MORVUS (337 words)

     Morvus had done his best to avoid menial conversation with this group. He’d seen a flyer posted up, offering great rewards for those willing to take on more treacherous journeys, but the catch was that it had to be with a group. He’d deduced pretty quickly that the puck, Wolfrem, wasn’t the chatty type either - and he seemed to be glued to the little blind mare with him, Esper. The fourth member, Evara, had spent the entire journey so far boasting on and on about all the treasures and knick-knacks she’d found.

     He never thought he’d be jealous of a cat, but Auris had managed to snooze through the entire thing, perfectly content curled up on his back, and somehow he wished to trade places with her. Even when Wolfrem’s crow, Divym, spent the better part of the trip pecking at the little cat, doing his best to wake her up, she never flinched.

     The green mare had ended up here the same way as Morvus - a flyer posted up, promising riches for those who dare, and of course, she couldn’t resist. So far, nothing of great interest had happened, but a quick scan of the cavern they’d just entered quickly told him that that was about to change.

     “Wait - there’s something here,” he murmured, glancing around the room. He couldn’t quite see anything, an even more difficult task given how dark it was, but he could feel it - something was in here with them, and it didn’t feel good.

     “Divym, fly ahead and check it out,” Wolfrem spoke next, shaking his head to get the odd little crow off of him. As quickly as the bird left, he’d returned, squawking some nonsense about the “creature” up ahead. The puck asked him if it was the one they’d seen before, and the crow gave a few hops in response.

     Morvus’s gaze flicked between the horses as he watched Wolfrem whisper something to Esper before he turned to face the rest of the group. 

WOLFREM (376 words)

     “Esper and I have encountered this thing before,” he began, his gaze shifting between the two newcomers. “We really don’t know what it is, but it’s big and ugly, and it’s almost always asleep. We’ve snuck past quietly before, and once used bait when it seemed closer to waking up.”

     Wolfrem kept his voice as low as possible, still doing his best to stress the seriousness of the situation. He felt Esper press her side against him and he turned his head slightly to nudge against her, encouraging her that everything would be fine.

     “Last time, Divym flew ahead to get close and see if it was still asleep, and I think that’s our best bet,” he continued, flicking his tail behind him. “I still think we should leave bait somewhere, just to be safe. Is everyone in agreement?”

     Each Courser gives him a nod of confirmation, no one feeling quite brave enough to speak in fear it’d be too loud. 

     “Perfect. Divym, fly ahead then.” Within seconds, the crow was gone, too far into the darkness to even be spotted until finally his form began to reappear as he returned to the group.

     “Sleeping! Sleeping!” His screeching was quickly silenced by a gentle shove from Wolfrem’s hoof, and the puck rolled his eyes at the bird. 

     “I have some things we could use as bait,” the other male voice whispered. Wolfrem’s eyes met the ghastly, vacant ones of Morvus. They were eerily similar to how Esper’s eyes looked, but it was very clear he could still see well. The courser shuffled through his packs, until finally he found what he’s looking for - a tongue. And god, does it reek.

     “It’s a hellhound tongue. They’re acidic, and they smell putrid. I think it’d definitely be enough to distract the… creature… if it wakes up.” 

     Wolfrem gives him a questioning look, wondering why he would even have such a thing sitting in his satchel, but he knows Morvus is right. It’s a much better distraction than the food and herbs they set out last time, and it will probably mask all of their scents. He nudges Divym over to take the tongue, and he flies off to drop it on the right side of the cavern.

ESPER (373 words)

     Esper absolutely cannot believe she has somehow wound up around this creature, again. For the third time. While everyone else is busy chattering away about the best way to go about avoiding the thing, she’s racking her brain as to how no one noticed they were in the same place as before. Maybe they aren’t? Maybe there are tons of these things, hiding all around the caverns. 

     Her ears flick back and forth between Wolfrem and the new male, Morvus, as they discuss the bait situation.

     Did he just say he has a hellhound tongue?

     As awful as it smells, her mind wanders to all the possible ways he could have even gotten one in his possession. He did mention upon their arrival that he’s a mage, so maybe he has some kind of magical fighting abilities? She stifles a snort at the thought of a wizard horse battling it out with a hellhound, and brings her attention back to the group. With Divym back from dropping the bait, she knows it’s time to move - and that’s the scariest part for her.

     Usually, she can be as loud as she needs to when she’s traversing the dungeons - but this is different. While normally it wouldn’t matter if she accidentally kicked a pebble, or stumbled against a wall, anything like that could wake up the creature they’re avoiding, and she has no interest in finding out how that would go. With Wolfrem leading the group, she encourages Evara to follow with her, and Morvus happily agrees to take up the rear. He mentioned something about a temporary ward he can put up, should something happen, but she has no desire to have to get to that point.

     With her nose pressed against Wolfrem’s hip, she follows closely to him, mirroring every step he takes. Every so often she feels the cool stone of the wall against her flank, reassuring her that she isn’t the closest Courser for the creature to pick off. She can feel Evara’s breath against her side, warm and heavy, but she’s as sure-footed as anyone else. Esper turns her head towards the heat, hoping she’s looking as close to Evara as possible, and gives her a reassuring nod.

EVARA (318 words)

     What the fuck is going on.

     The heat radiating between the four tightly-packed Coursers, combined with her nerves, is starting to make Evara sweat. Add in the off-putting mage glued to her ass, and she starts to feel like she might lose it. Every few steps, he’s bumping straight into her, quite the opposite of the precision she’s taking to avoid doing the same to the little blind mare she’s by. 

     Her ears flick back as she hears Morvus suck in his breath, and within seconds, she feels heavy little steps on her back. A muffled squeal escapes her as she jerks her head back, her narrowed eyes locking onto Auris before raising them to Morvus. He gives her a look, as if to say he doesn’t know what to do either, and Evara rolls her eyes as she turns her head back to the front, only to be met with an irritated side-eye from Wolfrem. 

     They’re finally nearing the exit out of this cavern, and this damn cat has decided to make its way up to the front of the group, walking up each back without a care in the world. 

     It’ll all be worth it, she tells herself. Eventually I’ll go home to Ves, loaded with new goodies, and we’ll be well on our way to the trades.

     As the exit nears, Evara slowly lets out a deep breath. Auris has made her way to Wolfrem already, and Divym looks anything but pleased. She turns to glance behind her, flicking her ears as she listens for any signs of the creature having woken up, but everything is quiet. The air is still, and they’ve made it. They’ve actually made it.

     “Ready to keep going?” Wolfrem whispers to her, gesturing to the hallway they’ve reached. After one last look into the cavern, she turns to give him a smile and a nod, following the group once more.