The dark creature paused in his task, listening to the distant howling that reached his ears, now that the noise in HERE had ceased. He had patrolled the Black Hills after suspecting there was more to the runaway horse than met the eye, and had found the soldiers tied in the cave where Cole had left them.The fools were still wrapped in the glowing energy arrows that could only have been fired by the hated Ranger. The Young Ones were nearby, probably planning to break in under cover of night.
Quickly, dispite how much he would have enjoyed drawing out the task, Shadowdemon gave the fools the punishement for failure that Venger might have prescribed, one by one. One by one, he left their bloody, lifeless bodies stacked neatly outside the cave for the scavengers.
But now that his task was complete, he wondered whether he had wasted too much time. There was only one creature whose howling could carry this far across the Hills- his master.
Cursing himself for his dalliance, Shadowdemon sped back to the fortress like a huge, blurry bat....
