The air in the Tigerwood Forest was no longer the damp, earthy scent of rotting leaves and moss. It had been replaced by the heavy, metallic tang of blood and the electric charge of elemental mana in a state of chaos.
From the vantage point of the lower root-walkways of the Greenroot Guild's gargantuan tree, the horizon was a roiling sea of fur, scales, and snapping maws. The Beast Tide was no longer a threat; it was a physical weight pressing against the Guild's fortifications.
Kale Ardentis stood at the mouth of a narrow ravine known as the "Sundered Root-Gap."
It was a natural bottleneck where two massive, ancient roots of the main tree had split the earth, creating a path barely five meters wide. It was the perfect killing floor.
Behind him stood the eight members of the Wolfberg mercenary team, their faces taut with a mixture of professional grit and the lingering fear of the Failed Tamers they once were.
