Jasen waved. “I found another one!”

“We’re coming, Jasen,” Leisa hissed, trying to keep her voice down. She nodded to Serin and the Serafe brought his blade down onto the chain holding a shackled prisoner.

“We must leave,” the filthy bearded man babbled. “We must leave, or they will come.”

“We are leaving,” Serin told him for the third time, “but first we must get you and the others out of chains.”

The prisoner wheezed, nodded as Leisa and Serin went to the next man. He had a long scraggly beard worse than the first.

“Thank the gods,” he said. “I was in Fellwind when they took me.” He was in better health. “I was stationed at the gate. Nearly had a heart attack when the beast came at me. Thankfully it didn’t kill me, gods be praised.”

Leisa nodded absently as she held her end of the chain tight across the ground with her boot. She glanced around. There was that feeling of being watched again. One of those monsters could be lurking in any dark corner.

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Too many dark corners.

“They came from the Blackwood,” the bearded man went on. “Dozens of them—at least, I think there were dozens. There could have been more.”

“Not dozens, you oaf,” the woman said, shaking her head and hugging herself. She had no clothes.

“Be quiet, Bral, they’ll hear us,” another prisoner said through a cough.

With another loud clang, the second man was free. Leisa winced as the loud noise echoed through the cavern.

Jasen came forward. “Just one left. I looked everywhere and there’s no one else here.”

“Help!” a voice called.

Leisa cringed. He was even louder than Jasen. And if he gets any louder, we’re all dead, she thought.

They went to the third man and set him free in a matter of moments. “Now we can leave,” Serin said.

Screeching bats fluttered into the bar of blue light coming out of the crag above and into the Blackwood. “What was that?” Bral said. “Are they here? Are they here?”

“Silence, you fool!” Serin hissed, making a motion with his outstretched hand.

“We have to leave! They’re coming!”

Serin responded with a knuckled fist to ribs. The prisoner grunted, wheezed and was quiet, though his eyes continued to glance about wildly.

A deep throaty growl echoed into the cavern. All eyes moved toward the direction from where that inhuman sound had issued.

Serin rounded toward the passageway back to the main cavern, motioned hurriedly for everyone to get in front of him.

A thump in the center of the cavern echoed toward them from behind and then that throaty growl came again.

Serin’s eyes widened. “Run!”