She tried her best to fight him off, but his sharpened talons tore into her flesh. She gasped in pain as her shoulder was ripped open. Blood began to pour out and soak the surrounding ground.

As a nightwalker, Tyson was concerned only with the taste of flesh. He must have hers, all of it. From within the hollow tree, Tyson pulled the lifeless form of bone and sinewy flesh. He set it aside the tree and feasted as others of his kind watched. The smell of the prey attracts nightwalkers, and their ritual that celebrates a feast of one of their own is something no human had ever seen.

Until now.

A figure in the dark, among the trees, was watching. He had actually seen a feast before, weeks ago, in the Northern Place beyond the Woods of Akira. He knew that once the feast was over, the Gathering of the nightwalkers would come next. This is what he really wanted to see. The Gathering has long been considered the key to understanding nightwalkers. It helps to understand your enemy before you try to kill it.