A low-pitched thrum echoed through the cave, showering Blix and Alf with a cloud of dust and fine grit.

“Wait,” Blix called out, but Alf was already running. “I think it’s coming from outside.”

Alf slowed to a jog. “It feels like it’s coming from underground. Whatever it is, it’s big.” He slowed to a walk as he approached the exit, hugging the shadows of the left-hand wall.

The boulders obscuring the entrance were silhouetted against a darkening sky. “It’s getting late,” Blix said. “We should head back to camp. We can figure things out first thing tomorrow.”

Alf stepped out of the cave, scanning the area before setting out across the clearing.

The ground beneath them jolted. A metallic gong rang out behind them. Blix twisted in her harness to discover a dark plume rising up from the southwest. A wildfire? The smoke was lit with a dull red glow, but something was off. It looked more like a volcano than a fire.

“What the—” Alf staggered towards the smoke. “Are those vultures?”

“What? The smoke?” She blinked the grit from her eyes. “I think maybe the dust has recreated a—” Then she noticed a fluttering shape. Two, three, at least ten of them, evenly spaced. They were circling the cloud. “They look like bats or maybe—”

“Riders,” Alf said in a soft voice. “Something is riding them. Someone.”

Blix gasped as her brain finally interpreted what she was seeing. “We should get back to camp. We’re not anywhere close to being able to handle…” No, they couldn’t be dragons. It was way too early for them to encounter the most apex of RPG apex predators. That was just ridiculous.

A crash sounded from the forest. The cracking and splintering of branches.

“Laopede!” Alf swung around to face the monster.

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“Run for the trees,” Blix called out. “If those flying things see us, we’re dead.”

Alf ran for cover, but the centipede turned to intercept them.

“Drop the loot,” Blix cried. “Put more points into dex. We can’t let it catch us.” She glanced back at the flyers. Two of them had broken away from the others and were heading roughly their way. “Run!”

Tossing his bundle at the centipede, Alf sprinted towards the trees. The centipede reared back to strike, but he swerved to put a large tree between him and the charging creature.

Blix ducked as a torrent of branches slashed them in the face. A loud crack sounded right behind them. The centipede had pushed off the tree and was snaking its way through the forest. “Head for the darkest parts. We don’t want to be seen from the air.”

Alf angled to the right, but more crashes sounded ahead of them. More centipedes. Two of them. He swerved to the left, but it was too late. He cut hard to the right as the leftmost creature struck, the impact knocking him off his feet. Blix and Alf hit the ground hard, rolling twice before smashing into the base of a large tree.

“Get up!” Blix clambered free of the harness, rolling to put the tree between herself and the monster. “Alf!”

The ground jolted. Leaves fluttered down from the swaying tree. “Alf?” Her voice was barely a whisper as she crawled around the tree. The centipede had flipped over on itself and was moving along its body, chasing Alf towards the other monsters. It reared up and struck, but Alf sidestepped and slashed at its head. One of the other monsters glided up behind him.

“Watch out!”

Alf turned and ran past the second centipede, slicing a couple of legs from its body. The third centipede was already moving to cut him off. A dark band caught her attention. A wide strip of leather circled the centipede’s third segment. It looked like a saddle. Four-inch metal rings protruded like eyebrow rings from either side of the centipede’s head. Affordances for reins? It was a saddle. They needed to finish them fast and get out of there.

“Put points into your sword,” she called out. “All of them. All your skill points! Into your sword!”

The first centipede swung around to face her. She held her breath as it waived it antennae in the air. It didn’t seem to have eyes. Maybe if she sat really still.

Rearing up like a snake, it plunged towards her. So much for that theory. “Alf!” she called out and scooted around the tree. No way could he get to her in time. The centipedes had him surrounded. He’d be lucky to get to her at all.

After a quick search for low branches, she scooted towards a nearby thicket. The centipede glided around the tree. She wasn’t going to make it. She dove forward and rolled. One final lunge and the world exploded around her, paralyzing her with overwhelming pain. She couldn’t think, couldn’t move, couldn’t see. All she could do was pray for an end to the pain.