The world changed instantly. Where the road had been a silent walk surrounded by unseen eyes, Devin could now hear the life of the forest and see the eyes watching him. Small pinpricks of light followed him from the branches above, the bodies of whatever was watching him obscured in the dark and mists.

Calls from animals, both familiar and eerily new, rang out. A particularly shrill, pained sounding animal shrieked, causing him to flinch and sending tingles down his spine. He swallowed and pushed deeper into the forest, trying to stay in a straight line.

Pine needles crunched below his boots. Squatting down, he saw there was a trail disturbed where Shia had been dragged away by whatever took her.

Devin followed the trail at a crouch for a few moments. Luckily, it came to a small opening in the forest not too far from the road they had left. Devin peeked through the branches of a thick green shrub and had to stifle a gasp.

The moon was shining down onto the small meadow of knee high grass. There, on a flat rock in the exact center, sat Shia, her knees tucked up against her chest and glancing fearfully at the three creatures that were surrounding her.

Devin had never seen or heard of anything like the beasts he saw before. They were about the height of Murton, likely coming up to Devin’s own chest if he stood straight. They stood on stubby legs and had long arms. The creatures were covered in long, silky white fur that hid most of their features behind the pitch black hands and feet that emerged from the hair. Eyes such a light blue there were almost white peered out from under a brow of white hair, over an almost comically wide mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

One stood with its back to where Devin was, while the other two stood on the opposite side, leering at the frightened woman in the middle and forming a triangle around her. A small sob escaped Shia, causing the creatures to dance and shout in that same pained shriek that sent shivers down Devin’s spine.

“Shit, shit,” Devin cursed under his breath. He had no weapons, a maimed hand, and had to find a way to rescue Shia from the monstrosities that were now dancing around her, shrieking into the night air.

A small gasp to his left caused him to nearly jump out of his skin. He jerked to the right and looked over to find Teryn crouching next to him, her eyes locked on the creatures dancing.

“I cannot believe I am seeing Silver Shriekers, real ones, in the flesh,” she whispered.

“You know what the hell those are?” Devin asked, jumping as something brushed his right side. A glance over showed him Griff squatting next to him. How in the multitude of hell's the man had managed to sneak up on Devin baffled him.

“I have only read about them, I have never seen one in person,” Teryn said, eyes still locked on the Shriekers.

“Well, did you read how to deal with them? They have Shia in there and we need to get her out. Also, I told everyone to stay behind, is anyone else going to come crashing through the trees?” Devin asked.

Teryn shook her head, “Negative. Murton was, ahem, persuaded to stay with Daisy on the road. Too many people would attract attention. We decided to send the two best suited for combat if it was needed. And it looks like we will need to use that option.”

“What are we doing? Those things look nasty,” Devin said. Griff grunted next to him, frowning at the beasts surrounding Shia.

“They are incredibly nasty. Their teeth can tear through most soft things, clothes, unhardened leather, skin, soft tissues, things like that with ease. Since your armor is studded and hardened and Griff has chainmail, you two will unfortunately have to provide the distraction while I pull Shia away.”

“Can't you just fling ice and kill them?” Devin asked.

Teryn tore her gaze from the clearing and frowned at Devin. “I am not in the habit of killing wild creatures if I do not have to. If it comes down to it, I will attempt to scare them off, potentially a light injury for one or two, but I will avoid killing them at nearly all costs. They are incredibly rare and I will not potentially be the one who sends a mythical creature to its death.”

“Fair enough,” Devin whispered back. “How should we distract them? We aren't entirely clad in armor to protect one of us could lose a limb or-”

“Finger?” Griff's voice said from behind him. Devin winced slightly as the large man patted him on the back.

“Yes, someone could lose a finger, or in my case, another finger.”

“Sneak around the meadow for a bit, then come charging in at them making as much noise as you can. If I recall correctly, they are skittish when it comes to things that could do them harm.” Teryn frowned a little, rubbing her chin. “On that note, Griff should go first with you as a backup, that way we present the worst possible scenario for them upfront.”

