Every courser knew that the way to wealth and prestige lay in the depths of the dungeon, though not every courser was strong enough - or courageous enough - to brave its dangers. Their small band, Alaric knew, was both. That was why he’d led them there, into the dark depths of —

“Are you sure there’s a treasure vault around here?”

Ah. Kaira, his newest recruit. Alaric halted, ignoring the murky water sloshing against his legs, and turned his head to regard her with his usual charming grin. Not her eagle, though; that had flown ahead to scout the area, along with Nadira's wisp. “Of course I am.”

“’Course he's sure! He saw it with his own eyes,” Corvo added as he sidled up beside Kaira, splashing water over her knees as he did. “The dungeon's just a difficult place, you know.”

“Difficult is one word for it,” Alaric commented dryly as he turned to continue leading the way. “An ever-changing place, full of treasure and priceless artifacts and danger—”

“There's something in the water.” Nadira stared at the water they'd left rippling in their wake, lapping softly against the stone pillars of the ancient waterway.

A pair of eyes - or maybe two pairs, it was hard to tell - stared back from beneath the surface, glowing greenish-red and rippling along with the water. A set of short, grayish-green spines was just barely visible above the water’s surface, almost imperceptible against the dark, murky water.

Every muscle in Alaric’s body tensed, and his ears pinned back against his skull. “Run.”

The order spurred the others on; Nadira had already turned back and wasted no time loping past her leader, Kaida in hot pursuit. Corvo reared and tried to leap across the water rather than try to charge through it, and Alaric took up the final spot in their party, ready to kick at whatever it was should it catch up.

And it seemed like it might; its spines sliced through the water and it sent waves crashing to either side as it swam after them, much faster in the water than the coursers it had chosen as prey.