"Quit your screeching!" The Marshal hissed, and he clamped a gloved hand over her mouth. The dagger was lowered for the moment, while his attention was on his unruly captive. "There are worse things than just me in these woods," he growled, "things that won't hesitate to rip us [i]all[/i] apart, given the chance. Keep quiet!" He was hypocritical to talk, he realized, as he'd just been calling nearly as loudly only moments before -- but he knew there was a certain beast that lurked nearby -- nearer the swamps of the lowlands, not far from where they stood -- that preferred the blood of scared young virgins for its supper. Sam's voice was brass and fearful enough to summon a pack of them at once.

No sooner had the Marshal finished speaking, as if on cue, a deep mournful howl echoed throughout the bleak forest. The Marshal stiffened, his breathing quickened, and he sheathed his dagger in favor of his sword, which he yanked from its sheath one-handed, the other hand still clamped over Sam's mouth. The guards followed suit and stood back to back, their blades raised, and they scanned the trees for movement.

For a tense moment there was only blood-pumping silence. Even the wind was still. Waiting.

Dorothea's ears were perked, and she too watched the forest, forgetting even the Marshal in light of a new danger. She had the highest vantage point of them all, and she fixed her big eyes on the part of the forest where the howl seemed to have come from. She crept slowly forward, claws digging into the wood, careful.

Suddenly she spun around and screamed at Sam. "RUN."

A hideous, lizardy beast crashed through the trees like a freight train toward them, no longer silent now that it had been announced. It weaved snakelike between the trees, scraping with enormous claws, its red eyes glowing and rapier-sharp teeth bared and hissing. It was at least as big as a house, maybe more, though it was hard to tell while it was kicking up dead leaves and cracking tree limbs.

"No, you're too slow," August said to Sam urgently. He removed his hand from her mouth, cut the ropes from her wrists, and pushed her forcefully toward Dorothea. "Up the tree. NOW." He whirled toward his two guards. "Garrett! Minas! With me!" But the guards, terrified, seemed not to hear -- they were backing away from the oncoming beast, which appeared for all the world as if it would be the last thing they would ever see. "I said WITH ME!" the Marshal roared, to no effect.

The monster's eyes were focused ravenously on Sam.