Evin reached a slanted piece of granite roofing. He darted behind it and pressed his back to the cool stone. Jorick and Betilivatis were close by, standing in the tall grass beyond the southern border of the ruins and still fighting.

“I don’t care about your stupid blue trail.” Jorick said. “I know what I see.”

“There must be an explanation.” Betilivatis crouched and examined the ground. “And if you’d stop yelling for one moment, I could figure it out.”

“Hey,” Evin called out in as hushed a voice as he could manage. “Hey!”

They didn’t hear him.

Evin found a smooth pebble. He tossed it and the small rock flew through the air. It hit Jorick’s temple.

“Hey!” Jorick cried. Rubbing the side of his forehead, he looked over to where Evin was crouched. “What did you do that for?”

Evin put his finger to his lips and beckoned Jorick and Betilivatis over.

“What is it?” Jorick asked in an excited whisper as he set the food sack down near the base of the fallen roof. “Are the gnolls here? Did you find them?”

Evin shook his head. “No, no gnolls, but there’s some creature moving around up there. I think it heard me while I spied on it, and now it’s trying to find me.”

Betilivatis raised her eyebrows. “A creature? Some sort of monster?” Not waiting for Evin to respond, she stood and peered around the edge of the roof. Jorick didn’t hesitate in joining her. Both looked over the darkening ruins for a moment. Then, as one, they slowly lowered themselves back behind the roof.

“Well,” Betilivatis said, her voice strangely excited. “That is a thing to see. And it’s getting close.”

“Definitely.” Jorick’s face grew stern. In one quick move, he unsheathed his sword and held it aloft with both arms, then looked to Evin. “Should I take it down before it gets us first?”

Evin shook his head. “We don’t know what that thing is or what it’s capable of. We can’t just rush in and fight it.”

“It’s big, it has sharp teeth, it’s looking for us, and it’s standing between us and wherever the gnolls took our friends. I bet the gnolls put it here as a trap.”

“We don’t know that,” Evin said. “We need to stay low and take a look in that book Betilivatis has.” Evin gestured at her leather satchel. “Would Zendric have written about it?”

Betilivatis nodded, then began digging through her satchel. “Of course. In fact I think I recall seeing a painting in the Practical Guide that looks just like—”

“Do I hearing things?”

The words weren’t spoken by Evin, Jorick, or Betilivatis. They stood still in near silence, the only sounds being that of their breathing.

“I do hear things. I knowing I do. Somethings are nearing to me.”