Summary: A dark presence has been terrorizing the isolated village of Orbana for over a hundred years. No one has seen it except for the Lord Bu'man, but it has haunted the woods and mountains surrounding the village and kept the village from outside contact for decades. But it soon will not be such a mystery. When Jerik is taken by the dark being, Branon gets a brief glimpse of it, and is horrified by what he sees. He alerts Lord Bu'man, who dismisses it as a bear or wolf. But Branon knows it is something else. So he decides to go hunting the creature himself. Following the bloodtrail of a recent victim, he comes upon a castle in the mountain, where he discovers the true nature of the haunter. He barely escapes with his life. Now that a living man has seen him, Count Balisa will not toler