Litany struggled to haul the muck covered horse while trying to bolt from the impeding slime - and his hoof caught on the stone. He tripped forward, just in front of a narrow passage coming out of the eastern wall- SHIT, SHIT, shit- the rope was out of his mouth, the slime was speeding up.

In the same moment, a darker, larger shape came crashing out of the narrow passage, tripping over and into Litany, a slamming of courser bodies in a loud THUNK sound.

"AGHH-" Litany wheezed under the weight, and a familiar, deeper voice then his swore above him- and Litany paused, as the weight eased off of him some. His eyes locked onto the strip of chestnut colored hide amongst the rest of it, at the same moment Shield's eyes landed on the red crystal hanging from Litany's neck.

"...Shield!-"

"Litany? What the fuck are you doing down here-" Shield sounded baffled, but then his tone turned to agitation, almost furious - the least 'docile' tone he had ever used with Litany.

Litany's ears went back. "You were late, you were- they said you probably died in here!"

Shield's head loomed closer. "Your father- the Lord - he's going to skin me alive, because you're here-"

Litany sought for something to change the subject- and remembered the approaching slime in the same moment.

"Shield, there's a-"

He was cut off by what sounded like a hoof driven down in a 'cutting' motion, and then teeth- the wet, messy sounds of eating.

Both of their heads turned to stare.

Half of the muck, and goo that had formerly been on the 'courser' Litany had fished out of the lake, was half shaped on the stone floor - seeming to have split apart like a cocoon. The slime was no longer approaching.

A muck dripping ...courser? creature, stood a foot or so away. It was a bony, towering thing - massive, for a courser.

Half of the slime hung from it's oddly sharp looking jaws - the half no longer moving. A lump in the slime, however - twitched, and thrashed free, a rather large toad falling unceremoniously to the stonework - and quickly shuffling towards Litany and Shield, clearly seeking shelter.

Meanwhile, the creature chewed, dragging the rest into it's jaws - the slime vanishing down it's throat with a visible gulp. The bits of teeth seen did not look... right.

The gaunt thing stared at them both, then unceremoniously pawed Litany's rope off of it's neck.

"...Litany what is that thing?"

"Oh! That's- well, that's another adventurer, I fished it out of that lake a few hallways back. Saved their life."

Shield stared between Litany, and then back towards the... 'courser' - who was suddenly much closer, and leaned in close to Shield, who bunched up his limbs. The toad desperately scrambled between him and Litany, shuffling itself under Litany's head. "Oh-"

The Creature's jaws caught something, where it was searching Shield - oh. A dracula bat that had been clinging to Shield's haunch.

It's teeth tore into that too, the bat also vanishing down it's gullet.

"...Let's - go on and stand up. Litany I don't think this is a horse." Shield said, slow and stilted.