“We have a ghoul sighting.”

Nua tensed, then looked ahead. The trail was impossible to miss. It led in the direction of the reddish-brown rock formations in the near distance, mountainous and labyrinthine. Now she noticed the silence, a sudden lack of the bird cries that usually filled the air.

“There must be caverns in there,” Hessa said. “Come on.”

“You’re going?”

“I must know if it’s alone. If there’s a nest, we need to go back and get the mercenaries,” Hessa nudged her steed, and they advanced towards the hill. “You stay and watch Shadow.”

“What if it comes for me?”

“Unlikely. But if it does – they can’t climb.”

Nua looked at the nearest rock. Even from a distance, she could see that it was carved and chipped by the wind. A child could climb it, and she was much better than that. Her shoes were a hindrance, but she hoped she got used to them enough to manage. Going barefoot was not an option in this heat.

“I’ll scout,”, Anki offered. He was taking it seriously. “Be prepared for the farvision.”

Then, he was gone. Meanwhile, they dismounted from Shadow and carefully approached the sandstone labyrinth. The silence, and the lack of animal activity nearby, meant that the ghoul had roamed in the area not long ago. He was leaving the tracks on the dusty rocks, too.

“Do they really eat dead bodies?” Nua whispered.

“They tend to make them dead first,” Hessa muttered. “Though yeah, whatever goes, prey or carrion, they will eat. They’re pests - no natural predator can stand their competition.”

“Are there baby ghouls, then?”

The huntress shuddered.

“Thank Utu, no. Whatever hole they crawl from, I have never seen a ghoul baby. Nor would I like to.”

Nua made a mental note to ask Anki how the ghouls bred and braced herself, anticipating mockery. The king’s mood was getting worse the closer to Azure Falls they were. She seriously needed to make him back off, sooner or later.

Hessa chose a shaded plateau sticking just about a foot off the ground. A large, vertical rock formation towered over it, almost conical in shape and positively climbable. Halfway to the top, there was a shelf someone could rest on. They explored the ground, unwilling to step on a snake or a scorpion in haste; then Hessa told Shadow to sit.

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The musushu was alert, sniffing and giving out small trilling noises. She had picked up the general mood and behaved quietly. Nua thought Shadow was like a hunting dog, unruly and excitable when she was safe but focused and obedient when the need called for it. She accepted the girl as a part of her pack, and all three made a good team now.

“The trail runs from here”, Hessa pointed away from the plateau, “In this direction. It looks like one, but they don’t usually get out that much during the day. If this one did, something made it move. Most likely, another ghoul from the nest. They aren’t a friendly bunch, you see, and they try to kill each other when they run out of prey.”

She handed her a lavender ball made of wax.

“This is an alchemical flare,” she said. “It has a pinch of ether inside. If you toss it, there will be a plume of smoke that our caravan will see. Use only if things get bad. Like, someone’s death or injury bad.”

Nua frowned. She could feel the object had ether as clearly as she could see the ball. There was not much of it, just a pinch, really. And its color was grey.

Anki had clearly forgotten to tell her about the sensitivity that probably came with her training. But then again, he had not expected her to come into contact with etheric artifacts any time soon.

“Do you mean to hunt the ghouls?”

“Not if I can avoid it. On my own, I could go against one, but not several of them at the same time.” She looked at the rock formations. “And this is a death trap. The mercenaries will take care of the nest. I just need to get them enough information.”

Then, she checked her equipment, short reflex bow, and saber and adjusted her shawl.

“Now, you’ll be surprised, but I am not going directly in there.”, she said. “First, I need to make a circle and see if there’s anything outside waiting for us. It will take a while. Watch for Shadow.”

“Sure.”

Soon, she disappeared from view. Nua stayed behind, guarding the mount. She suspected that the steed would be guarding herself just fine in her absence, and she was only an additional safety measure.

She watched her surroundings, trying to use her recent lessons. There were no traces of scorpions in the dust that covered the flat sandstone plateau, only a sickly, spiky bush sticking out of a crevice – clearly, a miniature water reservoir – and several ants that hustled on the stone, picking apart a dead scarab.

There was also a slight trace on the wall, as if something had recently smeared the dust covering it. A trace the size of a human hand.

Nua stepped back, leaning against Shadow, and put her palm on the knife’s handle. Then she heard Anki.

“Do not act alarmed. When I tell you, infuse yourself with ether. Then, mount Shadow and skedaddle to the caravan. Go as fast as you can.”

“Did you see a ghoul?”

“Worse. It’s our killer.”

Her heart jumped, and a cold sweat broke on her brow.

“Last time I noticed, he was on the rock shelf, up there.”, the king added. “He’s cloaking with ether. But I can see him just fine.”

“How did he find me?”

“He probably joined the caravan at some point. Had a lot of time to blend in, to watch.”

“But I didn’t use…” Nua stopped. Of course, in hindsight, it was obvious. The man visited the docks, where he found fresh ether traces. He probably asked around and figured he was looking for a petite Unsagga that stood out because of her abnormal skill at counting. He could question the gang members, too, and they would also tell him about her spying in the junkyard. It didn’t take much to put two and two together. Even if regular, non-sorcerous detective work took him some time, the caravan was moving so slowly that he could easily join.

“I can’t leave Hessa.”

“He’s after you. Not her. And he’s going for the kill. Now, go!”