Atop the hills, soldiers and mages alike stood stock still, all of them staring down to try to find the signs of movement Bel had mentioned. Several seconds passed.

“Maybe it was just smoke,” she said.

Xerxes eased the ties on his component pouch, just in case.

“Rihan,” said Sergeant Tamharu, “you circle around that way.” He gestured to the right. “Ap, you go the other way. Both of you keep spears out and shields up. Stay atop the hill, but try to get a better angle of view. Try to see what’s inside the crater. Tekinalp and Goran, nock arrows and spread out a bit. Xerxes, be ready for anything. Bel, forget your bow. Have your pouch open and your spell ready, just in case.”

As Rihan and Ap drew their weapons and loped in opposite directions, Tekinalp and Goran prepared their bows. Bel loosened her component pouch.

As for Xerxes, he left his pouch loose and ready to access, and unsheathed his longsword. Given the tense circumstances, he wasn’t even thinking about the fact that this was his first time going into a potentially dangerous situation with soldiers at his side.

Unlike the other infantrymen, Tamharu had a sword, but not the unusual type Xerxes preferred. Instead, he had a short bronze blade that was perfect when used in combination with a sturdy, round shield.

All of a sudden, the odd odor Xerxes had detected earlier rose in intensity, filling the area with a scent like that of rotten eggs and bile.

Private Tekinalp made a gagging sound, and Sergeant Tamharu coughed.

“Disgusting,” said Private Goran. “Do rocks from ‘eaven usually smell like this?”

“Ain’t never been around a space rock,” Tekinalp said. “‘Ave you?”

“Nope.”

A breeze sprang up, and the smell faded.

“No chit-chat, you two,” Tamharu said.

“Sorry, sir.”

Xerxes adjusted his grip on his longsword in the Reaping guard position, with the hilt slightly back and the tip forward. He wasn’t quite sure why he felt the need to be so prepared for combat, but it felt comforting to at least have his weapon at the ready.

It took less than a minute for Ap and Rihan to reach good positions further along the hilltop. A moment later, Rihan called out, “Sergeant, there’s definitely something in there. Can’t tell what it is. Something lighter-colored than everything else. Maybe a rock.”

Sergeant Tamharu let loose a breath that he’d apparently been holding for a very long time. “Okay. We can deal with rocks.” Cupping his hand to his mouth, he raised his voice and said, “Ap, you got anything?”

Ap, who was craning his neck and leaning forward, said, “I see that white thing in there. Yeah, it does look like a rock.”

“Seers, do you have any insight?” Tamharu asked, tapping his sword onto his shield a few times absentmindedly.

“No, sir,” Xerxes said.

Bel shook her head. “Sorry, sir.”

“Alright. Well, I still feel like we might as well take things slow.” Taking a half step forward, he said, “Rihan, approach the crater nice and slow. Get a closer look and tell us more.”

“Sure thing, Sarge.” Keeping his shield in front of him and his spear resting atop it while pointing forward, Rihan carefully climbed down the hillside, and was soon picking his way through the smoking vegetation and shattered rocks.

When he was about halfway to the edge of the crater he stopped. “It’s moving,” he called up.

“Hold!” Tamharu called. Then he lowered his voice and said. “Fuck. Rocks don’t move. Tekinalp, Goran, be ready to loose arrows at any moment. Be ready for spellcasting, Bel.”

He took a few short steps forward until he was on the downward slope of the hill.

All of a sudden, Xerxes’ eyes were drawn to something in the middle of the crater, a pale object rising up slowly from within. At the same time, the unusual odor returned, its acridness causing Xerxes to subconsciously scrunch his nose.

As the white shape rose higher, something suddenly clicked in Xerxes’ mind.

“Bel,” he said quietly, not turning his head, keeping his eyes fixed on the white object. “The smell. Do you….”

He trailed off as he realized what the white object was.

A woman.

His jaw nearly dropped as he realized there was a naked female standing up in the middle of the crater. Both her skin and hair were a creamy white color, creating a nearly blinding contrast to the darkness of the smoking crater around her. It was a different paleness than Bel’s skin. Bel’s skin, though light, was almost pink in some ways, compared to the dark olive common to Isinians.

But this woman who had fallen from the sky had skin the color of a maggot and hair like bleached bone. Due to her position, it was only possible to see her from the waist up, as though her legs were curled beneath her in a trough within the crater itself. In fact, that pale hair stretched so far down her back it piled messily on the ground.

She had her arms crossed over her chest, partially concealing her breasts, and obscuring the curve of her waist. As for her face, her features were attractive, and though her eyes were closed, it was possible to see two slips of maroon the color of drying blood that were her lips, her mouth neither smiling nor frowning.

Normally speaking, Xerxes’ heart would have begun to pound at the sight of an unclothed woman standing right in front of him. But there was something about this woman….

The noxious odor waxed dominant, pushing away all of the smell of the wild hills, and replacing it with something positively vomitous.

Tamharu choked again, and the other two soldiers made spitting sounds.

“Xerk,” Bel said, her trembling voice barely above a whisper. “The smell, it’s like from back at the castle. Those spider things.”

“Abhorrent,” Xerxes said, almost uncertain if the word had come out of his mouth. He raised his voice. “Sarge, it’s not a woman, it’s an Abhorrent.”

Tamharu turned to look at him, eyes squinted in disbelief. “That’s not possible.”

It wasn’t possible. Or at least, it shouldn’t have been. The Abhorrent had been isolated in the Nightmare Cove for millennia. Quarantined. Imprisoned.

Other than those summoned by mages, they were never seen. Never even heard of, outside of stories and the tales spun by bards.

How could one be here?

And yet Bel had spoken the truth. The stench that filled the area, though not exactly the same as that which emanated from the Abhorrent spawn Gandash had summoned, was indeed very similar.

“It shouldn’t be possible, Sarge,” Xerxes said. “But Bel’s right. Maybe there’s a mage nearby and this is a summoned Abhorrent. But it’s an Abhorrent. Rihan needs to get out of there, now.”