“The wall?” Jorick muttered next to Evin. Was the chimera talking about the great white wall that ran past their village and seemed to go on forever in either direction? Evin wondered. But the wall had always been there and always would be there. That’s what Evin remembered. What could the chimera mean about bursting through it?

“Winged three head!” one of the gnolls called out from the middle of the crowd. “How can we know you are not lying to us? You told us that the village nearby was full of meat on which to feast! And yet, there were none! Only these.”

Along the walls, the villagers whimpered. One woman fell to her knees as several of the gnolls turned to glare at the captives.

“A misunderstanding, I assure you all,” the chimera boomed. “Our shared foes are trickier than I had anticipated. But know that it is now I who is three steps ahead.”

“What is it talking about?” Evin whispered. “Do they not like human … er, meat?”

Bet shushed him.

“Bring these captives to my lair,” the chimera went on. “I will need to make use of them for the next stage of my plan. And then, once everything is in place, the great wall shall crumble and we will be free!”

A great, howling cheer rose from the crowd. Lifting back its lion head, the chimera boomed out a growling roar that echoed through the chamber. Then, it flapped its two great wings and leaped into the air. It flew low above the crowd, so close that its claws almost grazed their heads. As the gnolls wagged their tails and jumped into the air, yipping their approval, the chimera zipped up and out through the hole in the ceiling, disappearing behind the billowing bonfire smoke and into the night.

With their apparent leader gone, the gnolls surged toward the villagers. The humans screamed and scrambled, trying to get away even though they were bound by chains. Evin’s whole body went tense at the sight, terrified that the gnolls might start hurting the villagers, but the gnolls did not attack. They merely ushered their captives across the chamber and through the crowd to another hallway on the other side.

Evin, Jorick, and Bet silently crawled back from the edge of the balcony.

“We have to do something,” Jorick growled.

“We will,” Evin said, his voice sounding more confident than he felt. “They’re not hurting them. They’re going to take them to the chimera. If we follow …”

“… Then we can save them,” Bet finished.

As the three crawled toward the exit, Evin thought about the strange things the chimera had said about the wall and how they were trapped, and about how the villagers had been some kind of trick by some unknown foe.