You hear a faint trickling in the passage with you, and torchlight reveals a dark liquid rushing through grooves in the floor underfoot. You follow the trail to a stone sarcophagus sitting uncovered at the center of a circular chamber. Peering hesitantly inside, you see the dark liquid congealing there, its scabbed surface grotesque but enthralling…

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Cithis moves forward, her brown eyes narrowed.

She walks alongside her group, moving her gaze from the light coming from the torches on the side of the passage… to see the dark liquid rushing through grooves in the floor underneath her hooves. She immediately stumbled back, accidentally hitting Sylvan in the side with her backside. 

“S-Sorry!” Cithis quickly squealed, rushing forward to walk by Rogue’s side instead, her cheeks burning under her coat, disappearing from beside the bounty hunter before she could even reply or react in any way.

Sylvan only raised her fuzzy eyebrows, but her attention switched to the creepy trail leading to the stone sarcophagus right in the center of the chamber they found themselves in. The mercenary looked around, taking the first closer steps towards the sarcophagus, the weird relic almost pulling her in closer…

“What, are there some treasures inside?” Sereia cheerfully chirps, walking closer… Only to let out a muffled sound of almost puking, turning her head away. “Ew, what the hell is that!? It smells worse than Sylvan when she comes back from her hunts!”

That comment only got an annoyed scoff from the bounty hunter, who was still gazing at the sarcophagus. 

Rogue was focused on looking at the weird substance leading up to the mysterious artifact, also feeling the weird pull, but managing to hold on for now, his long tail nervously twitching from time to time, as the group was mostly chattering amongst each other. 

Cithis was avoiding looking at the tomb, the scabbed surface making a whole horse race of shivers run down her striped spine, nervously swallowing. Something was wrong. She felt that something was wrong, she felt it deep in her body as it seeped into her bones, making her feel sick. 

“Cithis-” Rogue started, but was quickly cut off by the mentioned Courser herself. 

“We need-” The mare swallowed again. “-to get Sylvan away. There's something wrong with that thing.” As if a suspicious sarcophagus in a creepy chamber wasn't obvious enough… 

Cithis grabbed onto Sylvan’s long tail with her teeth, hoping to pull the bounty hunter away before it’s too late, nervously glancing around for Rogue and Sereia, who were holding on… for now. 

“I’m begging you, just don't lose your minds on me, I'm not strong enough to pull all your tails!” Cithis whined, complaining, her voice muffled through Sylvan’s tail between her teeth. 

“I'll… I'll try. But it’s something weird… sinister.” Rogue replied, and Sereia, for the first time during their adventures, instead of speaking out her mind, quickly rushed to the side of the two younger Coursers, focusing on helping, not talking.