The cold winter air bit down on his skin. He couldn’t remember when he was comfortable. He hated this job. All he ever did was walk and stare. He paced along the wall staring at oblivion. He could only guess what lie behind that forest. There were rumors of a people so savage that the things they did were unspeakable.

When he reached the middle of the wall, he passed another man. Both had the identical grim look. Bot were miserable, both were cold. He remembered that the other man had heard of magical beasts that came from the oblivion, beasts that the empire refused to acknowledge such things. The other man once said he saw such creatures moving through the forest miles below. That the barbarians summoned them, controlled them.

He turned to face the forest again, to stand and stare before he had to walk back. He saw the thick forest. The dormant trees appearing as claws reaching out of a grave. It was then he saw it. The forest was swaying, it was moving slowly toward the base of the wall.