While Rohan watched over his wife, in another part of Nightbrook—deep in the forest known as Grimvale—a figure in a dark blue, flowing cloak moved through the trees without fear of what might lurk in the dense shadows.
A lamp was held poised in the figure's left hand, while the right hand, hidden beneath the cloak, clutched a bundled object. The figure had arrived on horseback but left the animal tied at the edge of the vast forest—one so expansive that it was said a person could never walk it all in a week.
Grimvale was one of the largest forests in Nightbrook. Winding paths within it led to different towns, villages, and even the royal castle. The cloaked figure moved quickly, undeterred by the wet ground, the occasional flash of lightning, and the rumble of thunder that echoed through the dark sky, giving the atmosphere a grim, eerie peninsula-like feel.
