Apolonia trekked across the moors, once more following her chosen chaperone, Phoebe. The two of them picked around loose stones and partial skeletons, and each bone they spotted gave Apolonia a chill. So much death must have occurred here. She could not imagine being a warhorse, and she didn’t really care to.

“Doing alright?” Phoebe called back to her. 

“...More or less.” Apolonia responded, staring at a Courser skull as they walked past it.

“Pretty dreary place, huh?”

“Very.” 

They continued in silence for a few moments, until Phoebe suddenly stopped, causing Apolonia to almost bump into her. 

“Did you hear that?” Phoebe asked, looking around.

“Hear what?” And then Apolonia whipped her head around, because in that moment she heard it too - something moving nearby. Both Coursers stood in tense silence for several seconds, examining their surroundings. Suddenly, Apolonia saw movement in her periphery, and quickly turned her head to see what it was, only to see nothing but the vast moor stretching on around them, broken up only by the strewn ruins of abandoned forts and towers. 

“Did you see something?” Phoebe whispered to her, and Apolonia nodded. Then, Phoebe turned her head as well.  “...I just saw something too.” 

Apolonia shivered. 

“What do you think it could be?”

“...I don’t know, to be honest.” 

Apolonia looked at Phoebe with panic in her eyes. Phoebe looked back at her, and after a moment of hesitation, gave her a smile of reassurance.

“It’s probably alright. There aren’t really any predators at this level of the dungeon, since what’s around is mostly bones. Let’s just keep moving for now.”

Apolonia nodded, trying to steady her breathing as they continued to walk. 

But it seemed that whoever or whatever was following them had no intention to leave them be. The sounds of movement, the flashes in her peripheral - Apolonia kept her head on a swivel as they proceeded, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever it was that was harassing them. But no such glimpse was to be had. 

“It’s still following us,” Apolonia whispered urgently. 

Phoebe looked to one side, having just seen movement in her peripheral as well. 

“I know,” She replied. 

“What should we do?”

“Stay calm, first of all.” Phoebe answered, her voice level. “We can try to confront whatever it is, but I doubt we’ll have much success doing that. It’ll just run away from us and hide.” 

She thinks for a moment, continuing to walk.

“Maybe whatever it is is just curious? It might leave us alone of its own accord after a while.” She posits.

“So we should just keep ignoring it?” Apolonia asked, sounding slightly desperate.

“Well, I don’t see what other option there is. We can try to look for it, but we probably won’t find it.”

“What if it’s planning to ambush us or something?”

“Well, it’s hardly an ambush if we know it’s there.”

Apolonia couldn’t argue with that. 

On they went. 

The thing followed them for what felt, to Apolonia, like hours. Her heart leapt in her chest every time she saw the motion out of the corner of her eye. By the time they stopped seeing and hearing the unknown creature, she was exhausted. 

“Do you think it’s stopped following us?” She asked Phoebe, after several moments had passed without a sighting. 

“Maybe,” Phoebe responded, finally slowing her pace. They both stood still, looking around. There were no more noises. “I guess we can take a rest now, if you want.”

Apolonia nodded, and the two Coursers began settling down to rest. 

“...Maybe we should rest in shifts.” Phoebe suggested. “Just in case. I’ll keep watch first.”

“Good idea,” Apolonia agreed, laying down. 

The two Coursers took turns resting without incident. But throughout the rest of their trip, Apolonia found her mind returning to whatever mysterious creature had been following them.