The harbinger's vast, nightmarish maw seemed to swallow the forest around them as it coalesced from the enveloping darkness. Acidic drool sizzled on the scorched earth, and Diane could feel the sheer, implacable hunger radiating from the entity in malevolent waves. This was no mere vanguard or avatar - they faced the Eternal itself.

"Stand resolute!" She commanded her warband, though her voice shook with the first pangs of primal terror. "Let our spirits blaze defiance at this profane hunger until our last breaths!"

Elena pressed against her side, teeth bared in a ferocious snarl. Around them, the guardian wolves arrayed in defensive phalanxes, calling upon their mystic talismans and...