Everyone is scared. Even Rex. But he tries to keep everyone as calm as possible.

"We're going to go back the way we came, and we're going to keep our eyes sharp. Jenna, wand. Liam, get ready to move quickly, you've got the best chance of hitting a small target. Piotr, keep an eye on everyone, get ready to be quick with the healing. I'll keep an eye on you and Jenna."

Since it might be intelligent, it might go for them first. Rex's eyes wander rapidly around, and his steps are cautious. But he can hear the breathing of the others calm down, and he smiles a little. Good, they-

"AAAA!" Liam's cry of shock makes everyone look, and Rex catches a glimpse, the tiniest glimpse, of a tiny green dress.

In mid air.

"Stay calm! It didn't attack, just... Liam, swap with me. I'll check out the situation."

"No, no, no, I'll, I'll-" Liam is shaking, and Rex lays one hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. Liam's eyes are rolling wildly.

"I'll look. Cover the others." Liam nods, his eyes still frantic.

Step.

Step.

He guards as he rounds the corner, and he sees... Nothing. No dress, no doll... He breathes deeply, slowly, even though his chest is aching from the rapid beating of his heart.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Even he starts when he hears the laughter again, and Liam screams.

"Liam, shut up, we're going to attract monsters!" Jenna calls loudly, but Liam's eyes are pinballing, his head shaking from side to side.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah"

Rex knows. If they don't retreat now, the party will panic.

"We're going back." His voice is as calm as possible, and everyone... Nods.

Oh gods, they're shivering. And I would be shivering too, if I weren't trying to keep them together.

Somehow, they manage to make their way backwards. But the dungeon feels more claustrophobic. The small sounds of their breathing, their hearts, are loud in their chest, and so are the tiny noises, the little settlings of the ground, normally barely noticeable. They feel relieved when they hear the clicking of hound nails, and face forward. Rex counts the steps, rhythm in his head.

One, one, one, two hounds. He holds up two fingers, and everyone nods. They start moving, their purpose briefly regained, and steadily make their way. They're confident again, because hounds... Hounds, they can deal with.

Until they hear the yelp. A loud, pained whine, along with a growl from the other hound. Rex runs forward, and the rest follow after a moment of shock and uncertainty.

"What, what the hell, that..." This time, it's Rex who's speechless, eyes wild.

If any of them had attacked, they would likely have been assured victory, because their opponent was distracted.

In fact, the opponent they were expecting was dead, and Rex saw the second fall, the back of its neck severed in a flash of steel.

But nobody moved. Nobody could move, fear freezing their steps.

Because a doll, that would normally be like any other doll, disgusting, but not terrifying, landed lightly, calmly slashed open the ribcage of the second hound, and reached into its chest, fishing for something.

Rex heard the rest scream and run, and without hesitating, he ran after them.

After all, they were running in the right direction.

Out of the dungeon.

And away from that thing... The doll that was laughing joyfully behind them.