Sienna Blackwood's Arc

Chapter 1 of 3

Sienna lifted her head from the bar when the door slammed open. The man who fell through it was bleeding from wounds she recognized — three parallel gashes, deep and precise, the kind the fog-beast left behind. She stood without deciding to, her hand already on her blade. The man's eyes found hers across the smoke and noise. His hand shook as he pulled something from his coat. A flask. Gray metal with vines carved into it. Sienna's scar burned white-hot before her mind caught up. That flask belonged to Garrett. She'd watched him drink from it the night before the fog came. The man collapsed forward, and Sienna was already moving, crossing the distance in three strides. She caught him before he hit the floor. His blood was warm on her hands. He was alive. The beast had left someone alive. She lowered him to the boards and pressed her palm against the worst wound. The stranger's lips moved. Words came out broken, wet. He was trying to tell her something about the fog, about where he'd been. Sienna looked past him to the open door. In the mud outside, a trail of blood led back into the dark. And there, half-buried in the dirt just beyond the threshold, a broken sword lay discarded. Its jagged edge caught the lantern light. She knew that break. She'd seen the blade shatter. The beast was close. Closer than it had been in months. And this man had brought it straight to her. She called for help and someone came running with bandages. The stranger's breathing steadied as they worked. His eyes opened again, clearer now. He pointed toward the woods with a trembling hand. "Cabin," he said. "It circled the cabin. Three times. Then it left." Sienna's jaw tightened. The beast was hunting in patterns now. Learning. She'd spent months chasing shadows and here was proof it could be tracked. The man clutched her wrist. "It's still out there," he whispered. Sienna stood and walked to the door. The blood trail disappeared into darkness, but she knew where it led. For the first time since the slaughter, the fog-beast had given her a direction.