The darkness was an invitation. As hares cowered in their homes, the streets suddenly filled with a wave of dusky phantoms, moving through every inch of the town.
Luminous eyes appeared everywhere, and low, threatening growls filled the air. After a brief space that felt like an eternity, the shapes drifted out of Habiun without a sound. Several miles from the city, they came together in a clearing pocked with the stumps of fallen trees.
No other living thing was there to observe this, but they would have seen a writhing pack of enormous gray wolves if they had been. The creatures snarled and growled, creating an unsettling din. A sharp bark erupted, instantly silencing them.
As one, the pack fell back a pace and encircled a towering black wolf. The wolf known as Crogen stalked slowly back and forth, inspecting the pack with a cold, blood-red eye. A long, uneven scar cut through the place where his other eye should have been.
"RAVOG," Crogen intoned in a guttural rasp. "Breathe it in. FEAR. Today we brought shadows and death. Rest for now. Tomorrow, we begin again."
The pack replied with a chilling howl and then disappeared into the darkness.