The beastfolk moved with greater care than before, sniffing ahead, ears twitching with tiny sounds. The walls narrowed and twisted, forcing them into single file.
Water dripped somewhere deep below.
"That smell," the fox whispered. "It's thicker now."
He covered his nose because the smell was so strong.
Sonder didn't need his nose to know what he meant.
The shard hummed faintly against her, like a warning.
They descended a steep slope where the earth turned to rock. The air grew colder. So cold that their breaths became white fog.
Then a soft growl came from up ahead.
Not from the beastfolk.
And definitely not from Sonder.
The hyena froze, hand raised in a silent signal.
Milky blue eyes, almost glowing, emerged from the dark ahead; too many for comfort.
Shuffling steps scraped the ground. Bones rattled beneath hides of dried flesh. Fangs clacked together without any breath behind them.
Undead.
But not human undead, no. These were wolves, boars, stags… beasts that should have been part of the wild.
Their fur had fallen away in patches. Limbs bent at wrong angles yet still supported, unfazed by pain. Something dark leaked from their jaws, more blood than drool.
The wolf-man beside Sonder snarled low in his throat, and the others began snarling too.
She unsheathed her sword and let the blade's glow spill outward, illuminating the cave walls.
The wolf-man spat on the ground.
"He uses the dead now," he growled. "He sinks lower each day."
"No," the bloodhound woman whispered, voice tight with pain. "This… was fear. He fears what he is becoming. He tries to keep us away."
Sonder stared at the walking remains. The undead didn't attack, but the sword's light scared them, leaving them tense and watchful.
She thought they may attack if fear overtook them, but other than that, they were just animals.
"Don't attack," Sonder told the beastfolk.
The bloodhound woman glanced back at her, weighing the command in her mind.
"We go," she said, agreeing with the girl.
They were careful, and searched out a path ahead without confronting the animals.
They stepped aside or fled when the group approached. A few tried to stand their ground, but after realizing the hunters would not be stopped, they turned tail.
The cave then widened into a downward plunge; a carved stair. Only recently made.