They were out of breath by the time their steps slowed to a stop, otherworldly howls trailing after them as whispers on their heels—where hound's foul air blew hot from slathering, putrid jaws moment ago; it'd been his first encounter with any monster down here, something he'd not soon forget as he turns his head back the way they came, ears pinned warily as a smile dies on his face, a stern expression falling back into place like stacked stone blocks. Blue eyes drift from over his shoulder...

He shouldn't be here. A thought which permeates his conscious, holding him in its intangible claws as it feasts on the fear mingling just behind those cerulean eyes glinting under the faint torchlight of the ancient cavernous corridor, the sound of hooves on worn cobblestone paths echoing endlessly against the walls—it's a thought that had surfaced before, for the middle-aged adventurer; even when he recalls to himself unrolling the contract from his bag, the paper almost fr...