Caleb's POV

The Darklands stank of rot and despair.

Even after Veyran's defeat and the shadows retreating and the unnatural fog lifting, this cursed place maintained its reputation. The ground squelched beneath our boots, mud mixed with something darker. Twisted trees loomed overhead, their branches reaching like skeletal fingers. The air itself felt heavy, oppressive, as if the land remembered every death that had occurred here and refused to let go.

I led the combined force through what ...