They were guardians sentinels assigned immediately after the night's hunt to watch over the newborn thralls while the sun rose and forced the lesser creatures into their instinctive hibernation.
The thralls were vulnerable now.
Their intelligence was fractured, their instincts simple: Hide from the sun. Remain still. Wait for the night.
But instinct made poor camouflage.
A thrall curled beneath a cellar floor or crouched behind a thin wall was no better hidden than a sleeping animal. A guard with a sharp eye could find one. A search dog could follow the scent of death. A grieving parent could tear up floorboards in a panic and reveal something monstrous.
Under normal circumstances, discovery would be inevitable.
But today, the humans searched blindly.
Not because they were incompetent but because they were not searching alone.
