[Tevildo]

Dorran did not object when Vaenosa offered to take the first watch of the night. Nor was he surprised when the woman stubbornly moved her bedroll from the protected warmth of the fire to the far end of the encampment. Dorran had finished his dinner, assured Brand that he would help him with the traps in the morning, and then slipped inside his bedroll. Tired from the lengthy trek and the bickering that had marred much of their day, he had fallen asleep in just a few minutes.

When Dorran awoke, the camp was still and filled with shadows. The fire had burned down to a few glowing embers. He could see Brand and Incana curled up inside their bedrolls. There was no sign of Vaenosa, who was apparently still on watch, perhaps seated amid the trees and bracken that encircled their camp.

Dorran strained his ears but was surprised that he could not hear the chirping of small insects or the croaking of frogs that usually provided a pleasant backdrop to a night spent in the woods. He suddenly felt uneasy. The frogs had been lively enough when he'd first fallen asleep, and he wondered what had happened to them. He dug deep inside the blanket, pulling it over his head, and tried to will himself back to sleep. His efforts met with little success. He tossed and turned this way and that, trying to find a comfortable position.

Lying on his back, with the covers still tugged over his face, he was surprised to hear a strange sound he could not identify cut into the silence. At first, he could not be sure what it was.

Just an owl hooting! Go back to sleep. He dug his head deeper into the blanket but the sound did not go away. Instead, it became louder and more insistent as if something or someone was coming closer. Dorran sat bolt upright in his bedclothes. A chill howl rang out over the camp: a sound like a woman wailing and weeping. Again, it rang out, loud and demanding. There was no question now. Someone was out there, either a live person crying out for help or some ghastly apparition that had come to plague them.

His heart cold with fear, Dorran sprang to his feet and raced over to where Brand was sleeping. He reached out, grabbed Brand's shoulders, and shook him vigorously, "Wake up, wake up. Someone's out there in the bushes....a woman, I think. We have to help her." The eerie cries reverberated through the entire camp.