Vashti could swear they’d been this way before, they recalled that boulder pile that looked like the wizard’s hand for sure. They’d been trying to find the entrance to the lower caverns and the earthen furnace they’d heard other coursers talk of but they hadn’t come across it yet. Of course their habit of always choosing the least travelled looking path might have been what was getting in their way, but that hadn’t occurred to Vashti.

Here and there they paused to look at things. A tiny iridescent beetle went about whatever business beetles had unbothered by Vashti’s huge eye examining it from above. Vashti followed it curiously until it vanished into a crack in the wall. Looking up Vashti’s ears flicked forward. Now this wasn’t a cavern they recognised! Thank you, little beetle!

Vashti walked forward, aware that any large cavern could hold a large predator, but there wasn’t the rank taint of a meat eater’s breath in the air, the lantern light didn’t reflect off any claws or teeth, or great gleaming eyes in the dark. As the courser’s ears swivelled around to take in sounds from the sides and rear they became aware that something was not usual here. Something whispered faint words, just on the edge of hearing.

Descend… Sleeping… Morrow…

Was Vashti hearing the conversation of some other explorers furth on in the caverns. “Hello! Anyone there?” They called out, but the only thing they heard was the echo of their own voice calling back. The whispers had fallen silent. Maybe they just imagined it? Vashti shrugged and walked on, but the moment the echoes had faded to nothing and their hoofbeats were the loudest sound the whispers resumed.

Fall… Worth… Combine…

Vashti’s skin crawled and they shuddered the sensation away. This cave was giving them the collywobbles, time to try another!