The creature stepped fully into view.
It stood on four legs, hunched forward, its spine visible through torn patches of fur that hung in clumps from mottled grey skin. Ribs protruded sharply beneath the flesh, each bone outlined clearly as if the thing had been starving for months.
Its head sat low between its shoulders, jaw hanging slack and wrong, dislocated at an angle that exposed rows of broken teeth stained dark with old blood.
Its eyes were fixed on the group with an intelligence that didn't belong in something that looked half-dead.
It burst forward, closing the distance in three powerful strides. Its jaw snapped shut as it drove toward Tess.
Her sword was already moving.
She met it head-on, blade cutting through the air in a downward slash that caught the creature across its neck. The impact barely slowed it. The thing twisted mid-stride, claws raking toward her face.
Tess dropped low, letting the strike pass overhead, and drove her blade up through its ribs.
