The firelight flickered across uneasy faces. The low crackle of wood was the only sound for several long breaths.
No one wanted to admit it, but the thought was already planted. They survived the night, but they still could recall the buildings that appeared next to them. How many of them survived when even they barely made it out alive?
The monster saved them from an excruciating fate. But what about tomorrow? In the morning, they would have to venture back out into the forest hoping that they chose the right direction, hoping that the monsters they escaped from wouldn't be waiting after they left the devil's territory. And they would have to worry that they don't come across a creature even worse than the devil that sheltered them.
