Rowan crouched low, scanning the soil before them.
The churned earth stretched in ragged lines, gouges torn where claws had raked through.
"They came from that direction," he muttered, pointing to a stretch of farmland where the ground looked freshly upheaved. "The burrow has to be close."
"Yeah," Wade said, squinting. The earth bulged in patches, ridges like veins running across the field. "Looks like they've been tunneling just under the surface."
They followed the trail, their boots crunching over clumps of dirt, until they reached a section where the ground dipped inward.
A jagged hole yawned in the earth, wide enough for a man to crawl into.
Several smaller openings dotted the area around it, like the roots of a rotted tree branching underground.
Rowan's lips thinned. "That's the nest."
Wade exhaled through his nose, grimacing.
The smell here was stronger, foul and acidic, clinging to the back of his throat.
