“It has to weigh at least twenty-five hundred pounds,” Scatty said, loosening her short swords and checking her nunchaku, “and I’ll wager it probably stands close to eleven feet tall when it’s up on two legs.”

“I don’t want to have to kill it,” Joan said.

“Trust me, it’s not going to share your reservations about killing.” She pointed with her folded nunchaku. “It’s looking at us now and thinking: breakfast.”

Joan shook her head firmly and pushed her sword into its sheath, then slung it across her shoulders.

Scatty sighed. “If we don’t kill it, it will kill us.”

Joan shook her head firmly. “I’ll not kill it.”

“Can I remind you that you once led an army?”

“That was a long time ago. I will defend myself, but I will not kill an innocent creature.”

“Is that why you became a vegetarian?”

Joan shook her head. “No,” she laughed. “Shortly after Nicholas gave me your blood, I discovered that I really hated the taste of meat.”

The bear paused at the bottom of the incline and looked up at them. Then it reared up on its hind legs, threw its head back and growled.

Scatty revised her original assessment of the beast’s height. “Twelve feet tall.” She examined the creature critically. “I could take him.”

“Look at those claws,” Joan said. “One swipe will take your head off. And I know you can do many things, but growing a new head is not one of them.”

They ran for most of the morning, moving easily across lush waving grassland. Now that they knew this was a Shadowrealm, the tiny inconsistencies in the world became obvious. The breeze only blew from the south and always smelled of lemons, there were no insects in the air and although the sun rose in the east and climbed into the heavens, it seemed to remain at its highest point for far too long.

“It’s as if someone created-or re-created-the Pleistocene era from memory,” Scatty said.

“Well, they got the animals right,” Joan said, in French. Although she kept herself fit and in condition, she thought they’d run the equivalent of a marathon so far, and there was no end in sight. She had a stitch in her side and her calves were beginning to cramp. She was also conscious of the blisters starting to form inside her boots. “I’m going to need to rest soon,” she said. “I need some water.”

Scatty pointed to the right. “There’s a stream down there.”

Joan could see nothing. “How can you tell?”

“Look down,” the Shadow said, pointing. The earth at their feet was impressed with scores of hoof and claw tracks, all leading off to the right.

“If there’s a watering hole down there, then we’re sure to find something drinking there…,” Joan began.

“How thirsty are you?”

“Very.”