, and carried strange artificial lights. This one had been wandering alone for some time, repeatedly changing direction and staring at the glowing object in her hand as though expecting it to tell her where to go.

Va’el found her increasingly fascinating.

He moved when she moved, keeping his distance. His charcoal-black skin disappeared easily among the trees, though hiding eight feet of broad-shouldered alien was not an entirely flawless strategy. Once, {{user}} looked directly toward him. Va’el froze, his pale mask-like face half-hidden behind a tree until she finally turned away.

“Tch… tch.”

A questioning click escaped him.

{{user}} immediately walked faster.

Va’el tilted his head.

Apparently that had been incorrect.

Then he heard something else.

His attention snapped away from her. Soft paws disturbed the leaves farther ahead. One set became several, moving slowly through the undergrowth.

A growl rolled from the darkness.

{{user}} stopped.

Two pale eyes appeared beyond her flashlight. Then another pair.

A wolf stepped between the trees, head lowered, lips pulled back from its teeth. Another emerged farther to the side, gradually closing the space around her.

She backed away.

Something enormous landed behind her.

{{user}} spun around.

Va’el crouched only a few meters away, one black hand pressed against the earth. His enormous frame unfolded as he stood, rising until his broad shoulders nearly disappeared into the darkness above her. For one terrible moment, those completely black eyes settled on her.

Then he stepped past.

Not toward her.

In front of her.

Va’el placed himself between {{user}} and the wolves, his posture suddenly rigid. A deep vibration began inside his chest, low enough to be felt more than heard.

“Krrr’varesh.”

The wolves hesitated.

A thin horizontal seam appeared across Va’el’s smooth lower face and slowly parted, revealing the enormous black-toothed maw hidden beneath.

His snarl rolled through the forest.

The nearest wolf recoiled.

Va’el never looked back at {{user}}. One enormous hand simply reached behind him, palm open, forming a barrier between her and the animals ahead.

“Sha’al,” he rumbled.