“Hey loser, I need some stuff.” Merrix, the Gyre Sphynx Sable and her roommates had encountered a few weeks ago called from their loft.

The beast had well and truly settled in, carving their own nook in the ceiling and extending it into the bluff the courser’s home was at the bottom of. Honestly, Sable wasn’t sure how big the space was, Merrix could fly and therefore there were no steps or even a ladder to get up to their space. Instead, they had installed a bunch of windows that opened up into various parts of the house below, through which they would call insults and complaints down.

Sable ignored the beast. She was working on propagating some of the Harvester’s flowers in a terrarium for Fird to study more.

A rock hit her on the head.

“HEY! Are you listening? I need some stuff! You’re a courser for hire right?”

“Don’t hit us with things then!” Fird stomped in holding a pitchfork that they jabbed up at the sphynx. “And be nicer to Sable! She doesn’t have to do anything for overhyped pigeons who live in our attic!”

Merrix stuck their tongue out and blew a raspberry at Fird who stomped again and menaced their pitchfork.

“I even have a map for you guys! Come on, I just need one little thing! You guys can keep everything else! You’d like that right Fird-y birdy?” Merrix rolled over flopping half their body out the window and leaving Fird hoping against hope that they would fall down and humble themselves even a little bit.

“Please don’t call me that.”

“Hey Fird, does this look good?” Sable called over her shoulder, still ignoring the best in their attic.

“Ooo yeah! I’ll put this with my other plants! Thank you!” Fird leaned over to nuzzle Sable’s face a bit in thanks.

“Alright, now, what were you yapping about?” Sable turned to look up at Merrix.

“I NEED YOU TO GO GET ME SOME STUFF!!!” The sphynx shrieked having lost their patience. Not that there was much there anyway.

“Hmm.”

“Well, what would be in it for us then?” Magna asked from the doorway. Apparently, Merrix’ screaming had attracted the attention from the other two coursers in the house.

“UGH!” Merrix scraped their claws down their face where they caught on their eyelids. “I need you to go get ONE THING from the dungeons, anything else you find you can keep. Happy?”

Limestone shivered, not liking how close the sharp talons were to Merrix’ own eyes.

“I guess it’s been a while since we’ve gone questing.” Sable tilted her head in thought.

“Yeah I’d be up for it.” Magna shrugged.

A few hours later, after all the coursers had gathered their gear and their pets, Sable stood with her roommates outside the door. Trout 2, her osprey was finishing putting the map Merrix had handed him into Sable’s gear as the sphynx continued talking.

“Now, it doesn’t look like much, I’ll give you that, so don’t step on it with your big feet.” At this the sphynx glared up at Magna, who had definitely deliberately stepped on their tail last week. “It’s a little pocket watch, but it’s been encrusted with barnacles and drips with seawater. PLEASE don’t open it, I just need it.” They paused and put one claw up to their face as if thinking. “And if there is a chain with it bring it too. If not, then its fine I guess.”

They shook their head and flapped up to a beam sticking out of the house.

“Alright kiddos, get out there!” They smiled while pointing at the entrance to the dungeon.

Fird rolled their eyes from beside Sable.

“We’ll take our time if we need to.” They then deliberately sat down to turn their neck around. They nuzzled at Dakota, their rat that had taken up residence on their wither pack. Lightning had been a lovely travelling companion, but with how often he would lose his mind and bite friends and foes indiscriminately, it was best he stayed at the house for now.

Limestone also took the time to retighten their straps and check in with Fossiliferous their other cat. Poor Stromatolite had freaked out far too much meeting Merrix and also stayed at home now.

After a few more minutes, most of which were Fird deliberately taking their time to rile up Merrix, Magna, also impatient at this point let out a great sigh.

“Limestone, smack them with your tail, we should get a move on.”

Limestone did not do anything, though the point had been made.

“Ha! Shoulda thought about shearing your tail too short when you did it!” Fird laughed. At least until Sable thwacked them with her own tail.

“He’s not wrong though. Come on bud.”

Fird grumbled but fell in line behind the other three.

The dungeon that Merrix had instructed them to go into didn’t seem that interesting at first. The long hallways were fairly typical, though a stiff wind sometimes coming from open doorways seemed to imply that they were quite close to the Moors of Sleep.

The pathway marked on the map didn’t follow a direct hallway though, instead weaving through rooms and paths, sometimes going up stairs or down ramps. Fird had taken the front position, Dakota sitting on their welding faceplate holding the map and giving directions.

Behind them walked Sable, Trout 2 scouting around the party rarely coming back to light on her thick fur ruff to rest. Magna was behind her, occasionally sniffing items found in the rooms, picking up the most interesting ones with Squish, his snail. Bringing up the rear was Limestone, who was the largest by far, and who packed the greatest buck for attacks from behind.

The journey was quite quiet, none of the hallways large enough to comfortably walk side by side, so talking was difficult.

Suddenly, Dakota began to squeak, they flipped the map open and shoved it in front of Fird’s face.

“Woah woah, whats going on buddy?” Fird stopped short, Sable nearly bumping into their rear end.

Dakota let out another loud squeak, pointing insistently to the map.

Fird squinted a bit, the moving paper was difficult to identify exactly what was wrong.

Oh.

Ahead of the glowing blue dot that identified their party, the paper had a roiling black mass, with two glowing red eyes blinking out at them.

Fird shook their head so that Dakota would remove the map as a shiver wriggled up their spine.

Ahead of them, now revealed, a monstrous black specter, a gaunt horse that stalked forward like a predator, shade rushing off of it in a roiling mass.

The great beast looked nothing like Fird’s friend from the moors, any armor that it may have had was tarnished and shattered, there was no being atop its’ back, instead a garden of weapons bristled from its back; some even poking entirely through its body.

It opened its mouth far too wide, splitting open its whole face, showing sharp teeth that poked out from its’ exposed skull haphazardly. A loud hissing rushing noise came from it as it tensed to rush the party.

“Oh shoot.” Fird muttered. “EVERYONE, RUN!!!”

He skittered in a three point turn as the other coursers also flip over themselves to face back down the direction they just came from. Limestone leading the charge barreling down the narrow corridor.

Fird threw a glance over their shoulder, seeing the horrifying courser spirit charge, its legs moving weirdly, more like a canine than a horse.

Fird whinnied in fear as Dakota screamed, grabbing onto Fird’s mane in a crushing grip.

The hallway suddenly narrowed, wedging Limestone between the two walls, stuck fast unless they can wiggle free.

Magna, unable to stop his full out sprint rammed into Limestone, Sable and Fird causing a full four horse pile-up.

Fird stumbled back, woozy from the impact.

“Limestone!!! Hurry!”