The night was cool against his verdant flesh, flowing with him like some miasmic tidal wave, a shroud of darkness.  His breath came in long controlled drags as thin streams of sulfurous vapors curled lazily from his flared nostrils.  His eyes, thin slits of red-hot coals, darting back and forth like a starved predator…it hunted.

   *                   *                      *                             *

Kala spun.

Where was she?

Why was it so dark?

She couldn't see more than five feet in front of her…the skin on the back of her neck began to crawl, she could feel something with her, watching her through the darkness…

"Who's there?" her voice was strained with irrational fear.  Kala thought she heard the scrape of metal on cobble just to the right of her.

"My husband is the captain of the guard," she lied, "and I'm sure he's looking for me at this very moment…" she heard a deep guttural laugh to her right.  When she turned, her olfactory was overloaded by an indescribable stench.