Medusa's End
Falcon landed with a heavy thud on the obsidian-paved balcony of Medusa's cavern, exhaustion gnawing at his bones. Beside him, Aurelia, wings ragged and eyes smoldering with barely contained fury, mirrored his weariness. Their mission to gather allies against the serpent's queen had yielded promises whispered in starlight and pledges of support etched in sand, but it had also etched lines of worry on their faces and fatigue in their strides.
As they stepped within the cavern, the silence, thick and stifling, slammed into them like a physical blow. Empty corridors, where laughter once echoed, seemed to leer with an unseen menace. A prickle of unease crawled up Falcon's spine, cold and insistent.
Then, from the heart of the cavern, a sound ripped through the silence. A guttural bellow, a chorus of growls, the unmistakable stampeding of hooves on stone. Their blood ran cold.