Griff nodded and started to shuffle off. Devin gave Teryn one last glance, she was staring at the Shriekers again, before he followed after the big man. She was absolutely fascinated by these creatures. While he trusted she would do what needed to be done to save any of their group, he was worried any hesitation on her part would spell disaster for someone.

Griff moved through the low hanging branches, covered with sticky sap, and bristling needle covered bushes with surprising ease, managing to avoid most of them as he slunk around the clearing. Devin was not quite as lucky. As they approached about a quarter of the way around, enough to give Teryn adequate room, Devin had been pricked and stuck with them enough to feel miserable. A hot bath seemed a distant memory, a luxury he could hardly remember.

They settled down, and watched the monsters again. The three beasts continued to dance around Shia, who wept silently on the rock between them, though their cries had lowered a little in volume. They still held the uncannily high shriek that unsettled Devin.

“Ready?” he asked Griff. Griff gave a nod and a small grunt.

“On three then. One… Two… Three!” With that, both men erupted from the bushes and charged into the field, bellowing as loudly as they could. The screaming stopped abruptly as the Shriekers turned to face this new threat to their domain. Griff charged in front with Devin close behind and just to his left, hoping it would seem an even larger creature in the moonlight.

The beasts stood for a moment, mouths hanging open and exposing those long, razor like teeth. Griff let out another bellow, one that would have even sent Devin packing, and the monsters made their decision. They started to shriek again, but turned and made for the other end of the clearing. Devin and Griff kept running at them, yelling and shouting, Devin waving his arms around in a frantic attempt to seem bigger.

“Oh thank the many gods you came!” Shia said as they approached her. Her words died and a small whimper of disbelief replaced them as the two men ran right past her, keeping hard on the silky haired beasts as they made for a small opening in the bushes. They disappeared nearly instantly into the trees and undergrowth, their shrieks fading quickly as they kept running. Devin started to slow down, coming to a halt and holding his side. A stitch ran through his ribs, paining every breath. Grimacing, he tried to rub it out. Gods above, he was only 27, how in the world did that short sprint take such a toll on him?

Griff ran right up to the edge of the meadow and bellowed again into the small opening. He turned, a satisfied smile on his face. Devin turned around and saw Teryn helping Shia off the rock. They both jogged as best as they could over to the two women.

Shia stood on shaky legs, holding Teryn in a tight hug and crying. Teryn whispered to her, rubbing on her back. “Come now, we are here and you are safe. Let us start heading back to the road and we can get into shelter, all right?”

Shia nodded, unlatching herself from the half elf. She looked at Griff and Devin, her eyes shot red from crying and fear.

“Thank you both,” she managed. Her breath came in shudders as she tried to calm herself. Griff walked over and took her in a hug, his massive arms nearly hiding her completely. He let go of her and gave her a small nudge toward where they had come from. Teryn took up the front of their little convoy, with Griff keeping Shia close in front of him and Devin guarding the rear.

They made the journey back through the underbrush and trees quickly, emerging onto the main road to find Murton and Daisy both huddled in the middle of the road, eyes wide with fear. They relaxed slightly when they saw the group emerging with Shia, but kept glancing toward the forest form which they had emerged.

“What in all the Gods' names was that in there?” Murton asked, his voice barely audible.

“Silver Shriekers,” Teryn said as if she was explaining what wheat was to a farmer.

“I heard the Shriekers, but what was the other noise? That horrific bellowing! It sounded like a mountain yak was fighting with a cave bear,” Daisy said.

Shia had to stifle a small giggle. It warmed Devin’s heart to see her smiling again. He could not imagine the ordeal she has been through, surrounded by horrific beasts and wondering how they would kill her.

“That,” Devin said with extravagance, waving his good hand toward Griff, “Was our own monster, Griff, The Brick of Mossglenn Depot.”

Griff gave a small nod toward the two of them, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

“You?” Daisy asked. She shuddered slightly, “Remind me not to get on your bad side, ever.”

After a quick check to make sure Shia was unharmed, they shouldered their packs again and started heading along the path, making sure to keep as close to the center as they could, with Griff keeping the rear to make sure nothing would attempt another grab of them.