However, we know that the Kobalos have used dark magic to create many special creatures, such as builders (the whoskor, which maintain and extend the walls of Valkarky) and fighting entities (such as the haggenbrood). They may well use similar creatures in war. It could be that the dead haizda mage was preparing to create such entities locally and hide them within our borders, ready for a preemptive strike.

The First Animal Sample

I removed this sample (labeled ZANTI on the jar) from its gel preservative and introduced it to a growth medium (two parts human blood, three parts ground bone of sow, two parts sugar, three parts human spittle).

The sample was placed within the most powerful containment environment that I could generate—a large pentacle whose inner circle was fifty feet in diameter—in a meadow at least two hundred yards from the nearest tree. I also protected the pentacle from prying eyes and intrusion with spells of cloaking and menace.

As I had predicted, the sample began to grow on the night of the full moon. At first the entities resembled small insects; they scuttled about on the grass. However, just before dawn, they burrowed into the soil; it was possible that they could not function in sunlight.

Soon after dusk the following day, they emerged again. After a while I noticed two things. They were fewer in number, and those that remained were somewhat larger, about the length and thickness of my index finger. It seemed likely that they were devouring each other in a process whereby only the fittest might survive.

This process continued for seven nights before I intervened. By then, just two of the creatures remained. Approximately human in shape, they were very thin, with spindly scaled arms and legs. The head of each was hairless but covered with black scales, and the small eyes were wide-set like those of a bird, allowing 360-degree vision. In height they came up to my shoulder, but the final victor might well have reached a height of at least eight feet.

I stepped into the pentacle and despatched both of them with my blades. Unlike the haggenbrood, which I fought in Valkarky, the zanti did not share a single mind and seemed unable to fight as a unit. Additionally, although their hands and feet were clawed, they had no weapons. No doubt their Kobalos masters will have crafted specialized weapons for them.

I think a lone armed and full-sized zanti would be a much more formidable opponent.

The Second Animal Sample

Experiment One

I placed the second sample (labeled ZINGI on the jar) into a growth medium identical to the first, and again used a pentacle for containment, along with spells of cloaking and menace.

The sample started growing immediately, even though the sun had not gone down. This suggested to me that they could function in daylight, which made them more formidable than those in the first experiment. My assumption proved to be correct: they were active throughout the whole twenty-four-hour cycle and never slept.