The wind carried the scent of pine and rain as Caleb Mercer climbed the ridge before dawn. For twenty years, he had hunted these mountains. He knew every trail, every watering hole, every place where deer paused to graze before the sun broke over the horizon.
Nothing in these woods could surprise him anymore, or so he believed. He settled beneath an ancient cedar overlooking a narrow valley. The silence was almost perfect. No birds sang, and no squirrels rustled through the leaves. Even the insects seemed to have vanished.
Caleb frowned. The forest was never this quiet. A sharp crack echoed somewhere below. He raised his rifle and peered through the scope. A massive stag emerged from the mist. It was...
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