The night passed in uneasy fragments, with the group taking shifts to keep watch.
Each adventurer slept with one eye open, their bodies coiled like springs even during brief moments of rest.
Anxiety hung heavy in the cold mountain air as none could forget the wolves they'd narrowly escaped earlier today and the other things lurking in this hostile land.
As dawn approached, the last watcher who was crouched by the cave's mouth, stifled yawns as he prepared to wake the others.
Just as he reached for a nearby rock to tap against the wall—his preferred way of rousing people without taking a boot to the face—Wanette's eyes snapped open.
She bolted upright with a sharp intake of breath and screamed out.
"Something's coming!"
The urgency in her voice jolted everyone awake. The adventurers scrambled to their feet, reaching for weapons and fumbling to fasten armour.
