Silus kept expecting to see Kerberos rising over the horizon as they crested dune after dune. But as the sun set, throwing their shadows far ahead of them, there was no sign of the god.

None of them slept well that night. The cold that rose from the ground was like winter come early and a vicious wind howled over the dunes, the mournful sound finding its way into their broken dreams.

The next day was very much like the one before. The same cruel sun, the same blank dunes.

Silus was beginning to wish they had stayed with the ship, when they heard a sound coming towards them from over the next rise.

With a high-pitched wheezing and an avalanche of sand, a small, rotund creature tumbled towards them, its many legs failing to give it purchase on the dune. It came to a stop on its back, its legs still frantically scrabbling.

Dunsany and Silus put away the swords they had half-drawn. It was clear that this thing was no threat, though as Bestion knelt down and reached towards it, Silus batted his hand away.

“No! Don’t touch it. You don’t know what it is.”

“Come on Silus, it’s just some strange… dog thing. I’m sure that it’s perfectly amiable, aren’t you fellah?”

Bestion helped the creature to its feet and it looked up at him with big wet mournful eyes. A long, thin tongue flickered briefly across its lips. There was a foul smell coming from it; its flesh was cracked and weeping in places.

“He seems even less suited to the terrain than us,” Katya said. “Do you think he was caught up in whatever sorcery brought us here?”

“Possibly,” Kelos said. “Though I can’t imagine where it may have come from. Although it does bear a certain resemblance to a thing I once saw in the Drakengrat Mountains.”