Jin's eyes mirrored the fear in his horse's.
"Get behind me," Wuyi commanded. Facing the direction they had come from, Wuyi calculated the distance and positioning.
"I'm going to dismount," Jin announced.
"Silence," Wuyi snapped, gathering his mental faculties to access the sacred chamber. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes, shutting out the cacophony of crashing sounds from the eastern ridge.
"Virtus adiuva me," he chanted, invoking the Valor to aid him.
The horse beneath him went frantic, its hooves pounding the earth as if trying to escape the very ground. Down the hill, a monstrous creature was seen moving, more like charging, snapping branches on either side of the trail as its taloned feet dug into the earth. Wuyi couldn't bring himself to look at its head; the sight was too terrifying.
