Sergeant Stratos was loping in their direction. “Captain, you should see this.”

“What is it?”

“Not sure.”

Xerxes and the other First Lieutenants followed Gandash and Stratos as they jogged to the line.

“Vadamerca, tell the Captain what you saw,” Stratos said.

The wide-nosed infantryman said, “You can see it in the trees. Right there.” She pointed.

The surrounding soldiers murmured.

Gandash pulled a spyglass from his belt and put it to his eye.

Meanwhile, Xerxes squinted as he tried to see what Vadamerca had pointed out. All he saw were trees and shadows.

But a moment later, Gandash muttered a curse. “I see it. Well-spotted, Vadamerca. You have the eyes of an eagle.” He took the spyglass away from his eye.

“What is it?” Xerxes asked.

“See for yourself,” Gandash replied, handing him the spyglass.

He put his eye to it and found himself looking at nothing but trees. Looking away to gain his bearings, he shifted his view and then pointed the thing in the direction he’d seen Vadamerca indicate.

He saw it. Lurking at the base of a tree, obscured by vegetation. A furred creature, hunched over, with human-like arms.

“Damn,” he muttered. “So it’s following us.”

“Not necessarily,” Gandash said. “And either way, now that we have eyes on it, we can move more safely. Sergeant Stratos, I want Private Vadamerca reassigned to Unit Fifteen for the time being, and I want him to keep her eyes on that thing. Meanwhile, we’ll wait until the scouts get back, then proceed with the plan.”

“Gandy, er, Captain,” Xerxes said, “given the size of the ones that attacked us, and assuming this is the same kind, it’s got to be a juvenile.”

“Agreed. My bet is that the smaller ones were stage one spawn, which means this one is, at the very least, a stage two or three juvenile.”

“It has magic,” Dasi said.

“Yes. Unfortunately, though I’ve read about rodent-like Abhorrent, I’ve never heard of this specific variety, so there’s no telling what it’s capable of. We need to be very careful.”

Once the scouts returned and said the path ahead was safe, they proceeded. The troops in general seemed more alert than normal. Hand gripped spears tightly, and eyes flitted left and right constantly as they kept alert for lurking Abhorrent to jump out and attack them. The tension in the company was palpable. After all, like mages, Abhorrent didn’t just get stronger as they grew, they became faster.

They proceeded. The Abhorrent seemed content to lurk. Or perhaps it wasn’t even following them. Maybe it was intelligent enough to realize that attacking over a dozen mages would end in its death.

An hour later, there was no sign that they were being followed, or that there were any other Abhorrent in the area.

The area Gandash had picked to hunker down in seemed perfect for their purposes. A cliff face rose up a good twenty cubits in an arc, allowing them plenty of room to dig fortifications. Everyone pitched in. Within an hour and a half, they had a deep trench in front of a high mound of earth, which they fortified with wooden stakes. It wouldn’t hold against an army, nor a massive Abhorrent like the type that attacked Mannemid, but at least it would give them a measure of security.

Nothing happened in the evening. Gandash had ten sentries posted, nine Unsighted and one mage, and no one argued that it was overkill.

People weren’t in the mood for talking. The morale from earlier still held, but the idea of monsters in the darkness weighed on everyone.

The temperature was getting warmer, and though there were clouds, they weren’t the type that carried rain, so Xerxes didn’t feel the need for a tent. Besides, he preferred the idea of being able to keep his comrades in sight, and also spot any possible enemies. So he put down his bedroll and stared up at the clouds in the dark sky.

He couldn’t find sleep.

And that was especially the case when he saw another falling star through the patchy clouds.

Five more followed it. Then ten.

Soldiers cursed. People threw off bedrolls and climbed out of tents. They stared up.

The meteors streaked in and out of the clouds in waves—too many to count.

Xeres heard screams. He looked over and saw that an Abhorrent had somehow gotten over the fortified mound and into the line of troops. It loomed over the corpse of a soldier, its mouth and ‘hands’ dripping with blood. It was looking around. It was the size of a large dog, but of course, was strong and fast enough that it could chase down any dog and rip it to shreds in seconds.

Xerxes’ component pouch was at his belt like always, and his sword was in its sheath next to his bedroll. He loosened the new pouch, took out the stibnite talc, and started casting Minor Augmentation.

The massive rat-like thing’s nose twitched and then it lunged toward Ningal, who was the closest mage to it.

Kashtiliash intercepted it, having already cast Singular Lethality. He roared as his burning fist hit the rat Abhorrent in the side of the head, burning fur and muscle. The thing slammed into the dirt and rolled over three or four times.

Xerxes finished with his spell and grabbed his sword. Brilliant light replaced the metal of the blade, from the tip downward about three fingers. He gripped the hilt one-handed and turned to the fighting.

The Abhorrent was back on its feet and lunged toward Kashtiliash, only to pull back and then jump toward Ningal again. It hit her, slashed at her forearms with jagged claws, and opened its jaws to bite her neck.

She shrieked and shoved.

Kashtiliash bowled into them, and then went to the ground. The bearded mage swept out with his burning hand. The furred thing avoided it, then lashed toward him with snapping jaws.

Xerxes was walking toward it, and it wasn’t paying attention to him. He gripped the long hilt with his other hand. The smell of feces and mold made Xerxes’ nose twitch.

Kashtiliash lashed out again. Missed.

Xerxes’ lip curled. He was now only a few paces away. He lifted his sword overhead. Slashed downward.

The Abhorrent’s head flew off its shoulders.

The meteor shower hadn’t ended.