Evin nodded. “I have a lot of practice sneaking through dark places,” he said. “I’ll scout ahead, just like I did back in the gnolls’ lair. That way, if it isn’t safe, we won’t rush in tonight. And if I do make any noise … well, then at least only one of us will get hurt.”

Jorick leaned back and nodded. “That sounds like a good plan.”

Bet looked back and forth between the two boys. For a moment, Evin expected her to offer some protest, as so often she did.

Instead, she shrugged. “All right. Try not to die.”

Evin let out a breath. Bet didn’t seem the least bit suspicious. “I won’t.” Meeting her eyes, he smiled and said, “Be right back.”

The moon had moved a quarter of the way through the sky when Evin finally emerged from the trees near the top of the hill. Beneath his feet, a trail of sand glowed faintly red. Bet assured him that this was a modification of her tracking spell that should make the trail only visible to only one person so as to not grab the chimera’s attention. It should lead him directly to the chimera’s lair.

As Evin peered from between branches, he saw that she was right. Where the red trail ended, the trees parted to reveal a clearing where the hill flattened out. At the back of this clearing, the hill continued its ascent into the sky, but there was a hole clawed into the hillside to create a burrow. Tree roots dangled from the burrow’s earthen ceiling.

The grass in front of the burrow was sparse, most of it dug up by claws. What grass still remained was scorched black as though burned by flames. Or perhaps, the chimera’s fire breath.

Most important of all, the moonlight revealed that all of the supposed villagers were here. Small cages were set all around the clearing. The villagers clustered inside of them in silence, their eyes glazed over.

The only thing missing was the chimera.

Evin crouched down and strained his eyes to look into the burrow. The inside was dark and he was unable to tell how deep it was, whether it was just a nook or the entrance to a larger tunnel.

Evin sat back and tried to think. If he snuck into the clearing, the villagers would see him, and like when they were in the gnolls’ lair, they would probably start calling out. That’d be an unintentional alarm system that would send the chimera—and any gnoll allies that may still be in the area—running to attack.

Perhaps he could sneak around the clearing to the sloping hill above the burrow, then maybe dangle over the edge and—

The trees rustled above Evin’s head.

Evin craned his neck back.

A flurry of claws, teeth, and wings descended from the canopy straight toward him.