“We need to eat,” I said, slapping my thighs and jumping up to my feet. “And I sure as hell wouldn’t mind a hare or two roasted over an open fire. I’ll see what I can catch in the woods for us.”
“And leave me here alone? And how are you going to hunt in the dark?”
I pointed up at the sky, a portion of which was visible through the treetops.
“Some of the clouds are clearing, and it’s full moon tonight. That’ll do for me. And you’ll be perfectly safe here; he’ll protect you.” I nodded in the direction of the skeleton.
“No,” she said firmly, standing up and dusting herself off. “I’m not staying here on my own. Not with the creatures that might be roaming the woods around here. And I… I don’t trust that. Him. It.”
The skeleton turned to face Elyse. He rolled his shoulders in what had to be an I-don’t-give-a-shit-about-what-you-think-about-me shrug and then wandered off. I couldn’t restrain a little chuckle.
“Well, I guess if you insist,” I said. “Just don’t make too much noise and scare the damn game off, okay?”
“It’s not like I’ve never been hunting before, Vance.”
I left the skeleton to guard our camp while Elyse and I set off into the dark woods. As I predicted, the clouds cleared, and patches of bright moonlight dotted the ground where the tree cover was broken, making it easy enough to get around. I was pleasantly surprised at Elyse’s stealth. There was more to this cleric than met the eye.
We had been walking for maybe 20 minutes when I heard a sound in the distance, carried on the breeze. I signaled to Elyse to stop, and we waited in silence, straining our ears to listen. It was the sound of men shouting and fighting, along with another sound, one that I couldn’t quite place but that seemed like the roar of some sort of large, angry animal.
“These are Rollar’s men,” Isu’s voice whispered in my ear. “I crave their souls, Vance.”
“Let’s go back,” murmured Elyse. “I don’t like the sound of this. I have some stale bread and cheese—”
“No way,” I said firmly. “I have a feeling those are Rollar’s men. And I want to see just what it is they’re up to. Grave Oath is hungry for more souls.”
I thought it was better to keep things on a need-to-know basis with Elyse for the time being. I also didn’t give her any more time to argue with me; I simply took off at a swift but stealthy run, heading in the direction of the noise. I grinned as I heard her curse angrily and then break into a run behind me; sometimes, it was just too easy to get people to do what I wanted.
After five minutes, we got close enough to see what was going on. I skidded to a halt at the top of a bank and saw a very surprising sight in the large clearing below. Six soldiers, all holding burning torches, had cornered a massive beast double the size of a prizewinning bull. The creature was unlike any animal I had ever seen. Also, it seemed to have stumbled upon Rollar’s men rather than the other way around; the clearing was obviously their campsite, and lying on the ground near the beast, in a mess of blood and gore, were the legs of what had formerly been one of their comrades. I didn’t want to know what the beast had done with the rest of him.
Elyse came skidding to a halt behind me and gasped.
“What in the name of the Lord of Light is that thing?” she murmured.
“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure I can kill it—and take down Rollar’s asshole soldiers on the way, too.”
“What? No! That’s crazy, Vance. No, don’t, hey… wait!”
She was too late; I was already scurrying down the steep bank, screening my approach by keeping bushes and tree trunks between myself and Rollar’s men. When I got down to the edge of the clearing, I took a few seconds to get a better look at the beast before revealing my presence to my enemies.
The creature they had cornered was a thick-bodied, stout-limbed lizard with a long, spiky tail. Its bead-like scales were arranged in a splotchy pattern of deep black and bright red, although its entire broad, diamond-shaped head—which was armored with heavy scales, and covered all over with spikes—was entirely red. A number of crossbow bolts and arrows jutted out of its sides, making it look like a kind of bizarre, gleaming pincushion. There was no blood coming from any of the wounds, though. The soldiers had probably only succeeded in pissing it off.
I watched as one of Rollar’s men darted forward, thrusting his spear at the lizard’s head. It moved faster than anything its size should have been able to, dodging the lunge and then clamping its jaws shut around the spear, crushing it like a toothpick before it swallowed it, spearpoint and all. That bit would probably hurt when it came out the other end.
I decided not to waste any more time. First, I would put the beast out of its misery, then I would get a couple of souls for Isu. This little hunting expedition was turning out to be a lot more profitable than I had imagined.
I maneuvered my way around the edge of the clearing so that I was behind the huge lizard. It wouldn’t matter if Rollar’s men saw me now; the beast was a far greater threat to me than they were, and I needed to handle it before I dealt with them. Speed was of the essence here. I needed to strike
