Jeid thought back to his only sighting of the creature. Long black legs, spiderlike, tipped with claws. Red eyes. A bristly, soft abdomen. "Only its claws are sharp. It's those claws we want to avoid. If we grab the rest of it, we can secure it. Subdue it. We'll lasso its neck—if it has a neck." Jeid rubbed the back of his own neck. "I'm not sure it has one, but we'll find out. I—"

The patter of feet interrupted him. Bryn came racing around a corner, blood staining her face and fur pelts. "Grizzly! Two more sphinxes broke in. They killed Perin." She grimaced. "And they wounded Celani; bit off her hand. I have the Redtooth twins guarding the entrance now, but . . . oh stars, Grizzly. We're falling fast."

Jeid grimaced and that old terror rose inside him again, threatening to engulf him. Perin—a kindly, bald man who used to whittle toys for the children. Celani—a shy woman, a weaver of cloth and rope.

Jeid clenched his jaw. "We have no more time." He tossed Bryn one of the traps, another to Dorvin. "We go hunting a demon."

They carried their gear through the caves to the deep, craggy tunnel where the creature had snatched its last victim. Blood still stained the stone, the stench of death still lingered, and the hole still gaped above. Jeid raised his lamp toward the hole but saw nothing, only darkness inside.

"How do we know the bastard will show up here again?" Dorvin asked. "The damn sheep-shagger keeps popping out of different holes each time." He spat. "Damn thing moves about faster than a cock in a hen house."

Jeid gazed up into the darkness of the hole.

Who are you? he thought. What are you hiding?

"There is method to its killings," Jeid said. "It went after the wounded. It hasn't attacked me, you, Bryn, or any of the other strong Vir Requis. Its first victim was recovering from a gash along her leg. The last victim had only just hurt himself, stumbling in the dark and bloodying his nose." Jeid looked around him at the bloodstains on the floor. "Maybe the smell of fresh blood attracts it. It can smell it through the walls. Dorvin, go stand behind that corner with the gear. Bryn, you walk the other way and hide. Keep your harnesses ready."

The two young Vir Requis glanced at each other. Dorvin muttered curses. Bryn raised her chin and tightened her lips. The two hefted their makeshift traps and each stepped around another corner, hiding in the shadows.

Jeid propped his own harness against the wall, drew his sword, and etched a cut along his palm. His blood dripped. He lifted the harness with his good hand, then raised the bleeding hand toward the hole.

"Come on, you bastard," he whispered.

He waited, hand raised.

Nothing happened.

"Come on . . ." he muttered. "Where are you?"

His blood dripped down his arm. The tunnel was silent.