Just as Finn was about to speak, Quincy "shushed" him with a gesture, asking for silence.
The vast temple atop the mountain peak fell eerily quiet, the sound of a pin drop seemingly audible. This in itself was abnormal.
Another small cluster of bubbles surfaced.
Quincy lowered his body, leaning in to get a closer look.
Suddenly, with a "whoosh," something leaped out of the water, almost colliding face-to-face with him.
The sea race members nearby saw only a dark, indistinct shadow, but their screams had already started.
Only Owen and Finn, in the haste of the moment, managed to see clearly.
It was a creature resembling a wolf, with a head, tail, and limbs like a hunting dog, but its body was covered in rough, cracked skin, not like animal fur, but more akin to tree bark.
Furthermore, its deeply sunken eye sockets didn't contain eyes but were instead filled with flickering crimson ghost flames.
